BookFinder.com Journal

BookFinder.com helps you sell your textbooks

So last week I mentioned that the cost of education is becoming more expensive, and that buying your textbooks doesn’t have to add to this burden. Today I want to give you some more good news.

This week as you finish writing your final exams (assuming you are a student and that you're not one of the lucky ones who already finished) you have more options then ever when it comes to selling off your old textbooks.

Your options are no longer limited to selling your books back to the college bookstore, consignment, or posting on notice boards; a growing number of online booksellers are engaging in online textbook buyback and once again BookFinder.com is here to help.

This system works almost exactly like buying books online but in reverse. You simply enter the ISBN's of your textbooks into the BookFinder.com buyback search and you will be shown offers from multiple online book buyers. You can compare these prices, just as you do when buying books online and if you are happy with the prices being offered you can choose to sell any one or all of your books.

All you have to do is pack the books up in a box or mailing envelope, print out your packing list(s) and pre-paid shipping label(s) and then mail the books off. Then when the book buyer receives the books they send you your money. All of the BookFinder.com buyback partners pay the shipping costs and there is no buyback window so you can sell your books anytime.

By checking the buyback prices online and at the college bookstore you are sure to get the best price for your books with the added bonus of not having to wait around for consignment sales.

Currently buyback is only available within the United States, however we are working hard to find buyback partners in other countries.

So go ahead and try the BookFinder.com textbook buyback and let us know how you like it!

[Now reading: Going Solo by Roald Dahl]

Posted by Scott

Affordability of textbooks and college

Greetings BookFinder.com Journal readers. My name is Scott Laming and I am the newest addition to the BookFinder.com team. To start things off I thought I would add a few postings to the Journal to start to get to know you. I thought I would talk a bit about current events in the book world and about textbooks, as it is that time of year again.

Yesterday while reading the news I saw this article which revealed that the cost of education in the US has gotten so out of control that the only state to receive a passing grade when it comes to affordability is California, and even they only scored a C-. Worse still was the comment that less than a decade ago only three states received F`s.

I remember when I was going to university a tuition freeze was removed part way though my schooling and the price for classes started to shoot up 20% a year. Thankfully I only had two years left in my degree at that point so I was able to finish school while maintaining some semblance of a budget but for students coming after me I know a lot of them came out with their finances hurting pretty badly.

While all of this is the farthest thing from good news for anyone currently attending university it does drive home the point that you have to save money where you can; pick the low hanging fruit as it were. I am sure that most of you know that a quick trip to BookFinder.com is a simple and fast way to make sure you are getting the most for your money, at least when it comes to textbooks. Even if it turns out that your local college book store has a better price, the three minutes spent on BookFinder.com will at least give you the piece of mind in knowing that you did find the best price for your textbooks...

[Now reading: The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama]

Posted by Scott

Journalist saves 49% on textbooks with BookFinder.com

Honolulu journalist and grad student Kim Fassler shared her experiences buying textbooks on BookFinder.com this semester:

“As a grad student returning to school for the first time in two years, I met the textbook challenge head-on as classes started last week…[t]hat meant 12 books, including one macroeconomics and one microeconomics textbook (notoriously expensive)….I…hopped on BookFinder.com, which offered TONS of help.

She found some huge savings on BookFinder.com:

“Number of classes that required books: 4
Number of books purchased: 12
Grand total: $333.15
Total, if I purchased all new books on Amazon.com: $655.52”

She continues:

“For those students going back to school, I’d highly recommend BookFinder.com, which shows you prices from many different book sites, including Amazon, Half, AbeBooks, Alibris and Overstock. (It’s like the Kayak.com of textbook shopping.)”

Thanks, Kim. We’re working hard to offer students bigger and easier textbook savings.

[Now Reading: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow]

Posted by Anirvan

Save up to 88% on textbooks at BookFinder.com

We do frequent price surveys to get a sense of what textbooks US college students are buying, and I’m perpetually astounded at the high price of textbooks. Last I checked, textbook prices were growing at four times the rate of inflation, costing students almost a thousand dollars a year.

I’d love to say that BookFinder.com is the magic answer to students’ textbook woes, but it’s not. There are larger systemic issues involved here: lack of adequate cost data available to faculty, the uptick in the publication of new editions, the bundling of often-unused add-on products, and increased use of techniques that make used textbooks largely non-resaleable (one-time-use online services, custom publishing). And sometimes, just old-fashioned price hikes.

Given those odds, using BookFinder.com is a pretty useful survival strategy for cost-conscious students trying to save on textbooks. Here’s a roundup of some of the deals we found.

Fall 2008 college textbook savings at BookFinder.com
Iowa State, English 10 College bookstore new: $216 BookFinder.com: $49.86 Savings: $166.14 (77%) Iowa State, Sociology 134 College bookstore new: $154.30 BookFinder.com: $26.94 Savings: $127.36 (83%)	Duke, Political Science 141D College bookstore new: $256.95 BookFinder.com: $115.14 Savings: $150.81 (57%) Duke, Jewish Studies 100 College bookstore new: $207.19 BookFinder.com: $74.53 Savings: $132.66 (64%)	UC Berkeley, Computer Science 61A College bookstore new: $210.75 BookFinder.com: $95.77 Savings: $114.98 (55%) UC Berkeley, Sociology 5 College bookstore new: $96.75 BookFinder.com: $48.64 Savings: $48.11 (64%)

So yeah, go ahead, use BookFinder.com for textbooks; we can help students find great prices. But making real change takes effort, and civic, student, and consumer organizing—which is where the Campaign to Reduce College Textbook Costs comes in. Run by a group of state PIRG organizations, the Campaign’s been doing excellent work documenting and analyzing the issue, providing access to research, and trying to push and track textbook affordability policies and legislation. The textbook affordability measures in HR4137 are a start, but there’s much more to do.

[Now reading: What is the What by Dave Eggers]

Posted by Anirvan

"Custom" textbooks cost big bucks

We’ve been hearing students grumble about the increasing number of “custom” textbooks being required on US college campuses. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal takes custom textbooks down a few notches, exposing hidden royalty payments, and the frustration that they cost.

“College students, already struggling with soaring tuition bills and expenses, are encountering yet another financial hit: Publishers and schools are working together to produce ‘custom’ textbooks that can limit students’ use of the money-saving trade in used books. And in a controversial twist, some academic departments are sharing in the profits from these texts. The University of Alabama, for instance, requires freshman composition students at its main campus to buy a $59.35 writing textbook titled ‘A Writer’s Reference,’ by Diana Hacker. The spiral-bound book is nearly identical to the same ‘A Writer’s Reference’ that goes for $30 in the used-book market and costs about $54 new. The only difference in the Alabama version: a 32-page section describing the school’s writing program — which is available for free on the university’s Web site. This version also has the University of Alabama’s name printed across the top of the front cover, and a notice on the back that reads: ‘This book may not be bought or sold used.’”

Read the full article…

Posted by Anirvan

Save 54% on textbooks at BookFinder.com

We’ve been adding more textbook sources on BookFinder.com, leading to even lower prices on college textbooks.

We did a survey of six sample courselists from three U.S. universities, checking prices at local campus bookstores, and comparing them to the prices we found on BookFinder.com; we were happily surprised by the results.

There are substantial savings buying a semester’s worth of textbooks from BookFinder.com:

• $175.75 (54%) saved vs. buying the cheapest copies at local campus stores
• $278.69 (65%) saved vs. buying new books at local campus stores

Courselist	Campus store		BookFinder.com cheapest	Savings vs. campus store new		Savings vs. campus store cheapest
	New	Cheapest		$	%	$	%
Iowa State “fuzzy” Econ 101, History 222, Comm Studies 102, Math 8	$488.00	$365.80	$132.23	$355.77	73%	$233.57	64%
Iowa State “techie” Engl 101C, Chem 160, Math 140, Geol 100	$428.40	$321.20	$86.89	$341.51	80%	$234.31	73%
UC Berkeley pre-computer sci Engg 10, Phil 12A, Engl 31AC, CompSci 61A	$416.05	$322.40	$169.46	$246.59	59%	$152.94	47%
UC Berkeley possible-premed Bio 1B, Stat 131, Spanish 1, English 25	$479.65	$374.40	$185.93	$293.72	61%	$188.47	50%
Duke art/classics ArtHist 70 & 103, Vis Arts 54, Relig 20S	$469.93	$353.00	$184.21	$285.72	61%	$168.79	48%
Duke political science / policy Econ 49S, HealthPol 111, PoliSci 101, Stat 10	$290.43	$218.00	$141.59	$148.84	51%	$76.41	35%
Average of all courselists	$428.74	$325.80	$150.05	$278.69	65%	$175.75	54%

[Now reading The World to Come by Dara Horn]

Posted by Anirvan

Top resource for college students

We were happy to see BookFinder.com cited in a number of recent lists of useful resources for college students…

#3 among “25 Essential Web Resources for Researchers and Students” :

“If you are looking for any kind of book, whether it is rare or out-of-print, specific edition - You will find it at Bookfinder. Over 125 millions book titles to search, you can actually buy new and old-books from this site. They achieve by doing a search through every major catalog available online.”

#7 among the “Top 10 Back to School Tools for the Organized Student”:

“Feel like you got hit over the head with a baseball bat when you leave the campus bookstore? Find the best deals on textbooks at BookFinder.com.”

#8 among “12 Super Web Apps For College Student Success In 2008”:

“Bookfinder - Never look anywhere else to find a textbook that you need. This site searches the entire internet and shows you the best price for what you’re looking for.”

One of the “Ten Web Sites Guaranteed to Make Your School Semester Easier”:

“A trip to the campus bookstore can end up exceding the cost of a month’s rent, but searching countless bookselling Web sites is a tedious process. So before you cough up a few hundo and force yourself to eat a semester of Ramen so you can afford that spring-break trip, check out BookFinder.com. BookFinder searches more than 100,000 booksellers worldwide (including popular sites like Amazon, BookByte.com, and Half.com) for any book, whether it’s new, used, or out of print. And because BookFinder is simply an aggregator, you order directly from the retailer; there’s no markup for its services. We liked that your search results come up in two columns: Used and New.”

One of the “Five ways to tech-out your college lifestyle”:

“While the interface seems a little dated, BookFinder will save you tons of time and money. Simply type in a book you’re looking for and the site will find you the best price the internet has to offer. There’s no longer a need to search a ton of websites (or get ripped off by Norris) to get the most for your buck.”

Top writing tool among “The Most Helpful Web Tools for Students”:

“A one-stop ecommerce search engine that searches over 125 million books for sale — new, used, rare, out-of-print, and textbooks. Save your time and money by searching every major catalog online, find out which booksellers are offering the best prices and selection. When you find a book you like, you can buy it directly from the original seller; BookFinder never charges a markup. If you are one of those poor students who struggles for money, this site is for you. You can compare prices that are offered by different sellers and pick up the cheapest item.”

One of the resources cited in a “Back to School Productivity Roundup” :

BookFinder: Compare prices on 125 million new and used books

Posted by Anirvan

Our textbook deals in the NY Times

BookFinder.com’s textbook search is in today’s New York Times:

“Bookfinder.com, an umbrella search site that sifts through the inventories of hundreds of thousands booksellers worldwide, started a simple, easy-to-use textbook search tool. The way it works: enter a title, I.S.B.N. or author’s name in Bookfinder’s textbooks search box to navigate a huge database of 125 million new and used books. You can compare prices, shipping costs and the availability of less expensive editions published overseas.

Consider, for example, a textbook required for an advanced Japanese course at my daughter’s college. A Bookfinder search last week for ‘Genki II: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese II’ turned up 24 new and used copies, at prices ranging from $20.94 at Amazon.com to $110.62 at Amazon.de. For each of the 24 copies, total price (including shipping) is listed on a single page, along with information about how soon the book will ship. Some sellers offer expedited delivery. Amazon, for instance, offers overnight delivery and discounts of up to 30 percent off on new copies of 200,000 textbooks.

‘Our goal is to give students all the options of buying any new or used edition, whether it’s published here or for an overseas market, and then let them decide which books are the best deals for them,’ said Anirvan Chatterjee, Bookfinder.com’s founder.”

BookFinder.com started life as a class project, and we’re still based just a block away from campus. We know the new semester is stressful, so we’ve been working overtime to increase speed and selection for the busy textbook season; let us know if you have any problems.

Posted by Anirvan

Big textbook savings

Working in a college town (Berkeley, California), we’re pretty aware of the changing of the semesters. As textbook season starts up again, I wanted to figure out just how much students could save buying books via BookFinder.com.

I started with a basic UC Berkeley first semester course list: Biology 1 (General Biology), Political Science 2 (Introduction to Comparative Politics), Chemistry 4A (General Chemistry & Quantitative Analysis), and History 7A (United States History to 1865). There were 13 textbooks assigned between the four courses.

I went down to our local campus area discount student bookstore yesterday, trying to see how much a hypothetical UC Berkeley student might spend on textbooks this semester. The cheapest possible total for 13 textbooks: $517 (or $635 if one bought only new books).

Then I checked BookFinder.com. The total, including shipping: $272.45, for the same set of books. That’s a real-life savings of $244.55, or 47%.

Where was BookFinder.com when I was a student?

Here’s what I learned:

• The best deals were spread across 5 different online stores/marketplaces; in my sample, they turned out to be AbeBooks, Amazon Marketplace, A1Books, Biblio.com, and Amazon.ca (though that’ll vary based on the books you’re searching for, and the sites’ current inventories. Using BookFinder.com saved a lot of money vs. going only to a single store/marketplace.
• For both of the most expensive books, the cheapest price available was in a brand-new international edition (one from Southeast Asia, another from Canada).
• It seems obvious, but the biggest net savings were on the most expensive books. Buying only the 2 most expensive books online would save $136.14. Relying on BookFinder.com for all 5 textbooks that cost over $25 at the campus store would save $213.

So to summarize:

• BookFinder.com’s a good way to find textbook deals online
• If you’re shopping online, it’s better to price-compare across multiple marketplaces, rather than to buy all your books from any one place
• If you’re busy and want quick savings, look online for your most expensive books

Posted by Anirvan

Binding: bulletproof

From the news of the weird department, a candidate for Oklahoma State School Superintendent is suggesting that textbooks with Kevlar covers could serve as bulletproof shields for students facing an armed attack at school. Retired vet Bill Crozier demonstrates the effectiveness of hardcover textbooks in stopping bullets in a video, included as part of the news story.

[Now Reading: City of Glass by Paul Auster]

Posted by Anirvan