Once again it is the time for the hundreds of dollars to leave our pockets and be spent on textbooks. But are there better ways to get a discount than buying online?
When students were asked where they went to buy textbooks, Amazon was among the top answers. This does not come as a surprise, seeing as they offer discounts as high as $80 off.
Senior Nate Montgomery was going to buy a sociology book at the bookstore on campus for $90, but before he did that, he searched Amazon and found the same book for $19.
“If you are a student, Amazon gives you prime for a free trial, and then two-day shipping on items for free,” Montgomery said.
Junior Dallas Chung took the same route, ordering a book for $180 as opposed to the $220 the bookstore would have charged him.
“There doesn’t seem to be any hassle for renting,” he added. However, Chung made the point that one book on Amazon was not cheaper than the bookstore value.
Freshman Drew Fagerness claims he saved about $300 by ordering between a mix of Amazon and the bookstore.
Instead he chose the frugal route and spent around $200 in total.
I, for one, do not like waiting for my books to show up and the possibility of losing them in shipping is not comforting.
So, if you are not a science or business major where books cost you half your dreams, the best option might be the easiest; suck it up and buy from the bookstore.
For the rest of the majors where each book still costs a pretty penny, your best bet is probably to split the load between Amazon and the bookstore to ensure you are getting the best prices for your books.
Or, maybe your friends will pass down their used books free of charge, because free is always better.
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