Buying Online

Compare prices across all the usual sites: Amazon, eBay, Waterstones, Blackwells & Play. From my experience you will usually find the cheapest second hand books on Amazon or eBay but look out for Waterstones, Play and Blackwells deals on Save The Student.

There are also sites that cater for students which you may not be familiar with: www.sellstudentstuff.com holds textbooks for every subject from Law to Psychology and at www.abebooks.co.uk you can search for books by entering the ISBN (the book number thing above the barcode).

Remember to take postage and packaging costs in to account when buying online as it can cost up to £8 from abe books. You should also always buy used or previously owned- it doesn’t matter if the book is a bit dog-eared, and the previous owner’s pencil marks may actually help you out!

Reward Cards

The Big Daddies of book shops offer reward cards which allow you to earn points for every pound you spend. This is a good tactic to use if you know you will keep coming back to this book shop.

Blackwells give you a £5 reward for every 100 points you earn, making it worthwhile signing up for a card at the start of your university career, as you’re likely to spend enough over the course of your studies to earn your £5. Waterstones offer special rewards to cardholders, like discounted entry to museums.

Renting Textbooks

Sometimes it is more cost effective to rent textbooks for a certain period of time, such as before exams, when copies of popular course textbooks will be like gold dust in your university library.

Blackwells allows you to rent books for 30, 60 or 90 days and will email you reminders so you are less likely to incur overdue charges. They claim you can save up to 66% by renting from them, and you can either pick your rental up in store or have it delivered. The UK’s number one textbook rental service is www.acadremia.co.uk – its usually cheaper to buy from the UK as postage costs are less.

Sell your used books

Keep your books in good condition and you can sell them online when you no longer need them. To avoid paying hefty postage fees (books are heavy), advertise on posters around campus or ask your course organiser for a mailing list so you can send everyone who is on the same course an email.

Also, Blackwells runs a ‘Guaranteed Buy Back’ scheme on certain textbooks, where they will buy your book back from you for up to 40% of the original price, but you have to resist the urge to highlight while you own it! You can also buy and sell textbooks at www.zulubooks.co.uk for a small listing fee. On www.bookmooch.com you can swap books with other users, operating on a points system.

The University Library

The library can be a bit daunting at first, but getting to grips with the sytem will save you time and money. Your uni’s library is a free resource tailored to students’ needs, so you should take advantage of this. I’ve learned to take out books before my course covers them, that way I get to them before everyone else snaps them up. (A good tip is to check out the reading list early on Blackboard if it’s up).

You’ll find the library holds a few copies of key textbooks, which you can take out and renew online before it becomes overdue, saving you buying the book yourself. You can also reserve books that are in high demand, which limits others renewing their loan. Library politics can become a bit crazy as people hide books and take on fines to keep them for longer. It’s not worth the hassle so don’t get involved.

Free Online books and journals

Most universities will give you an account to log onto JSTOR. If you are unaware of what JSTOR is then I can tell you it’s the biggest collection of journals on the internet. I use this site all the time to get some good reading in for my course. Journals are great to back up the books you have read and they are great for getting those extra grades.

Also, if you search for a book on Google Scholar then there may be preview pages for you to look at. It’s a gamble but 50% of the time you end up with the pages you need being the ones that are previewed which is great. No need to leave the comfort of your own home or spend any pennies for that killer quote for your essay.

For even more you can read books for free online at www.openlibrary.org or www.textbookrevolution.org - great for when skimming text on tablets or laptops but not so useful for texts that require more in depth study.

Share with friends

If you live with friends who are on the same course or just visit them a lot then one of the best tips is to share (everything). If you take notes on a book that is no longer available then why not lend them to a friend. You could also buy books by clubbing together.

Working as a team will mean you get the notes done faster and cheaper but beware the friend who is not pulling their weight.

More tips

• It may seem a bit wrong, but you can buy short books, read them in a few days, then return them to the shop. Just check their return policy and don’t spill anything on the pages!
• When buying textbooks, you should always check to see if you can get an earlier edition for a cheaper price-chances are the content won’t be too different!
• Charity shops are great for novels, and you might strike gold in second hand shops in the area surrounding your uni, as past students may drop their old books in.
• When buying books, always remember to ask for  student discounts and student deals.
• Saving money on reading at university is all about planning ahead. Check which books you’ll need next term and put them on your Christmas list now- family will be glad to buy presents that will help with your studies.