Buying Books

essarge · Dec 4, 2001

Is this book a "required" book? Or is it just a "suggested" book? Can you borrow it from someone? Our class shares allot of books that are "required" but not necessary, like world lit, spanish, etc.

Joshua21 · Dec 4, 2001

What really burned my butt after most of my schooling was when I went down to the college library and found not one copy but several copies of every text book required for my courses. Many were an edition or 2 behind but I found that didn't make a lot of difference for the classes, especially those that were a little "out there" in the nether regions of nursing.

Bonnie Blue · Dec 4, 2001

You have my sympathy. Our second semester list is starting to trickle in. We have to buy a maternity/ob book which I will never use after this year. A lab interp book and the Carpenito Nursing Diagnosis book. I already have a nursing diagnosis book, I really don't want to get another one. I'm going hunt around at some used book stores.

Brown Suga · Dec 4, 2001

I have decided to take pharm over the winter intersession to lighten my course load for spring semester. I have to purchase another brand new book to have the latest edition plus the study guide. In the beginning of the semester my block coordinator kept telling me I was going to be use the same books during the next two years. What a joke that statement was? Oh well time to give that money now and pray that it pays off in the long run.:)

prmenrs, RN · Dec 4, 2001

Be sure to check @ Amazon.com for USED editions of your books--perhaps you can sell some, too. Some people have sent used texts to schools in underdeveloped countries, but I don't know how it's done.

Half.com is another place you can look.

Even now when I buy a book for a jr. college class (I'm addicted to "101" classes, nice break from other stuff, like work and motherhood, and in CALIF it's only $13/credit), I'm shocked at how much they cost!!

Whisper · Dec 4, 2001

Thanks for the tips. However many of the books are only for sale in the Uk and Brand new so they can be hard to track down, I have already bought 5 books, one of which will be redundant after today.

I live in a house with other student nurses and we take in turns to buy some books and all share, becasue it makes it cheaper. However it does make it very very irritatting when we have lecturers that say:" Now on page 21 of my book you will find a list of questions, complete these by Monday" Especially as the libary doesn't have any copies:rolleyes: Can't have them losing valuable comission can we???

KristaB · Dec 4, 2001

Originally posted by Brown Suga
In the beginning of the semester my block coordinator kept telling me I was going to be use the same books during the next two years. What a joke that statement was?

No kidding! I spent $700 for my books last quarter, and sure, I'll be using most of them again next quarter, but books for next quarter are another $500!

Books are bleeding me dry. :rolleyes:

I do have a lot of tricks for saving money by buying books online, especially when Amazon or B&N has free shipping. I try to buy from B&N because I have to pay sales tax for Amazon, but there are ways to save money. If you have a website, you can open an affiliate account with Amazon, and they'll pay 15% for direct referrals for particular books, and 5% for indirect referrals (clicking through to their site, but purchasing something else). I get 15% back on my books, but their shipping and sales tax tends to negate the savings for me. B&N's affiliate program pays 8%, I think, and they've had free shipping for several months when you buy two items. Also, you can open an affiliate account at GiftCertificates.com and buy Amazon GCs through them, then go to Amazon and buy with your affiliate links. Amazon also has a couple of coupons out right now, and I've also used coupons to buy GCs first -- double the savings, which really adds up. It's kind of complicated, but worth saving the money, IMO. My school bookstore charges anywhere from 10-20% more than the online stores (except for the very, very rare book that can be found cheaper there -- my nutrition book was $15 less than either Amazon or B&N -- go figure). You just have to comparison shop and find the best deal.

Krista

Katnip, RN · Dec 4, 2001

Try ecampus.com I haven't bought anything there, but a lot of fellow students have and saved quite a bit. I'm going to check them out as soon as I get our list for next semester.

Marianne518 · Dec 5, 2001

Try bestbuybooks.com for a comparison of all prices available at most sites online (amazon, ecampus, half.com). This site saved me 65 dollars today on my next semester's books. Whoohoooo!!!:)

Danielle4 · Dec 9, 2001

I love Martini for A & P.

Very very helpful!!

Danielle4 · Dec 9, 2001

what about http://www.efollet.com ?