It’s that time of year- the
Christmas tree is down, the decorations stored and your college kids are headed
back to school. Whether it’s full time
college or dual enrollment, textbooks are essential and expensive! According to the College Board, the average
student at a four-year public college will spend about $600 per semester in
books and related supplies. OUCH!!
Most college students just
head to the campus bookstore to pick up their books for the semester. Doing this is easy, however, it’s really
pricy! Campus bookstores charge a premium
because they know they have a captive audience.
We’ve been buying and selling college textbooks since 2012 and our
family has been able to reduce textbook spending by 50-75%; my husband is
thrilled! You, too, can cut college
spending this semester with these 7 easy tips:
1. As soon as finals are over, sell your
books. I prefer Amazon for selling
books; the site has a large buying audience, fees are only 15% and shipping is
automatically included in the price. I
also like the ease with which I can print postage, put the label on the
envelope and put the package in my own mailbox.
Most of the time, I make a few dollars extra on the postage and it only
takes about 5 minutes to process the order.
2. Price your books to sell. I typically look at the lowest price and
undercut it by at least a dollar or two.
Keep an eye on the lowest price and adjust your price accordingly. College students are looking for the best
deal and the lowest price typically comes up first when a student is shopping
for books.
3. Buy your books used. I look for a book that advertises “clean
copy.” A clean copy is worth more when
you resell it at the end of the semester.
There is also a much higher demand for books that are free of writing
and highlighting. Many college courses today require an online
software component that requires a unique code.
Buying these codes used is risky and I don’t recommend it.
4. Buy your books on Amazon. Again, I prefer Amazon for the ease of
listing the book later. When the semester
is over, simply locate the purchase order for the book, click the title and
then the link that asks “Have one to sell?”
The listing is automatically generated and you’re ready to list the book
in a matter of seconds. I don’t sell the
book back to Amazon, but rather in the marketplace as I can generally get a
higher price than what Amazon is willing to pay.
5. Know what books to save. Some textbooks will become reference books,
especially books for your teen’s college major.
Some colleges require either a written or oral comprehensive exit or
professional exam prior to awarding a college degree. Know this in advance and know which books
should be saved to study for such an exam later.
6. Rent textbooks when necessary. Sometimes a book is just too expensive for your
family budget. Math, science and
engineering books tend to be the most expensive with price tags between $300
and $400. If you’re not in a position to
lay out that much cash, rent the book.
Textbooks can be rented for about one-fourth the new book sticker
price. It’s a good idea to check the
used market first to see if buying new and reselling later might be a cheaper
option. I like renting from Chegg, books
come quickly and a return box and shipping label are included.
7. Save your receipts. Expenses for books, supplies and fees may be
tax deductible. Consult your accountant
to see if this applies to your tax situation.
After reading my tips, you
may be asking yourself if the time invested in buying and selling textbooks
really pays off. I wanted to give you a
few examples of the cost savings we’ve seen in our family.
Book
|
Our Purchase Price
|
We Sold For
|
Cost to Us
|
College Algebra
|
$59.93
|
$50.94
|
$8.99
|
Calculus for Engineers
|
$93.99
|
$129.14
|
$0 we made $35.15
|
Chemistry
|
$217.66 (new)
|
$146.14
|
$71.52
|
Computer Science
|
$88.74 (new)
|
$61.14
|
$27.60
|
Topics in Mathematics
|
$37.77
|
$60.63
|
$0 we made $22.86
|
