Although the medical school I'm going to uses printed
lecture notes rather than textbooks, I can remember back to this time last year
when the dreaded textbook search began. A few days after Christmas I would
remember that another semester awaited me, and I would start searching for the
best deals on the absurdly expensive science textbooks that I had to purchase
EACH and EVERY semester. As a freshman, I wandered into the bookstore with my
parents with a list of about six books, and ended up leaving the bookstore $500
poorer. After the initial shock wore off, I vowed I would never spend that much
again. Here are some tips I've compiled to help you save money by maximizing
the resale of your textbooks.
Buying Textbooks
- Compare prices on multiple sites
I always made sure to check amazon.com, half.com, the
private textbook exchange at my school, and even the bookstore. Surprisingly, I
occasionally did find that the bookstore was cheapest. I bought used textbooks
whenever I possibly could.
- Avoid buying from online bookstores
In my experience, online bookstores are the slowest to ship,
and it can take weeks to get your book. I always look for sellers who are also
students and who make sure to list a detailed description of the book. It's usually worth paying the extra couple dollars to ensure that you get your book in time for classes.
- Read the fine print
Be especially careful if you’re buying a package that comes
with a workbook or CD. Always look to see that they are specifically listed in
the description. If they aren't, send the seller a short message asking them to
confirm that they are in fact included and in usable condition.
Selling Textbooks
- Don’t bother keeping your science textbooks
This isn't a completely hard and fast rule, but in my
experience it is unnecessary to keep your undergraduate science texts. I
remember classmates who insisted that they would be using their books in the
future to study for the MCATs. Trust me, the hundreds of MCAT study resources will be enough to keep you occupied and to prepare you for the exam.
- Post on multiple websites
My go-to websites were half.com, amazon.com, and my school's
textbook exchange website. Surprisingly you can get more for a certain book on
different websites, so look to see what other people are selling that book back
for and make sure to price your book competitively.
- Check your email frequently
When selling online, you’re expected to ship promptly once
you get notification that your book has sold. Ideally, you should ship within
two business days from the time you make the sale. This keeps buyers happy and
makes it more likely that they’ll give you good reviews. Good reviews mean more
business!
- Buy insurance when shipping books over $50
If you use media mail, which is typically the cheapest way
to ship a textbook, insurance won’t be included. I didn't insure any of my
textbooks from freshman and sophomore years, until the post office lost one of
my book, and I realized that without insurance, there was nothing they would
do. From then on I chose to insure all of my books that were over $50. $50 is
an arbitrary value, so feel free to set your own!
- Make sure that you buy tracking confirmation
This is required when shipping with amazon.com and half.com.
After shipping, you need to update the shipping information to the website you
sold your book on. When doing this, you have to include the date of shipment,
the carrier (USPS, UPS, etc.), the shipping service (Media Mail, Priority Mail,
etc.), and your tracking number. This allows you to check up on the delivery
status of your textbook. I always kept all tracking numbers until about 2 weeks
after the book was delivered in case there was ever an issue with the buyer.
And finally, a word about renting your textbooks…
I never rented textbooks. I like having an actual printed
book to flip through and study from. I also didn't like the fact that renting
made it impossible for me to make back any of the money I paid. When you rent a
textbook, you’re using a service, and not a physical product. Products hold value,
services don’t. Even if the resale value wasn't often 100%, I still managed to
get at least 60% back on almost all of my textbooks.
No comments:
Post a Comment