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Introduction
Your alternatives Used books Internet. Includes general information, price check services, and the publishers. Bottom of page; return links and contact information |
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Caution... Not only do book prices vary from one store to another, but for online stores prices may vary with time. That is, prices change!
Used books may be available through the college bookstore. If so, they are usually in quite good condition, and sold at a quite small discount from the price for the new book. If you buy in person, you get to see the condition of the used book you buy. The supply of used books is usually very limited.
There is quite a market for used books developing on the Internet. This may involve transactions with private sellers. Some students have told me that they have gotten tremendous bargains this way. Some books are not up to the described quality; it is up to you to consider this risk, and to decide whether the item is still a good value. Delivery time may be slow, especially with private sellers. In any case, you may want to at least check to see if used books are available and at what price. One way to start is with a price check service, such as AddAll (see Internet section, below).
The textbook used for Intro Chem (X11) is a loose-leaf book. Because of the form, it is usually not available "used" through regular bookstores (and, frankly, I would be reluctant to buy a used copy of a loose-leaf book without being able to examine it). However, alternative forms of the book are available; see Introductory Chemistry (X11) Textbook information page. A new copy of the loose-leaf book is probably about the same price as a used copy of the bound book, through regular bookstores. However, private transactions may give better deals.
Buying things on the Internet may be new to you. Be a good consumer -- as in a regular store. For example...
Be sure that you order the correct book -- title, edition. It is good to check the ISBN. In fact, I encourage you to search using the ISBN; it is the best way to be sure you are searching for the correct book, and is probably easier in the long run. (For the Intro Chem textbook, some variations of the listed book may be ok; see my Introductory Chemistry (X11) Textbook information page for information.) If you want information about whether a book you find is ok, ask me about it.
Check that the book you order is available. I would be somewhat suspicious of stores that won't tell you if the book is available until after you have completed your order.
Check the actual price you are paying, including tax (if any) and shipping. Beware of discounts that are based on inflated prices.
A variety of shipping choices may be available; rush orders will typically have a high shipping charge.
Check the return policy.
I am not in any way responsible for your experience with any of these bookstores or services. I receive no compensation or recognition of any kind for your use of these links or stores. The links are provided simply for your information. If you have interesting experiences with any of these sites, good or bad, or know of others we should list, please let me know.
Price check services. Each site in this group scans many Internet bookstores, and returns information on book prices. Listings may include quotes for "used" books, as well as new. My experience with such services is that they are useful, but sometimes return incomplete information. If a store you like to deal with is not listed in the output from one of these services, check that store anyway.
Some of these services will also check for products other than books. For example, some will checks for CDs and DVDs.
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/index.html
http://www.booksprice.com. The note I received about this site says it allows you to find the best price of several books together.
http://www.bigwords.com/. This service specializes in college textbooks.
http://www.bookbrain.co.uk. This service checks only bookstores in the UK; some of these stores are checked by other services listed above. In some cases, book prices in the UK are substantially lower than in the US -- even after including shipping charges. As a quick rule of thumb, multiply prices in UK pounds by 2 to get US dollars; this exchange rate will vary, sometimes considerably. (April 2007: the exchange rate is about 2.) You can charge purchases in foreign currencies to regular credit cards, but your credit card company will add a surcharge for doing this; check with them for the amount. You may want to explore, but think through the implications before making a final decision.
Google product search (formerly Google Froogle). http://www.google.com/products. Or, go to your usual Google search engine http://www.google.com, then choose Products. This is not just for books; it is a general price check service for consumer products.
Publishers. In some cases you may be able to buy direct from the publisher. Whether this is a good deal varies -- so, again, be a good consumer. You can find the publisher's site through a regular Internet search engine. The publisher's home page usually has a search engine, so you can search their site for the book.
Intro Chem (X11) Syllabus - textbook information or home page.
Intro Organic/Biochem (X402) Syllabus - textbook information or home page.
Molecular biology (X107) Syllabus - textbook information or home page.
List of pages of Internet Resources
Contact information Site home page
Last update: January 3, 2009