Should I get brand new books or opt for used textbooks for sale?

I want to purchase used textbooks so that I may be able to save on book costs. However, I鈥檓 afraid I might get worn out books and find them useless for me. Has any of you ever experienced purchasing used books online? What do you recommend I do?Should I get brand new books or opt for used textbooks for sale?
Books are indeed very important for you to be able to complete your subjects with flying colors 鈥?or at least be able to pass them. However, just because you are purchasing used books doesn鈥檛 mean you will be able to save some money.



First of all, there are some used books that are in a really bad state. Some pages are missing or the cover is completely detached. Some used books are also very old versions. Sometimes, you think you have saved a lot, but when the book arrives, you also have to spend some money on having them repaired for them to be useful and presentable enough for yourself.



I have nothing against used books, as some sellers really offer books in fine condition. If the book has been taken cared of extremely well, the price would be around 70% of the original price of the book, or you would save only up to 30%. That doesn鈥檛 save you much or that isn鈥檛 much different, right?



One option is for you to just rent some books. Why? Because you can be sure that you will save some money. In fact, you can save up to 75%. The good thing about renting books is that you can be confident that you will be getting books that are in good condition. If not, you can simply return the item and ask for a replacement. For book renting, the best I have tried so far is http://www.bookrenter.com. I can really recommend that site to you. I am not an affiliate; I just want to share my good experiences.
I've had good experiences getting used books online, and it has saved me tons of money. If you get them from reputable sellers they always list the condition of the book, and it is usually accurate. That being said, if price is the main motive here to go used, then considering using http://www.bigwords.com They are a textbook search engine that searches all the online textbook retailers (including amazon, half, ebay etc) and rental sites (including chegg, bookrenter etc) to find you the best prices. You can specify whether you want to search for used, new, both, rentals, or any combination of those. And you can even use them at the end of the semester to search for resellers to sell your books to.Should I get brand new books or opt for used textbooks for sale?
Two specific reasons why textbooks are more expensive at a college bookstore...



1. A captive buyer 鈥?You "have to" buy what the professor recommends, therefore, the college bookstore charges outrageous prices.

2. Scale 鈥?Many professors require you to buy their book that they authored. Given the low production run and the set-up cost to publish, the per book cost to create a text is skewed.



You may want to consider reading the article link below on techniques to save money when buying a textbook online. The article outlines methods for avoiding common online purchase pitfalls and techniques for SAVING money. It talks about Physics books, but you can buy any USED textbook using some of the recommendations outlined.





http://hubpages.com/_my270/hub/Top-10-Us鈥?/a>



Hope the info is helpful.



JohnShould I get brand new books or opt for used textbooks for sale?
You should purchase used textbooks because you will save lots of money. most of the used textbooks i got are still in very good conditions. you should go to half.com and purchase textbooks there. It is a great and reliable website that offer both new and used textbooks.
You should buy used college textbooks at GreenTextbooks.com - Saving the Planet One Textbook at a Time GreenTextbooks.com is your online leader for finding used textbooks, DVDs, CDs. http://www.GreenTextbooks.com
Used or Rental is fine.... I have always found the best deals on textbook by comparing prices.

Most people at my university use : http://usedtextbookprices.com

I hope this helps. Good Luck

Enjoy
USED BOOKS ALL THE WAY!!! You save money and most times you can get almost new books for half the price. They wont be falling apart. If you dont want to pay an arm and a leg I'd say do it!
I would get what ever is the cheapest. Online at http://www.TextbookAce.com worked great for me.