Law Technology

7 Tips for Cheap College Books

By Andrew Flusche

I recently wrote about buying cheap college books by shopping online. (For cheap online books, I recommend Bookbyte.)

But there are many more options for you to find cheap books and save on your overall book costs. Here are just a few of the choices available for cheap college books.

1. Buy single chapters. Why buy the whole book, if you only need part of it? iChapters is the resource you need! This site lets you buy single chapters of books for as low as $1.99. I purchased part of a law book this way through a legal site, and it was awesome! I got just what I needed, and I only paid a few dollars.

2. Buy ebooks. Ebooks are cheaper to produce than printed books. And they’re better for the environment. iChapters offers ebooks for 50% off the regular price. And you can use a site like CourseSmart to get other ebooks. You really should pursue this option, especially since you’re probably already lugging a laptop around campus. Might as well put it to use for something more than solitaire!

3. Rent books. Book renting outfits are now becoming popular online. Many sites provide good deals by renting books to you for a cheap price. Check out Chegg, BookRenter, and CampusBookRentals. I’ve never rented books, but it sounds like a great option to save some cash. Since you’re probably just going to sell back your books at semester’s end, renting makes sense.

4. Find free books. Yep, free books exist. They’re the ultimate cheap college book. And don’t all college students love “free” anything?! The best source for free books is Project Gutenberg. If it’s in the public domain (like those old literature books you have to read), you can probably find it there. The Freeload Press is another contender for this option.

5. Borrow books. The library is an obvious option. But have you thought about forming a little group of students to borrow books? Each of you can buy a book or two, and you can all share them. Most classes don’t need the book in class anyway, so you just need to make sure everyone can do their reading. This model could work well, especially if you don’t have many over-achievers in your borrowing group.

6. Steal them. It’s an option, but I don’t recommend it. Theft (even petty larceny) could earn you some jail time. You’d be better off spending some cash on books.

7. Don’t read. I wouldn’t recommend this option either. But it certainly works for some people.

Photo by stukinha

Full post as published by Legal Andrew on August 23, 2008 (boomark / email).