Buying used textbooks for college classes is a great way to save some money. The high price of textbooks can be intimidating, and hard to budget for.  Here are a few tips that can help make a search for cheap college textbooks a little bit easier.

Details are important!

Write down the full name of the textbook, and the first and last name of each person involved with writing or editing the textbook.  A search for cheap textbooks can bring up several books with the exact same title.  An easy way to figure out which of these books is the one required for class is to look at the author’s (or editor’s) names, and ignore the books that are written by someone else.

Most college textbooks are revised annually. Make a note of the edition number of the textbook before starting a search for cheap textbooks. Don’t accidentally purchase the textbook that has the correct name, and the right author, but the wrong edition number.

On the back of the book there will be a series of numbers sitting near the bar code.  This is the ISBN number, and it is used to identify one book from all the rest. This is the best way to be certain that a search for cheap textbooks has resulted in the locating the desired book.

Look for distractions.

A great way to buy cheap college textbooks is to purchase used textbooks.  While it is sometimes possible to obtain used textbooks that are in pristine condition, this is not common.

It is a good idea to flip through the cheap college textbook before making a purchase, (if you have the opportunity).  There may be notes written in the margins, words that have been underlined, or sections that have been highlighted with marker.  It is safest to avoid assuming that what you find marked in a used textbook is the part to study.  Each professor will have a different idea about what is important to learn.  Some students may find the additional marks, notes, and highlights to be too distracting to study from.

Buying cheap college textbooks is wonderful way to safe some money.  However, getting the wrong book, or a book that is unusable isn’t helpful.  It is far better to take a moment and be certain that the textbook is right for you than to simply buy the textbook with the lowest price.