We’ve all dealt with buying textbooks online, and it’s a hit or miss event every time. Regardless of which bookstore or online vendor you try, it is almost guaranteed that there will be an issue to deal with. This is not to say they are all bad – in fact, many are great, and because of this, they have great reputations. Buying online is easy and the book comes to you sometimes faster than the bookstore can get them in.
Bookstores offer the peace of mind of being able to see what you are buying before you pay for it. Unfortunately, whether buying online or at the bookstore, you still have the burden of figuring out your best deal.
The month before classes begin, or most likely just a couple of weeks, students begin tickling their keyboards in search of the best bargain for much-needed texts and all accompanying. At bookstores the telephones ring, hold music entertains and customer service representatives give price quotes. Thus begins the carousel ride that doesn’t end until we either have the book in the bag or the mailman at our door.
But what happens when the mailman delivers something for which you’ve paid a huge shipping fee to guarantee it arrives before classes begin, only to find out it was from just several blocks away? Or what happens when the book you bought used shows up elsewhere at a much cheaper price? Easy enough to remedy at a bookstore – just keep your receipt. But that book you’ve bought online is a tougher case to clear. For one, you have to burden the cost of return shipping, and then you are only reimbursed the cost of the book, not the shipping in either direction.
Students have many methods to find their books at the right price, but over time, many find alternative outlets outside the usual means. Searching through the phone book for small used bookstores in areas a little further away from college campuses has proven to be a good option.
Hitting up friends and fellow classmates to get the word out and keep their eyes open works, too. For those that want to get a tremendous deal and help the environment at the same time, Freecycle.org is a great way to find books – you can’t beat free textbooks. By making the effort and doing a little extra digging, it is possible to not only save yourself a little cash, but perhaps also save yourself a headache in the long run.
Through online vendors, students can choose from a plethora of used books when trying to get the best price. Many times, however, they get stuck with books that are described as being in "good" or "acceptable" condition – all the while none of the sellers mention that their books reek of stale cigarette smoke and are stained with excessive highlighting.
The worst part of buying online is when the books arrive much later than anticipated or paid for. Watching the mail everyday is like waiting for a check to appear – it seems like it will never come. If it arrives ahead of time or on time, it’s like celebrating your birthday, but when it’s late, panic sets in.
Still, most of these things don’t bother the students enough to deter them from buying used books online, and who can blame us? It beats having to pay the marked-up prices of the regular bookstores.
When all is said and done, regardless of how, students have their textbooks in hand. Yes, we are willing to pay the prices asked, but not without having done our homework first. Bookstores and online sellers alike need to remember that their customers are students and most have limited finances. We are only after the books we need in good shape and at the prices we can afford.
As for selling those same textbooks back to the bookstores, or online as a seller – that’s a different story for another time.
MousaviDin, a communication senior, can be reached via [email protected]
