How were your nursing books that you bought online?

Lisa CCU RN, RN · Dec 6, 2005

Amazon is my first choice for buying books. They have good prices and package the items well.
Ebay and half.com is a risk.
Good luck

I have question Jess. I was looking at amazon.com and they have private sellers too, so how is there less risk that with half.com or others?

ICRN2008, BSN, RN · Dec 6, 2005

Last semester I also bought my books directly from the publisher and received 10% off, but they no longer have that special. Too bad, I saved a lot of money this way

For next semester, I am going to order from Barnes and Noble online. If you go to the National Student Nursing Association website http://www.nsna.org and click on the B&N logo, you will get 5% off your total purchase without having to pay a membership fee. I will probably save $20 this way for spring. (You might be able to use a B&N membership discount in addition to this deal, I'm not sure).

NJNursing, ASN, RN · Dec 7, 2005

I bought all of my books this semester on amazon.com and got some great deals. I got a brand new IV Therapies books which our bookstore had at $38 for only $9. Of course it ended up being one of those books on the 'required' list that we never use.. grrrrr.... But of all the books I bought off the required list - the classmates that went through the school bookstore spent over $400 and I spent less than $100 for ALL of my books and got free shipping.

r_janice · Dec 11, 2005

I actually just bought two of the six required books for my nursing II class off of ebay. I got one book for 1/2 price and it is brand new still in shrinkwrap. The other book is originally $80 something and I got it for $20. The owner spilled a little coffee on it but some coffee stained edges aint throw me astray from a $60 savings!! Other than the stains the book is great. It has the disc and is not highlighted. Just be sure you ask the seller specific questions to get the answers you are lookin for, such as are the pages ripped, does it have the disc, or is it highlighted...

truern · Dec 11, 2005

I've saved a ton of $$$ with half.com! One of our required books cost over $100 at the campus bookstore and I got a brand new older edition that cost less than it's shipping charge :chuckle

Sometimes the page numbers aren't the same as the newer editions, but hey! that's what an index is for

candykane · Dec 11, 2005

I have bought some of my books on half.com and had no problems. Books were as promised. Little highlighting if any. I hope I can resell there in May!!

Woohoo!

GrnHonu99, RN · Dec 11, 2005

I was thinking about buying my books online from half.com and ebay. I don't know though, what if they get here and have pages torn out or are missing CD's? I absolutely love the CD's that come with books and I don't want to miss out on them. I also thought what if a book never arrives? I know separate people are just mailing out these books and I don't know who I can trust; it just seems too easy to have problems. I can buy all the books from my bookstore, pre-boxed, new, with syllabi, and the correct editions for just under $1000. I totaled up some choices from half.com and came in at 695.00 with two of the books missing because they didn't have them and without one box of drug references that we are supossed to get new.What do you think? has anyone has any problems buying online?

I buy almost all of my books on half.com and i sell mine there too. I have never had a problem. Look for the books that say CD included etc. When I sell my books i always incloude a short little blurb like, no highlighting, cd included, etc. the system isnt perfect but so far ive had great experiences and its sooo much cheaper than getting them at the bookstore!

junjun1282 · Dec 11, 2005

I usually buy my textbooks from the sellers on Amazon.com. Haven't had any incidences so far, and most of the deliveries were fast and the books i got were as described. Overall, the saving can range from a couple bucks to almost forty dollars.

Annabelle57 · Dec 12, 2005

from another crna hopeful ...

i have bought textbooks from both amazon.com and half.com and been very pleased with both. in all cases, the books arrived on time, condition as promised (or better), and i saved a nice chunk of cash over any campus bookstore. just don't do what i did and wait until the last minute to order them - i was stupid during my first semester of prereqs and waited until the week before because i procrastinated. i spent the first two weeks without a book for micro! thankfully, our professor based her tests solely on her notes, so i did okay :rolleyes:

if a book came with a cd, they usually indicated it was still part of the book you were buying - the same goes for those being sold without a cd. also, for my a & p class, i got the "international" version of the book in the 10th edition instead of the 11th edition. the difference amounted to about 5 pages (as well as this obscenely large sticker on the front of my book from the publisher saying "not for sale in the us!" i have no idea why.). i had zero trouble with my edition, and in most of my classes, the difference between one edition and the next was not that big, though i don't want to make that a blanket statement for all classes. can you e-mail the professor?

Columnist · Dec 12, 2005

I'm enjoying this discussion and finding it very informational. So far, I've bought some of my books online at great savings. They haven't arrived yet, so time will tell if I feel I made a good decision.

What about books that contain informational websites that require an access code? I've read descriptions of used books that say "unused access code included." (These are books for A&P and micro.) Do instructors require you to access the online information, in your experience? Or do they stick mostly with the book and lectures?

I would like to gamble on buying my two main texts for A&P and micro online, because those two books (actually "suites" of 5 or 8 items, including CDs and stuff) alone cost about $300 in the bookstore. But I'm afraid of paying $150 for used copies only to discover that I need an item that's missing. What I mainly wonder is this: even though the bookstore's version of these texts comes with a bunch of bells and whistles, do the instructors ever USE that stuff? Or is it all just optional/extra support for the student?

Any advice for this nervous Nellie?

missninaRN · Dec 13, 2005

I use campusbooks.com to find the best deals on my textbooks. It's a search engine that will list every site on the internet that offers the textbook. I like being able to look in one place rather than visiting each site individually.

I've had no problems with any of my online textbook purchases, and I have gotten them from half.com, ebay, amazon, etc. I am always careful to choose sellers with excellent feedback, even if it costs me a few extra dollars. Still much cheaper than the college bookstore.

Now to get the ISBNs for next semester's books! My school doesn't like to give those out so I have to be sneaky.

Lisa CCU RN, RN · Dec 13, 2005

I use campusbooks.com to find the best deals on my textbooks. It's a search engine that will list every site on the internet that offers the textbook. I like being able to look in one place rather than visiting each site individually.
I've had no problems with any of my online textbook purchases, and I have gotten them from half.com, ebay, amazon, etc. I am always careful to choose sellers with excellent feedback, even if it costs me a few extra dollars. Still much cheaper than the college bookstore.
Now to get the ISBNs for next semester's books! My school doesn't like to give those out so I have to be sneaky.

Aren't they sneaky though?!?!? I emailed all eight of my professors and only one writes back and instead of telling me what book we use she says that the book list will be available on January 10th, which is our orientation day. come on, they have to know by now what books they are using.