With textbooks getting more expensive every year, it might be hard for a student to keep up with the college requirements, especially for a freshman. Fortunately, going to a local bookstore is not the only way to buy your stack of books. There are websites which you can use to save some money, and some of them emphasize it specifically. For example, CampusBookRentals alone claims to have saved $113 million over the last 6 years. See where you can get your books at lower prices below.
- Amazon has become the biggest service for books and more. It allows you to compare prices and find the most suitable options in hardback or paperback, either new or used. Currently, Amazon has also a renting option, which makes it probably the right place to go, unless you are deliberately looking for other services.
- Rakuten.com is another website where you can get almost anything from books to computers. When you search for a book that you need, the site compares its price with the competitors’ price, so that you can see if the deal is worth it. The biggest advantage of Rakuten is its cheap shipping options. Moreover, you can use any payment method you like, even Bitcoin.
- On BookFinder, students can find old and new books in multiple stores and compare their prices. The website offers foreign editions in languages other than English, which makes it especially helpful. Their search engine claims to process 150 million books worldwide.
- GetTextbooks has the simplest interface that’s only possible. It finds you books by your query, offers a filter to sort out the appropriate results, and compares prices for buying new or old books, as well as renting them.
- BigWords is a website where one can compare the prices for books to buy, sell, or rent. Apart from books, the database covers other items, such as beauty products, musical instruments, and electronics. They also have a bot which searches for coupons and deals on a range of products.
- CampusBookRentals is a place to search for rented textbooks. Not only can you find books that you need, but also put your books out there for rent. The service offers free shipping both to you and back. Another advantage is allowance for highlighting text, which means that you will be able to abstain from spending extra time on notes. You can also buy a book there if you like.
- You can also use eBay for your book search. Designed as a people-to-people service, you can find many new and used items there. The main advantage of eBay is the auction system where you bid on the item. So, there is a chance that you’ll get a decent textbook in a great condition for a very attractive price.
From eBay and Amazon to BookFinder and CampusBookRentals, there are good services where you can save money on your college textbooks. Most of them will filter the results for you, compare the available prices, and offer a possibility of book rental. If you know better ways to spend your money, you should definitely stick to these options.
