Best Places to Buy/Rent Student Books

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Hello Everyone,

I am not too sure if there is a post about this already but I am about to enter my first semester in Nursing School, and I know school is so expensive. I thought that we could start a post about books to buy/rent or alternate options. One of my favorite places to get my books in from Amazon. I was wondering if there are other great sites that is out there for us students.

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I have gotten most of my textbooks from Amazon. I am not into renting, I would be to scared of messing the book up (plus I like to be able to highlight and write notes in the book!!) If I have to have a code for the book I just make sure it says it has one before I order that text (or I buy new so I know the code hasn't been used...still is cheaper than buying from bookstore 99% of the time!)

Sometimes Walmart.com actually has new textbooks cheaper than the used on Amazon. I found this out quite by accident (I never would have guessed that Walmart sold textbooks LOL) In your searchbar just put "Walmart" and the ISBN of the textbook.

Have fun! Good luck :D

Forgot to add: Also put feelers out with students who are ahead of you in the program. Many times students would rather sell to other students (since the bookstore gives you squat for buybacks), especially students who just graduated or are about to graduate. In our program, those students start selling textbooks like crazy LOL.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I don't rent books. I generally purchase from Half. Then I'll sell it back when I'm done, and often get what I paid or more!

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DealOz.com

You type in your book info, and the site compares prices on all websites that offer the book.

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For renting, bookrenter.com, never had any problems.

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Specializes in CVICU CCRN.

I know this is kind of a personal preference thing, but I absolutely loved my digital books. I got several from amazon to access on my kindle app, but the majority I got through CourseSmart. They have e-books formatted for iPad (and others) unlike Barnes and Noble, and you can either rent front them or purchase the e-book outright.

For my big Med-Surg text, I got an e-bundle through Elsevier with the online bonuses and the software we used in the sim lab. While there is a learning curve involved with using an ebook, the ability to highlight, annotate, create tags, and search made studying a breeze for me.

I still hand wrote notes from texts when doing intensive review for finals, etc. The e-books literally saved me a ton of money, and I can search my annotations and notes as I prepare for NCLEX. I'm only 1 of 2 who used this option in my cohort, which is sort of funny because I'm "old", but I'm really hooked on the things now. I felt the focused study was great. Also, I loved being able to pop open a book while waiting for appointments, in line, etc. you can access your CpurseSmart books on a smart phone, tablet, or computer. They also typically have access to the "access codes" that some courses request since they're an authorized vendor.

If you go the traditional book route, I found that signing up for Amazon Prime was a great way to go... For a few theory classes ebooks weren't available. Free shipping and streaming movies to veg out! :) Best of luck.

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Nursing students in the schools that I attended liked to develop groups that sold books, notes, and other materials to each other. This method was especially helpful if you hooked up with an A student who took very good notes.

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Try http://www.bigwords.com. Its a great site where you can compare prices for books of all types in a huge marketplace. It really gives you the cheaper price.

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I bought mine from Textbookrush.com because I like going back for referencing. They are cheaper when you can find them used, but they don't sell them at the list price.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I've gotten all of mine off of Amazon. Some new, some slightly used (usually with no highlighting or notes if you read description carefully). They've always been a great buy, and I love the student prime membership!

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I second bigwords.com great site

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I would suggests chegg.com, amazon as you mentioned and cheap text book.com. I have always been afraid of buying or renting used text books because I like clean pages with no highlights. Which textbook sites are you considering?

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