Books...bookstore, or from a student?

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About a week ago, I got my book list in the mail from my school. There are a lot of books, and we can either buy them separtely, or in a bundle from the bookstore at a discounted rate. The discounted price for the bundle is about $600, but, as I found out today, it contains the majority of the books we need for the next 3 semesters (both semesters this year, and the fall semester of next year), and it contains e-book versions of all the books.

Should I buy the bundle, or should I buy them separately from the girl/online for the ones she doesn't have? I bought my A&P book from this girl last year, and she only asked $50 for it (it costs about $200, and it was pretty much brand new, as are her nursing books)...so I'm sure I would get more great deals from her!

I'm thinking I should probably just get the bundle because then I'm sure that everything is brand new and that I have the right version of everything...and $600 for 3 semesters is actually really good! Plus, having an e-version of everything would be nice because then I won't always have to carry my books around. I can access them on my laptop, or if I decide to get one (which I probably will), iPod Touch.

What do you think?

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I would go with the student and ask her to provide you with her access if she no longer wants it. You can always add to the access when it runs out. But once you have bought from the bookstore at their inflated prices, you pretty much can never recover the extra cost.

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Pretty much any source is likely to be cheaper than the bookstore - even if they call it a "discount" bundle. Take 15 minutes to look up your list on amazon or barnes & noble ( by ISBN to make sure it's the right edition) - you could save yourself a ton of money. Most new textbooks come with online access these days, no matter where you buy them from - I don't consider that a huge selling point coming from the campus store.

Both amazon and B&N offer free shipping. Personally I find huge mail packages muuuuuuch more exciting than lugging 100 pounds of overpriced books across campus in the august heat (the Boston sauna, anyone?).

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I actually have spent time online, and the difference between the online prices and the prices in the bundle are a couple dollars at best...and actually, some of the books in the bundle are cheaper than what I've found them for online.

I'm also not talking about online access for extra stuff. I'm talking about the actual book being online...so with the bookstore bundle, it's like getting 2 books for the price of one.

The question though is whether or not it would be cheaper to get them from this girl.

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Probably cheaper from a student. And I like the feeling of not killing more trees than necessary:)

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Specializes in None.

I bought all my books on Amazon for $398. The bookstore price was $648. I'd always shop elsewhere before buying from the bookstore at school.

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If you purchase new texts from Amazon, should it be assumed they will include the ebook and access codes. Reading through several descriptions of medical books, I don't see this mentioned. Curious if anyone has purchased clinical calculations, med, surg (all elsveier supported) and if these wre included.

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You have to look for the packages that come with the e-book, and those are always more expensive because they contain the e-book. Most anything new will come with an access code though.

Also, this post isn't about whether or not I should buy online. I have already determined that it wouldn't be any cheaper to buy online. I'm either buying the bundle from the bookstore, or buying from this other girl.

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My booklist for Spring clinicals is somewhere around the $900 mark at the bookstore, but I found an awesome way to save a ton of money. Chegg.com rents nursing books for CHEAP. I ordered 12 from them and it was only $190. The beauty is that if you feel like you will need the book later instead of returning it you just pay a little more and keep it. So you can get them on rental to begin with and whatever you will need later just use financial aid money to pay for. That way the bookstore doesn't eat up any residual financial aid you may have. I got a coupon code to save 5% on rentals and get you an extra $5 back on buybacks, it's CC107789. I absolutely love chegg now, they saved me $700!:yeah:

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I say buy from the girl. In this economy, a few dollars saved is a few dollars saved. I cut corners whenever I can. If money isn't a priority for you, go ahead and buy from the bookstore if you really think you are going to use the e-book.

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I have bought tons of books from students. Much cheaper. I've never needed the access codes either.

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I don't like rentals except with classes that I won't really use/need the book or want the book in the future. Classes like philosophy and English are examples of that.

Money is no real object. My parents are paying (and yes, I do realize how incredibly lucky I am to be in NS with my parents paying for everything -- but that's what happens when you have parents who are lawyers who expect their children to go to college and have set aside money to pay for it...plus, I'm 19 and went to college straight from high school).

I definitely think I'll utilize the e-books. There have been many times I've wished that I could have my books online.

I love buying from students! It is much cheaper (as I said, I got my $200 A&P book from the same girl I'm looking into buying my nursing books from) for only $50). I just have to see exactly what she has and stuff.

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