Textbooks: School bookstore or amazon/half.com??

[legaleagle5]

Hey everyone I was going to go up to the school bookstore to get my textbooks before orientation next week but I looked through amazon and they have everything and some good used options... Since this is my first time around with this I just want to make sure that amazon is a safe bet with law school books and would notes and highlites in the book be detrimental enough to spend the money and buy new

Any advice would be greatly apprciated
my wallet thanks you in advance

[almostlegal]

I tend to go through Barnesandnoble.com -- I think the membership card gets you 20% off textbooks.  You have to pay like $25/year for the membership card, but it beyond pays for itself when you get textbooks.  I've found that the used textbooks at my school's bookstore cost more than the new ones with the discount card. 

Always shop around -- you never know who will have the best price.  Also, the prices through Westlaw are around the same as amazon.com, but you will earn Westlaw points for ordering (and there's also free shipping).

[America's Next Top Lawyer]

Hey everyone I was going to go up to the school bookstore to get my textbooks before orientation next week but I looked through amazon and they have everything and some good used options... Since this is my first time around with this I just want to make sure that amazon is a safe bet with law school books and would notes and highlites in the book be detrimental enough to spend the money and buy new

Any advice would be greatly apprciated
my wallet thanks you in advance

I always bought used books from amazon. Because the school bookstore puts a crazy premium on their books. You will be able to get the same books for less on amazon.

[vjm]

I like abebooks (haven't used them for law yet) and campusI.com seems like a good site.

[jsb221]

I bought my textbooks at the campus bookstore first year only because we didn't get our schedule in time to know which books we were using. This year, I ordered online and saved over half. It also helped that some of my casebooks were older editions. Downside to that is there will probably be a new edition coming out before I can try to sell mine. Anyway, if you know the ISBN, try Googling it. Sometimes there are smaller bookstores that are selling it a little cheaper or offering free shipping. I've ordered from several smaller ones, as well as half.com, ebay and amazon. But if you're buying used, make sure you double check the condition of the book. If you don't mind highlighting, it shouldn't make a difference. But if you do, make sure the seller carefully describes the book's condition.

[jd4me2010]

I bought mine the first few terms at the bookstore, but now I buy most everything (and sell it back when the semester is over) at half.com. If you don't mind someone else's highlighting that is the way to go. I have also averaged getting $30-$40 more back per book on half.com and they sell really quickly. HTH.

[skeeball]

I buy all mine through the bookstore b/c they usually have the best price and I know I'm getting the right edition. I prefer new books, and there isn't usually a big variance in the price of new casebooks. The B&N 20% off deal could be pretty good, but  a lot times they didn't have the most recent edition.

I was afraid of ordering used books online b/c I didn't know if they'd ship in times for classes. Profs at my school tend not to tell you what books to order until a week and half before classes start.

[legaleagle5]

Thanks everyone for your advice... I decided to buy new from amazon and still saved on average about $30 a book
Since it is my first year I am not sure how highlighting will affect my studies so I decided not to take the risk but still amazon was cheaper than my bookstore and I also don't have to carry all those books onto the train at one which is a plus!

[America's Next Top Lawyer]

Thanks everyone for your advice... I decided to buy new from amazon and still saved on average about $30 a book
Since it is my first year I am not sure how highlighting will affect my studies so I decided not to take the risk but still amazon was cheaper than my bookstore and I also don't have to carry all those books onto the train at one which is a plus!

In  the future when you are facing the prospect of purchasing a $300 book, the used option will be a priority. They are just gouging us. I dont want to line their pockets any more.

I even think the profs are getting a kickback on the books they recommend. So it is a huge racket.

[jd2bee]

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