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Why I love Amazon:

post #1 of 14
8/6/05 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 
I just did my book shopping, 12 credits: 4 classes.
I went to the bookstore and the books priced out at a whopping $300, I thought that was steep, so I jotted down the ISBNs, and thanks to Amazon, I will have all my books for ~$195 (including shipping!)

2 great examples:
used Science book: Bookstore:$94 Amazon $41 (like new)
Visual Basic text with 120 day VS.net bundle: Bookstore: $70 used Amazon: $59 NEW!

Amazon is the best thing that I have found to save $ on college (and thuroughly piss off the campus bookstore clerks at the same time )
You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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post #2 of 14
8/6/05 at 7:48pm
  • rok
  • the Casbah
i remember having to shell out ridiculous prices for technical books in college, and it was often difficult to find used books that were course-approved. onc ei switched to an english major, my cost of edu-ma-cation dropped dramatically. hell, most of my books could be checked out fo the library, yo'.

8)
When you're lovers in a dangerous time,
You're made to feel as if your love's a crime.
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.
Gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight.

-...
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When you're lovers in a dangerous time,
You're made to feel as if your love's a crime.
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.
Gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight.

-...
Reply
post #3 of 14
8/6/05 at 10:19pm
Good for you! Campus bookstores have a monopoly that they horribly, horribly abuse. I only hope that more students do what you've done.
Gangs are not seen as legitimate, because they don't have control over public schools.
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Gangs are not seen as legitimate, because they don't have control over public schools.
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post #4 of 14
8/6/05 at 11:15pm
Quote:
Originally posted by a_greer
Amazon is the best thing that I have found to save $ on college...

Did you check the library? You could have gotten them for free (unless you wanted to keep them, that is).
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post #5 of 14
8/7/05 at 12:00am
cheapesttextbooks.com
campusbooks.com
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post #6 of 14
8/7/05 at 12:49am
I always used one of the comparison engines like the ones posted above. I personally used Addall, but they're all pretty much the same.

My experience with Amazon is a little hit and miss, I've had more success with Half.com. Though, one time I ordered a book from Amazon marketplace, and I got it overnight from New Zealand. That was impressive.

a_greer: Is it your first semester in college? You'll notice quickly that many semesters you won't even have to get books, you can just

a) get them from friends
b) buy them from someone who took it a prior semester cheaply (even cheaper than Half/Amazon)
c) not buy the book. For some classes the book is worthless.
What the problem is?
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What the problem is?
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post #7 of 14
8/7/05 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by LudwigVan
Did you check the library? You could have gotten them for free (unless you wanted to keep them, that is).

Well, the programming books go right into my library and as for the science book: well, the bookstore pays half of the used selling price for used buybacks: so lets do the math: they sell it for ~$95 used I paid $41 at Amazon...If the buyback is $47.50 or even $45 I will have made money
You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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post #8 of 14
8/7/05 at 9:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by midwinter
Good for you! Campus bookstores have a monopoly that they horribly, horribly abuse. I only hope that more students do what you've done.

Well, a guy was pannicing because a book he needed was $159 and I told him to do what I was doing, he thanked me and a bookstore employee approched me and asked what I was trying to pull: was I trying to ruin their business? I said (in a loud enough tone for everyonein the used book section to hear me) "It is called comperison shopping, why would I buy the $95 book here when I can get it for $41 on amazon? Would you not do the same thing if it were your money?"
I got many cutos from fellow shoppers as I walked tward the door.
You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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post #9 of 14
8/7/05 at 10:00am
I stopped by my campus bookstore Thursday to make sure that my book orders had gone smoothly. Turns out that they just ignored my request for a specific publisher's version of some books and got whatever old ratty used books they could.

I had a nutty right there.
Gangs are not seen as legitimate, because they don't have control over public schools.
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Gangs are not seen as legitimate, because they don't have control over public schools.
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post #10 of 14
8/7/05 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally posted by a_greer
Well, a guy was pannicing because a book he needed was $159 and I told him to do what I was doing, he thanked me and a bookstore employee approched me and asked what I was trying to pull: was I trying to ruin their business? I said (in a loud enough tone for everyonein the used book section to hear me) "It is called comperison shopping, why would I buy the $95 book here when I can get it for $41 on amazon? Would you not do the same thing if it were your money?"
I got many cutos from fellow shoppers as I walked tward the door.

Sweet : ) wish I was there to see his face
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post #11 of 14
8/7/05 at 11:32am
  • Anders
  • Feared and Biased Moderator
I hope gemmbooks.com will be just as huge a succes as gemm.com

Gemm is the BEST utilization of the net I have ever seen. Its what the net should be about.
"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" - President Bush
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"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" - President Bush
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post #12 of 14
8/7/05 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally posted by midwinter
I stopped by my campus bookstore Thursday to make sure that my book orders had gone smoothly. Turns out that they just ignored my request for a specific publisher's version of some books and got whatever old ratty used books they could.

I hear ya. They often do the opposite to me - I try to order books with the least crap - in my field, anyway, they're really pushing CDs, study guides, and junk like that along with the books, which forces students to buy them new. But it seems that even if I order books without that stuff, somehow it turns into an order for those package deals.

I'm sure the book stores do pretty well, but I think the book publishers are the real evil ones.
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post #13 of 14
8/7/05 at 12:36pm
Quote:
Originally posted by BRussell
I hear ya. They often do the opposite to me - I try to order books with the least crap - in my field, anyway, they're really pushing CDs, study guides, and junk like that along with the books, which forces students to buy them new. But it seems that even if I order books without that stuff, somehow it turns into an order for those package deals.

I'm sure the book stores do pretty well, but I think the book publishers are the real evil ones.

Well, it's all part of a nasty cycle. Someone writes the textbook, which gets published and bought by bookstores, then the kids all sell the textbook back at the end of the semester, which means that the publisher has to make some kind of change, quickly, to the textbook in order to continue to see revenue from it, and then the cycle's inescapable.

Add to this bookstores that have a legal and completely accepted monopoly (usually because of waivers and scholarships) and can charge whatever they want and get whatever quality books they want, and you've got a nightmare.

I was flatly told "If you ever want to get a specific publisher's edition of a book like this, just come down and place the order in person. Don't use the online order form."

Give me a break! That means "We're not really going to pay much attention to what you want, and god forbid you should order something like all 6 Jane Austen novels, because we're just gonna get ratty old used Penguin paperbacks and charge $9 each for them. We just assume that you don't have any real reason for ordering a specific edition."

harumph.
Gangs are not seen as legitimate, because they don't have control over public schools.
Reply
Gangs are not seen as legitimate, because they don't have control over public schools.
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post #14 of 14
8/9/05 at 3:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by midwinter


Add to this bookstores that have a legal and completely accepted monopoly (usually because of waivers and scholarships) and can charge whatever they want and get whatever quality books they want, and you've got a nightmare.

and subsidized...dont forget subsidized, Last year I got all of my books at the campus bookstore because that, as I was told, is the only place that I can spend my remaining pell grant money...the damn $350 grant only covered half of my 18 credit hour book order (heh...18 credit hours...theres a freshman mistake...I took 7 clases in HS so 6 auta be a breeze...right... )

TTYTT, I wish I had spent the $350 to get the books via amazon and used the grant to grab Adobe CS...sadly, that isnt an option now...they cut my grant to a third of what it was
You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
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