Advice with Aydan: Buying and Selling Textbooks Remotely
Textbooks can be expensive, and without the usual resources of the physical library collections at Barnard and Columbia or the NYPL, you might be wondering about some ways to access more affordable options. I wanted to share some of the places I’ve found useful for finding (and, when the semester is over, selling) books, especially if you happen to be studying remotely.
A note: my recommendations exclude Amazon and all of its conglomerates (Book Depository, AbeBooks) as I personally try to support local bookstores and other independent secondhand places online instead - though Amazon can be an affordable option you might look at, too! There is a huge variety of marketplaces and booksellers that aren’t affiliated with Amazon, though, so there’s no want for choice.
The library is still with you!
Even if you aren’t physically on campus, you still have access to a huge amount of library resources. Make sure you search for the books you need through CLIO, and familiarize yourself with the resources most useful for your subjects. For example, if you’re taking several theatre classes, you should know that you can access a wide variety of plays through the Drama Online Library subscription Columbia has by searching for it in CLIO. (This can apply to more than just books, too; you can access films for film classes and other media as well). If you’re not sure what resources exist for your subjects, it’s always a good idea to check in with your personal librarian! You can also check out this page on Barnard’s Library website.
If you have a NYPL account (or a membership with your local library), using their ebook or audiobook resources can also be a good idea. Getting the Libby app on your devices is a great way to easily access library resources; I did this with the NYPL and was able to listen to some of my readings as audiobooks for a change.
FLI Partnership LibraryThe Barnard FLI Partnership Library builds a collection of textbooks used in core courses for Barnard majors and makes them available for free to self-identifying first-generation and/or low-income undergraduate students to check out for a semester. This semester, the FLI Partnership Library is doing limited mailing (if you’re off campus) or hold and pickup (if you’ll be on campus) for Barnard first-generation and/or low-income students. They will also be partnering with Barnard Course Reserves to make textbooks available through the Library as ebooks where possible. Please complete the Barnard FLI Partnership Library Textbook Request Form by August 14 (at noon EST) to let them know what textbooks you would like to request for mailing or pickup.
You can also visit the Barnard FLI Partnership Library page to learn more about this collection. The Barnard FLI Partnership Library is a partnership between the Barnard Library, Columbia FLI Partnership Student Organization, and Barnard SGA.
Renting textbooks
You won’t always need to buy textbooks; renting them is often a great option, especially for more expensive and specialized books. As an English major, I usually preferred buying books because I wanted to be able to take notes in and annotate the books themselves, and because they were usually not very expensive (especially secondhand). I always rented the more heavy-duty textbooks for science classes, however. My advice would be to think carefully about what you choose to rent versus what you choose to buy; a couple of times, I have bought and sold a book only to need it for another class and have to buy it again. If the book you’re looking for is a foundational text that you anticipate using for multiple classes, it might be better to buy it rather than rent it, and sell it only when you’re sure you’re done with it.
I’ve had positive experiences renting books with chegg.com and valorebooks.com. Both of them offer free returns via prepaid shipping labels that you can print, stick to a package, and just drop off at either the USPS or a UPS/FedEx drop box. Another great option is the Columbia University Bookstore, which will also mail you textbook rentals and provide return shipping labels; the CU Bookstore typically stocks books specific to available classes every semester, so if you are having trouble finding a particularly niche book or edition this might be your best bet.
Finding the best prices for books
There are a lot of bookselling websites out there, and not all of the available options always come up when you Google a book. A website I like to use is bookfinder.com - it allows you to search for specific editions of books (which is especially useful for textbooks) and compares the prices and condition of each option. It also calculates tax and shipping costs. Bookfinder.com doesn’t always give you every option, though, which is why I’ll go ahead and share some of my favorite websites to buy used/cheap textbooks from as well.
Buying books
Here are some good places to buy textbooks online - however, if you have easy access to a local bookstore that stocks some of the titles you’re looking for, check there too!
Bookculture.com: Book Culture is Morningside Heights’ local independent bookstore. It’s a wonderful space that often hosts readings and other events with members from the Barnard and Columbia community, and many Barnard/Columbia professors have their coursebook lists sent to Book Culture for students to purchase there. Even if some students won’t be returning to campus physically this semester, it is still a great idea to support the area’s local bookstore! Plus, they have a student membership that you can buy for a one-time $50 payment that gets you 10% off all books for the duration of your time in college.
Bookshop.org: This is a great website that lets you support local bookstores by giving them a much greater percentage of the sale than they would make on other online marketplaces, without requiring smaller bookstores to do the extra labor of packaging and mailing large amounts of orders themselves. It can be pricier, as smaller bookstores often are, but if you have the means to buy local and support independent bookstores, it’s a lovely option.
Biblio.com: This is one of my favorite places to buy used books. They often offer free shipping, and they offset the carbon emissions for all their shipping. They are independently owned and support small bookstores, and in my experience have some of the most affordable textbook options.
Alibris.com: Alibris is a marketplace for independent booksellers; prices here can range from really good deals to more expensive options, depending on condition and rarity. Select books qualify for free shipping if you buy enough of them to total $39+, but not all (or even most) books qualify. They do have pretty frequent sales and deals, though.
Thriftbooks.com: Thrift Books is operated out of their warehouses rather than having an independent seller marketplace set-up; sWhat’s nice about this site in particular is their low shipping costs and low free shipping minimum ($1 for orders under $10, free for orders over $10).
Barnes & Noble: Doesn’t really need an introduction, but has a great marketplace as well as its own stock of books. If you have a branch near you it can be convenient to do a quick curbside or in-store pickup. Their membership, which is $25 annually, also allows you to get free shipping with no minimum purchase.
Columbia University Bookstore: As I mentioned before under the renting section, the CU Bookstore stocks books specific to available classes every semester, so it can be a good place to find more specific texts. They have both new and used books for sale.
Blackwell’s: This is a little hidden gem of a place to buy books from online, because it is a UK bookstore that ships all books free to the US; what that means is there’s no extra US sales tax on top of book prices. Especially for more expensive books, saving on the sales tax can be pretty great. Books are all new, never used.
Selling back books online
When you’re done with your books for the semester or the year, and you don’t think you want or need them again, you can typically sell them back if you keep them in good condition. Some places will even let you sell books back if they have some light notes/highlighting in them (though they will probably pay less for them). Barnard’s local Book Culture buys back textbooks every semester - most Barnard students I know who sell their books back do it there - but there are also remote options that are easier to do from home.
First, you should visit bookscouter.com, which is like Book Finder but in reverse. You enter the ISBN number of the books you’d like to sell, and it will find the places that will pay the most for those books. Most of the buyback companies that Book Scouter lists will send you a prepaid shipping label - you’ll need your own box or packaging - so all you have to do is pack the books up and drop them at the post office or a drop box. In particular, I’ve had an easy and positive experience selling back my books with eCampus.com and sellbackyourbook.com. It can take some time for the books to ship, process, and for them to pay you (it took around 3 weeks for me), but they paid exactly what was quoted even for books that had some light wear.
Good luck textbook shopping (and selling)!