Key to savvy textbook shopping: Do not buy in bulk
For Bay City senior Patrick Greenleaf, this semester's textbooks did not come cheap. The logistics major paid $600 for seven books at the CMU Bookstore.
“I checked websites for better prices, but the books I needed were only available in the CMU Bookstore,” Greenleaf said.
Just as with Greenleaf's, many books required for certain majors are not easily found online or at discount shops.
However, even with shipping charges, textbooks are generally cheaper to buy online from Amazon or Chegg.com than in the CMU Bookstore or Student Book Exchange.
We compared the prices of ten books and one iClicker required for popular freshman classes BIO 101: General Biology, CHM 101: Armchair Chemistry, ENG 101: Freshman Composition, MTH 105: Intermediate Algebra, and TAI 170: Fundamentals of Interpretive Reading.
Amazon.com was by far the best deal among the four competitors at a total price of $350.94. Coming in last in the competition is the discounted bookstore, SBX with a total of $468.65. That’s a difference of $117.71 between Amazon and SBX.
Coming in second is Chegg.com with a total of $396.74 and third is the CMU Bookstore with $462.15.
However, just because Amazon is the cheapest overall does not mean it's the cheapest for individual classes. For instance, if a student were shopping solely for MTH 105, Amazon is among the highest coming in third place at $58.98. Chegg is the cheapest for the class, ringing up at $48.49.
West Bloomfield senior Max Lowe buys all of his books on Amazon because he said it is the cheapest around.
“I try to avoid the bookstore and SBX because those are generally much more expensive than what you find online,” Lowe said.
Lowe, who is a music major, also takes advantage of Amazon’s student deal which offers students free two-day shipping when they enter a valid student email account.
Amazon does offer different “conditions” for their used books. For instance, if a student was to buy the chemistry book, "Chemistry for Changing Times," the cheapest “condition” that’s available is $75. However, if the student prefers a copy that’s “like new”, it costs $105.30.
Researching and shopping for each book individually instead of buying them all from the same place is the best way to save money and get the best deals.
