How To Save Money On Textbooks (According To Reddit)

Reddit is a gold mine for broke college students looking to save money. We read over a dozen Reddit threads about how to save money on textbooks and boiled down the advice to seven pieces of advice that can help you get textbooks inexpensively or even for free.

Here’s what Redditors say are the best ways to save money on textbooks.

Avoid The College Bookshop At All Costs

The number one piece of advice for college students in the United States is to stay away from your college bookstore. Buying new or used textbooks from your college bookshop is a great way to pay top dollar for your textbooks. Getting your textbooks from anywhere else is likely to save you a lot of money. Even if you decide to buy new textbooks, you can usually find them less inexpensively by seeking out textbook deals online.

Buy Really Early…Or After The Semester Starts

Most redditors aren’t watching textbook prices to get the best possible deals for their books online. But those who are serious about saving money take timing seriously when it comes to buying textbooks. The textbook timers fell into two distinct camps.

When it comes to textbooks, the early bird might get the worm. You’ll typically lock in your schedule for next semester before the current semester ends. That gives you plenty of time to start searching for books ahead of time. One Redditor posts advertisements (online and on department bulletin boards) for the textbooks needed near the end of the previous semester. Students who are eager to get rid of their books may be happy to accept a few extra bucks from you rather than accept the meager pay from the university bookstore.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Another redditor recommends delaying any book purchases until you’ve had the chance to talk to the professor on the first day of class. Frequently, professors edit their reading lists or mention that you’ll only read a chapter or two from certain books. If you won’t use the whole textbook, it’s probably not worth buying at all. You can rent individual chapters online or borrow the text from your school’s library.

Look for Older or International Editions

Your professor may specify that you need the latest edition of a certain textbook, but most of the time you can get away with a previous edition or the international edition of the same book. Both older and international editions tend to cost much less than the latest U.S. version of the text. A quick conversation with your T.A. can help you figure out whether the less expensive version will still suit your needs. Remember, if there are only a few differences between the versions in question, you can possibly borrow the newer edition from the library or check it out for free from an Amazon free preview.

Email the Author

Want a free PDF of a textbook? Emailing the author could allow you to get the textbook for free, especially if the author works for your university. There’s no guarantee that emailing the author will work, but when it does, you have a free, non-pirated version of the textbook. Plus, you have had a successful interaction with an important person in your field of study. This can have benefits beyond a free textbook.

Rent Rather Than Buy

Buying a textbook allows you to resell the book at the end of the semester (reselling is a favorite side hustle), but it’s often less expensive to rent a digital textbook for the semester. Sites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Cengage (which has an unlimited option), BigWords, and more often offer great deals for students who are happy to rent a digital textbook.

Normally, these rental sites also allow users to access the textbook’s exclusive digital content including the ability to submit homework problems, watch videos, and access other digital assets. But if you know you’re going to need the textbook’s digital content, make sure to double-check the rental site. If the rental doesn’t include exclusive digital content, you may be able to buy a digital content pass, but you will want to factor that cost into the overall cost of the textbook rental.

Use The School Library

If a course has multiple required textbooks, you can virtually guarantee that your professor will select chapters from each book. Rather than buy or rent multiple textbooks, try to borrow them from your school’s library. Most universities prioritize keeping copies of all books that make an official reading list. While you may not be able to check out the book for the entire semester, you can typically borrow a necessary textbook to do the required reading, complete homework, and study for exams.

Borrow From Friends

Developing friendships within your major can have benefits beyond the obvious benefits of friendship. Once you have a network within your major, you may be able to borrow books from people who are taking the same class as you, or those who completed the course a previous semester. When I was in college, friends in my major told me that the professors typically kept copies of the textbooks in the departmental study rooms. As soon as I learned that, I always felt comfortable buying older textbook editions. I could always compare my textbook to the textbook that was freely available.

Be Careful Taking Advice From Strangers on the Internet

One issue with taking advice from strangers on the internet is that strangers often suggest foolish or illegal ideas. One of the most common suggestions we found was to use a site like LibGen or a related site to borrow a pirated version of a textbook. Not only is this illegal, but these sites are often reuses designed for malware attacks or to steal your identity.

Using the suggestions above, you can find inexpensive or free versions of the textbooks you need, and you don’t need to risk your digital identity or integrity. If you find that you’re short on cash because you need to buy or rent textbooks, consider applying for scholarships, picking up a side hustle, or reviewing your budget to find places to save.