Use your social network. The least expensive option involves asking students who recently took the course to borrow their textbook. Or, offer a fellow student half the price to share the book, although this arrangement is tricky and requires working around each other's schedules. If you are planning to make the book part of your permanent collection, offer to buy it for a reasonable price. Another method is to post an ad on campus bulletin boards or websites such as Craigslist.com. These websites are often perused by fellow students looking for textbooks.
Inquire about earlier versions. Ask your professor if a certain edition is absolutely necessary. Usually, the differences between editions are small and previous versions cost far less.
Check with your campus bookstore. Some bookstores offer used texts, although often in limited quantities with prices still too high for most thrifty students. A resell program offers the ability to sell back textbooks for cash, although the bookstore's on-campus convenience often results in buy-back offers that are too low.
Visit websites that directly sell textbooks. Websites such as ebay.com, half.com and amazon.com specialize in the sale of college textbooks. While students typically find affordable deals through these sites, you must take into account factors such as sale processing and shipping time when placing orders.
Rent textbooks for a fraction of the cost. Websites such as chegg.com and bookrenter.com allow students to rent textbooks only for a specific time. These sites provide a savings of up to 75 percent off list price. For additional incentives, chegg.com plants a tree for every rented book and bookrenter.com awards two $250 scholarships to customers each month.
Sell old textbooks to other students. Amazon.com and other websites, such as cashforbooks.net, allow students to sell back textbooks (with free shipping) and receive a gift card, check or Paypal deposit in return. While other sites such as Ebay and Craigslist also allow books to be sold, you need to build in a certain amount of time for ad responses and sale processing, plus required shipping fees that can be costly for heavy packages.