try www.half.com for used books.

Watch out for adds with the letters “ie”, this means its an international edition which is typically a paperback black and white version. The content is the same but the book is not as good of quality.

also be sure to buy from someone with a feedback rating in the high 90% range, (97% positive or better)

You will need an ebay account to buy from Half.com

I’m not sure WHY they can charge so much for textbooks, but the best route to go would be to buy used books. Try going to http://www.bigwords.com

Bigwords is a great site that compares the price of books in several stores and give you the best price, including shipping. You can even change options if you need the book faster, would like electronic copies, or international versions. I used Bigwords this semester and last and have saved over $1000!

Buy used from places like amazon.com and half.com

Also look into international editions of some books. These can save you big $$. For example the physics book new for this semester would cost around $160 and used was around $120. With the international edition it was $45. The print is the same and the pictures are the same. Mostly it is paperback and has International Student Edition on the front. Have used one for Organic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry and Now with a physics course. Works great.

The reason is quite simple actually and is two fold: 1) The professors teaching the classes are the ones writing the collegiate level books and therefore they use their own writings to create additional residual income for themselves. 2) It’s a function of supply and demand. The collegiate textbook market is surprisingly small when compared to the overall publishing industry, yet, those books are relatively expensive to publish. Therefore, for the publisher and author to generate any profit the prices need to be inflated since the market is small and publishing costs are high. I agree though, it is rather ridiculous…

They charge that much because students are willing to pay that much. It is the convenient option for the students. If the students shopped around they would find much better prices (less convenient option). I buy the international editions of the textbooks at abebooks.com. The price is about 60% cheaper.

I used to get them much cheaper on ebay or half.com. Often the previous edition will work ok in a pinch.