When shopping for cheap textbooks there is no doubt the Internet can sometimes offer prices to low to ignore. With that being said, there are still many risks involved with online purchases. Many students who choose to buy from the Internet end up getting burned at least once while purchasing cheap textbooks for their education. Some of the problems that can occur:
The book is never shipped or didn’t exist.
The book is lost during shipping.
The book arrives, but it’s the wrong edition.
The book arrives, but it’s not in the condition described or it’s missing pages and supplements.
The book arrives later than promised.
If a student loses their money on one online purchase, it can significantly reduce any cost savings the student had accrued in their attempt to avoid the higher prices from the bookstore. You don’t want to be a victim of a bad online transaction. Many of the risks of online shopping can be reduced with a little diligence. Let’s examine some of the sites you can buy from and what kind of diligence you need do to mitigate your risk.
I prefer to do business at the online marketplace
- Half.com is a subsidiary of eBay and this affiliation helps attract a large number of dedicated used bookstores and book distributors. This makes Half.com one of the biggest markets for cheap textbooks on the Internet. Half.com also utilizes eBay’s vendor rating and feedback system, as well as buyer protection programs. Unlike eBay, Half.com handles the collection and payment of money, increasing the safety of transactions and reducing fraud. These factors increase the buyer’s safety and vendors must perform for the customer to do business successfully in this environment.
Half.com does not take a listing fee and offers sellers one of the cheapest commissions. This makes the prices offered on Half.com consistently among the lowest on book search comparisons. I’ll now describe the diligence process you should follow using Half.com, but understand you should follow similar steps for any online vendor you buy cheap textbooks from.
Safe Sellers
The dedicated high volume booksellers on Half.com offer the safest buying experiences, and in most cases will honor a refund request if needed. You can identify these high volume dedicated booksellers on Half.com by checking their feedback ratings. When you find a seller with a large number of positive feedback comments, you likely have a dedicated book business. These sellers tend to be grouped around the price the market is currently setting for a given text. To further reduce your risk read through the sellers recent feedback and see buyers comments about shipping times; used books matching their listed conditions and vendors speed and care in replying to emails or special requests.
If you believe you’re dealing with a dedicated book business there is less need to send a pre-sale message to the vendor to assess risk. If you do have a question about a book not answered in the description, you can email the vendor for clarification. Keep in mind that during peak volume periods at the beginning of each term, late August and January, even the best sellers will be slower in replying to questions. If the seller doesn’t have multiple copies listed, there is a risk that another buyer could buy the book in question while you’re waiting for a reply.
Individual Sellers
Individuals can register and sell their personal cheap textbooks on Half.com as well. Because Half.com handles the collection and payment of money, buying from individuals on Half.com is safer than buying on eBay. You can identify an individual seller by the lower number of feedback ratings, and the comments will tend to mention a variety of things they’ve sold or bought on Half.com or eBay. Motivated individual sellers tend to offer the lowest prices for their cheap textbooks. This is to sway the buyer away from the safer higher rated booksellers.
Like an auction site, the feedback rating for the seller is very important. Before making a purchase from an individual, you’ll want to see a history of the individual having successfully followed through on their previous sales. If you feel comfortable with an individual sellers feedback, it’s still wise to e-mail the seller some questions. Once again ask the seller to confirm the condition and edition of the book. Then ask about the method the seller will use to ship the book and explain the urgency in which you need it. This will help ensure the individual makes shipping your cheap textbooks a priority.
If the seller has no feedback rating for sales, or no feedback at all, you’ll be facing your greatest risk if you attempt the purchase. If an individual seller is your only option, you should definitely e-mail the seller first asking all of the previously covered questions. If you receive a response, you’ll then need to make your own judgment about the likelihood of follow through by the seller.
Shipping Methods
The standard shipping method used by Half.com sellers is USPS media mail. This is the cheapest method but also places a low priority for delivery time. The USPS website list delivery times at anywhere between 2 and 9 days. I’ve seen even longer times for this method on occasion as well. If there is any delay in the seller mailing the package, it will only compound your wait.
If you’re not making your purchase of cheap textbooks at least two weeks before you need them, you should go ahead and pay for expedited shipping. This will actually upgrade you to ground shipping with UPS or FedEx. Ground shipping tends to be 1 to 5 business days in the contiguous United States. You can also speed your delivery time by checking the location the seller is shipping from. If you have a choice on sellers with similar prices, choose the seller from the closer location. If you're needing several books, see if one of the sellers has the other books you need at a good price to save on shipping as well.
I’ll be adding a book search tool that will filter through the process I just described for you. When it’s available you can use it to get my personalized recommendation on what I believe will be your safest seller with the best price and the nearest location from the online marketplaces. Until I have that ready to go you’ll have to perform your own diligence. To begin your diligence take a tour at Half.com:
You can set up an account at Half.com here:
Remember books are most expensive online during the last two weeks of January and August. You can find cheap textbooks if you shop early which brings us to the big advantage the Internet holds over the local bookstores, cheaper prices. The other big advantage the Internet has is 24 hour availability. Just so you're clear, review the advantages the bookstores have over the Internet here:
Shopping Locally
Now that you have an introduction to your choices for buying, you need to get organized before you go shopping:
Are you becoming overwhelmed by all the information being offered here? There's no need to stress yourself trying to retain it all. Allow me to send you the exact instructions at the precise times you need them. (based on a traditional school year calendar)
For example: You'll get a reminder when you should begin researching next semesters books, links to the tools to do your research, when and how to receive the most money at buy back etc. . . Sign up here:
Thanks for visiting, Griff ;-)
