Im going to be a freshman at The University of Texas this fall. Its that time to buy textbooks and im wondering if anyone [who has gone to UT or is still going to UT] knows anything about book buying. I was looking at the prices at the Co-op and those prices, even for used, are really high! I checked amazon.com and they were relatively cheaper than the co-op. so i was wondering, whats more reliable, amazon.com or the co-op.. or maybe some other website that yall use. I didnt realize how much books cost for college! any feedback will help thanks!
If you're an engineering student buy online ( I use half.com) and get the paperback versions of the text books from India for a third of the price.
support the coop and collect your rebates! For me nothing was more fun than going to the coop and buying books. Wait only thing more fun was selling them back and having cash money in your hand to spend on more UT stuff.
http://www.addall.com Go here, look up the books you need and order them. Then sell them back on a site like half.com at the end of the semester. I usually end up making money off my books this way.
From personal experience I would get them from the Co-op. I thought I would be smart and save money and get them from Amazon.com, half.com, etc. to save money. Well, I did save money, but some of my books didn't come in until about 2 weeks into the semester (even though I requested the quickest delivery method.) Overall the money I saved was not worth the stress caused by having no books.
buy from the coop so you have something to study for now but order from amazon as well. return the coop ones once ur online order comes in.
I think you get rebates for all purchases you make. I remember receiving a pretty nice check from them every year, but then they started giving it back to you in store credit.
What's even worse is not getting a book at all. Last semester I ordered a relatively expensive book and it didn't get to me or it got lost in the mail/stolen. I didn't have the sense of mind to get insurance for it so not only did I have to buy the book from the Co-op I was out money as well. But it is buyer beware with anything on the internet I'm sure if you are careful you will be alright. Rebates are pretty kick ass though- you send in your receipts for the year and then they give you back a percentage (changes year to year) back on a gift card that can be used at the Co-op, always nice like BigSherv said to pick up some additional UT stuff. When you sell your books back they give you cash. I've turned in my books and walked out with around 100 bucks one time. Overall just shop around for the lowest prices and then figure out if its worth the hassle/time/money ordering online- check craigslist or other sites to buy them used. If not, just play it safe and pick them up from the Co-Op and save your receipts.
i used to go to texbooks.com to find students who had already taken the class and were selling their books you call em up and you can even negotiate the prices if you want...most of the time you can get them cheaper for than co-op prices bc the sellers dont want to sell back to the co-op for like 20% of what they paid for the books originally http://www.texbooks.com
I saved a ton of money on books by visiting the bookstore a couple of weeks in advance, writing down the ISBN numbers, and using those to find the books online. Using the ISBN number is better than just getting the title and author, because it'll give you the exact edition of the book you need. I used www.directtextbook.com to search, which gathers results from a bunch of online bookstores. This works best for hardcover textbooks - you probably won't save much money on cheap softcover books, and when you factor in shipping, it's cheaper and more convenient to buy those at the bookstore.
has anyone ever sold their books to the beat the bookstore in dobie? i hear they'll give you more than what the co-op does
Make sure you look on craigslist and Facebook marketplace. Everyone is selling books right now. Also, check out abebooks.com, half.com or even amazon for used books. Don't hesitate to buy the international edition books just because they are paperback. Unless you are completely careless with your books, they will be just fine. If you are an engineering student, your books for upper division classes will cost a ton. Buy your books online and earlier and you will save some serious cash.
Remember when there actually was a choice - Texas Textbooks and Bevo's Bookstore plus the Co-op? I feel old.
You can find out what text books are needed way before school even starts (go to my classes ----> textbooks) and be able to buy what ever book you need early. I do buy a from the co-op if/when there's a class where the prof is too lazy to update quickly enough or I can't find the book at co-op.
You can get a full refund for your books from the co-op until the 12th or 13th class day. So basically get books from the co-op until your books from amazon come in.
