Since the release of booklists for the upcoming Fall term, people have acquired a frenzy I like to call “textbook mania”. Everybody from all over are trying to buy and sell and haggle for the best prices on the book that would have otherwise costed them a fortune at the bookstore. I am also one of those people.
I mean, it’s not a bad thing to look for cheaper books, especially if you don’t mind minor wear and tear. Here’s the cost of my booklist if I were to purchase everything new from the bookstore:
- ENGL 229
- Rhetoric of Motives – $42.60
- Rhetoric of Rhetoric – ??? (it’s not on the site, but let’s give it an average of $45)
- FREN 111/112
- Imaginez w/Supersite access code – $154.60
- LING 200
- Sounds of Language – $62.90
- LING 222
- Language Acquisition – $190.90
Altogether, plus the 7% PST, my books would cost an average of $530.72 if I bought them brand new.
LING 200 and 222 have used book substitutions ($47.20 and $143.20, respectively), but even then, it would still cost $462.88, which only saves me about $67.84
Opting for eBooks for LING 200 and 222 ($39.90 and $103.05, respectively) would cost me $412.11, which would save me $118.60 (but hey, I can’t do eBooks because 1. no resale value, and 2. I know I’ll get distracted if I’m reading on my computer).
I opted to search Craigslist for some of my textbooks, and sure enough, I found FREN 111/112, LING 200 and LING 222 texts at a cheaper rate ($30, $30, and $120, respectively, sans tax). I only have to get two of my texts plus an access code from the bookstore, which averages out to about $305.83 altogether (given that the average text for Rhetoric of Rhetoric is $45 and I’m giving the access code the price of $30, and all bookstore prices have tax on top). I’ll be saving at $224.88, which is still about $106 more than I would have saved if I opted for eBooks as a way to save $$$. And I can probably spin all of my books once I’m done with them, should I want to make a little extra cash next year.
Selling my old textbooks has been a bit tough, but that’s because I’ve only made one post on a Facebook group. Perhaps I’ll post in more groups, or on Craigslist too. I can make about $50 from spinning my old Arts One and EOSC 114 texts!
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