A Guide To Buying Textbooks Online

By Author: Derek Bennett
Total Articles: 17
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The Internet has made many areas of life unrecognizable from what they were a few decades ago. A good example of this is the process of purchasing textbooks.

Previously, students used to rely exclusively on university bookstores and large retail book show rooms. Many of the textbook publishers had and many still have near monopoly in publishing the books needed for college and university students. The monopoly almost always translates into high prices, which, in turn, forces students to look for used books or sharing a book. Earlier, even getting a used book was difficult. University bookstores contain limited editions of good quality used books, which will always be grabbed by the habitual early birds. However, the scenario changed drastically once the Internet came along.

Bookstores On The Net

There are some online bookstores and auction websites that have become household names. It is easy to log on these websites and find the book one requires. However, a better way will be to purchase books from websites that sell (and buy) used and new textbooks exclusively.

While online stores provide books ...
... at a lower rate than other bookstores, particularly university bookstores, the prices vary even among the online stores. The following are some of the tips to find the exact book one wants on the Internet and to get them at the cheapest possible rate.

Offline Preparation

The real work must start even before you switch on the computer. First, get a list of books that you need. Check the syllabus for the course, consult the professors, and visit the college or university library. One has to get three basic details about the book, that is, book title, author name, and ISBN, which is a 10- to 13-digit number that is unique for each title.

It is not mandatory that one should get all details. You might be able to get the other details if you have at least one. Still, it is better to have all details. Before you start hunting online for the textbooks, make sure that these are the ones you need by checking with the professors or the academic coordinator.

Finding Websites

It is not very difficult to find websites that sell textbooks. A simple search on any search engine will help. You will be surprised by the number of websites that sell books. Not all websites will have all titles students need. Many of the websites allow users to search for books using book title, author name, or ISBN.

The best choice for search will be ISBN, as the chances of misspelling are less while typing the number. Make sure that you have typed the spelling right when you search using book title or author name. Sometimes the web masters of these websites follow a different style of spelling, or they themselves mistype the author name or book title. Therefore, it is better to use ISBN for searching books.

It is always better to buy textbooks from websites that purchase used books. You can always recover at least part of the expenses.

The Internet has made many areas of life unrecognizable from what they were a few decades ago. A good example of this is the process of purchasing textbooks. Visit us: http://www.textbooksu.com/ .