Fall semester starts for me on the 24th, so that meant it was time to login to the ASU system and look at my book list. It was looking pretty brutal going over the list – I’m taking 2 difficult lecture courses (OCHEM and Developmental Anatomy), the lab for DA and a writing-intensive online course. Total number of books? Seven. Plus an OCHEM modeling kit and the dissection kit for lab.

So, for the first time ever, I considered not getting books from the school bookstore. I always spend between $400-600 each semester, and at the end am able to sell back less than half of my books for less than $100. It’s infuriating and frustrating, and so I turned to Google to search out alternatives.

Online used textbook stores – Their pricing for used copies was $1-$10 less than getting used at ASU, which came out to a savings of about $60 overall. But then there was shipping, which averaged $10 across the board. Saving $50 is cool, but I wanted more.

Craigslist – Found a ton of business, econ and marketing books, as well as the odd philosophy or astronomy. But no luck on my courses. Pricing looks reasonable however, so I’d definitely recommend going this route.

Facebook – I loathe the marketplace. Your problem here is your fellow students, who are too hungover to read your listing clearly, and selfish as all hell. Three times I’ve tried to buy a textbook, arranged to meet with the buyer, only to have them either not show up or just show up with the wrong book. Don’t even get me started on the flipside of selling a book through there! It’s always been a waste of time, and I’m done with trying that route.

Rental textbooks – What? Yeah. Websites exist where you rent your book for the semester, and then return it. At first, I balked at the idea. Then I realized that’s what I was doing through the school bookstore, because I never want to keep them, but I was paying a lot more for the privilege. So… you look up your books, pay less than buying them used at school, and just send them back at the end of the semester. This sounded too easy, but after a morning of research I took the plunge and rented all but one book and the two kits I needed from Chegg.com

Tomorrow I’ll have a detailed post on the experience, and I’ll keep you updated at the end of semester about how the return process goes!