Tip #29: Buy Cheaper Textbooks

I guess this tip isn't exactly relevant right now, since the school year is almost over, but I still thought I'd share some tips on how to get textbooks for cheaper prices.

Obviously, the cheapest option is to buy used. The first place to look is on the bulletin boards at school. There are quite often signs advertising used textbooks on general notice boards. Another way to buy used textbooks is to log onto facebook marketplace. I've sold quite a few of mine this way. You simply check out what's for sale on the Nipissing network, and you may get lucky and find your book. There are also sites that buy and sell used textbooks -I have a friend who tried abebooks.ca and had success finding a French textbook. (On a side note, if you want to sell your textbooks, try selling them to abebooks.ca, it's actually very easy. You probably won't get quite the price that you would if you sold them through notice-boards etc. but it saves time). If all else fails, the Nipissing bookstore has used textbooks alongside the new textbooks, but you have to make sure you buy early before all the used ones are gone!

If you like to go for new textbooks (like me), I would first suggest ordering from amazon.ca. Their prices are usually the best (I often compare to indigo.ca, since I have a Chapters Rewards Card, but Amazon is still better). Plus, if you order more than 35$ (which is always the case for me when I'm ordering my textbooks for the year), you get free shipping. The one drawback is that you really have to order them right when the book list comes out in the summer. However, you can cancel your order at any point before the books are shipped, so if they don't get shipped by the time you need them, you can buy them at the bookstore. The last option, of course, if the campus bookstore. Although generally more expensive, the bookstore does provide an important service to students, contributes financially to the school, and are pretty much guaranteed to order in your textbooks.