It's that time again. Time to fork over a substantial amount of cash or credit for textbooks and course materials.
The three bookstores around Ball State are all thought of when needing to buy books. T.I.S. College Bookstore and CBX Bookstore are located in the Village and Ball State University Bookstore is located on the first floor of the Art and Journalism Building. In addition to having textbooks available in the stores, students can also reserve a course's books online at these stores and pick them up later.However, new options for purchasing this items have emerged over the years, including online selling sites, textbook rentals and digital textbooks.
By comparing prices online, sometimes a great deal can be found. For instance, most students have to take MATHS 125 sometime in their college career at Ball State. The book used for this class, "A Mathematical View of Our World," retails for $113 used and $150.65 new at the Ball State University Bookstore. On half.com, an off-shoot of Ebay, the book can be found for as low as $83.95, with varying states of wear ranging from brand new to acceptable. On a1books.com, the textbook is sold for as low as $52.
Through Web sites like these, the items posted for sale are all offered by sellers throughout the country. Many sellers are textbook companies that only sell online. If you can buy more than one textbook from the same seller, they'll give you a discount on shipping and handling. It is worth it to check out the seller's profile before you purchase from them to make sure that other buyers have had a good experience with the books bought and shipping time. However, the supplemental materials that sometimes come with textbooks are needed, make sure to check the listing carefully before buying.
Another newer textbook buying option is textbook rental or digital textbooks. On Chegg.com, a rental site, has the MATHS 125 textbook for $53.06. This site offers free return shipping and flexible rental periods, and students simply send the books back to Chegg once their semester is finished. And for every book someone donates, sells, buys or rents from Chegg, they will plant a tree through their partnership with American Forests Global ReLeaf Program.
Digitaltextbooks.com offers the same book for $74.57. This books are available online after purchase of a 180-day subscription. Students can search this online book for specific passages, assignments or chapters, make notes in the text, highlight key points and often print outs of the text are unlimited. The online textbook site is compatible with PC or Mac computers.
The National Association of College Stores (NACS) has some suggestions to keep in mind when buying textbooks. Make sure to know the store's return policy, most importantly the deadlines for returning materials, in case you drop a class or don't end up needing the books.
In the same vein, make sure to keep your receipts. NACS says that these receipts can also be used during tax season if you apply for the new American Opportunity Tax Credit.
Because most stores don't allow returns on books once they've been unwrapped, the NACS also says to make sure you don't write in or open the books until you are certain you need them.
With a little shopping around and some patience, every student can make this textbook shopping season a successful one.
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