To add insult to injury, on top of tuition, housing, meal plans, and fee after fee after fee, there are the dreaded textbooks. I have been racking my brain, trying to remember the bookstore at my college. I know I bought textbooks, but that is all I can remember. I should do not remember each one costing more than a car note!
Just about every class requires a textbook, some more than one. Some require an additional workbook, or other required reading, or even worse - the dreaded online code! If you see a code mentioned, prepare for at least $100 for that! It's rare, yet wonderful, when your student can use the same textbook for two semesters, which is sometimes the case with a foreign language. But even then, you probably won't get away without purchasing another workbook and/or a code. I like to compare the college textbook industry to big pharm - you know you are paring WAY more that the true value!
If you buy your textbooks, at the end of the semester, don't expect to resell it to the bookstore and get much for it. It's worse that a used car trade-in at the dealership! If you decide to keep the textbook and try to sell it online (most colleges have Facebook pages devoted to reselling textbooks), you risk the likelihood that the class is now using a newer edition of the book. Yep, that happens quite often. What's the big difference between the 3rd edition and the 4th? I don't think anyone knows.
When my son started college, my husband and I were ignorant. He got the list of books he needed and he and my husband headed to the bookstore and bought them all. Of course, the bill was $600 or more, and that didn't include notebooks, pens, scantrons, etc. After shaking my head, whining, and complaining about this, the mother of his roommate let me in on something I knew nothing about - you can sometimes get your textbooks elsewhere! I didn't have a clue! First, there was a store in town that rented and sold textbooks to several area colleges at a lesser price. Then I discovered the vast number of online sources where textbooks could be located - Amazon, Chegg, Alibris, etc., etc. I became a whiz at taking ISBN numbers and Googling the heck out of them, making notes on who had which and for what price.
I was so happy to see that most colleges are making textbook rentals more accessible. And at least one university in my state has a cap on textbook prices for each class. The thought of paying no more than $75 per class is very appealing compared to the reality on most campuses.
Most of the online textbook services who rent books make it easy on you. They supply the return label so you don't have to pay shipping. But there are also things to be aware of. My daughter has now learned to take a photo of the rental book when it arrives. When Amazon attempted to charge her full price for a book she didn't even open, saying it had water damage, I was determined to do battle to get her money back. In the end, Amazon not only credited back the price of the book, but shipped the book back to her to keep (not that she wanted it!). Also, be sure to get the book back on time! Amazon emails reminders, but not all of the others do. Also, be sure to keep a log as to where you rented each book from.
Next lesson: Never purchase a book before going to the class the first time. I know, you saw in the syllabus that it was required. And someone told you that you had better snatch one up before they are all gone, Don't do it! You can do your research beforehand, just in case. There will be times when you get to class and the professor says not to bother purchasing the book because you really don't need it. And guess what? If you buy or rent the book and find you don't need it, you won't get a refund. You just eat it.
So the theme for today is the textbooks are another expensive necessary evil. Do your homework, not just in class, but in getting ready for class. Shop well; shop wisely. And speaking as a mother, actually crack open that textbook, and not just the night before the exam!
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