Listen very carefully..
Aug 29th, 2008 by Miranda
Ok, apparently this is SUPER important information. I was not aware at just how in depth this ignorance ran but I have been proven wrong. Step out of the line-up at the Bookstore. Please! For the love of…!
Believe it or not folks but, well, the bookstore is not the only place to get textbooks. Heck, it’s one of the WORST places to get your textbooks (Sorry UBC – you try your best but you can’t be the best at EVERYTHING).
Reasons, and the list is long, why you “might” want to “consider” getting your books elsewhere.
1. The line-ups. If commerce students have taught us anything, it is that Time is Money!
2. The prices. Sooo, yeah. I don’t like to be belligerent, but when I see the price tags of my second year Psychology books, Its a good thing the closest longsword is in the AnSo building! Seriously!
- Example A: You pay $160 for a textbook. 4 months later, you sell aforementioned textbook at the Bookstore for $80. They then sell it used for $130. It’s a painful truth, I know. Do you need a minute? *Pats you gingerly on the shoulder*.
- Evidence B: $160 for a TEXTBOOK! Its paper people! I know, I know, super genius professors write them (Don’t even get me started on professors that constantly renew their textbooks forcing us to pay oodles just to ensure we have the Newest edition).
You know what, I am going to stop this right here and now, cause I think we both know how carried away I can get. Anyways, UBC Bookstore. Your alternative?
www.abebooks.com
Thats it! Honestly, you should have started a few weeks ago but at least you know for next time. Grab your ISBN numbers from your “My Booklist” from the SSC (under Courses) and check out the savings! Even after paying $20 for shipping, I am STILL saving $100 on some of my more expensive text books! As Canadians, you might need to click on details about sending as not all providers of textbooks on abebooks.com send to Canada but you were going to be spending hours in the line up at the Bookstore anyways right? No matter what, I know you are going to love me for this information.
And the moral of the story is? Check out your options before forkin’ out huge amounts of dough…
Your gifts and cards of appreciation can be sent to:
miranda.abild@gmail.com
🙂
See also:
ebay.ca
chapters.indigo.ca
amazon.ca
Seriously. When I was still doing the school thing I saved mad cash by asking the internet.
The best place to get books is from other students. Facebook, my.ubc.ca, and amsubc.ca all have lists where you can buy textbooks from other students. Why buy from students? So you buy your Psych textbook for 160. If you sell it to the bookstore you get 80. That’s 50%. They sell it for 130… 75%. So as long as you get it from a student in that range (between 50-75%) you both win. If you ride that whole 50-75% range in buying and selling textbooks then you will end up spending much less money on textbooks as you are selling textbooks at relatively the same price that you are buying them.