Money Making Student » Making Money

20 Places to Buy, Sell, and Rent Cheap Textbooks Online

Martyn @ MMS — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:47:04 +0000

photo by Plutor

This guest post is by Karen Schweitzer from OnlineCollege.org

Buying university textbooks from a campus bookstore is expensive, and selling never yields as much as one would expect. Students who are looking to save money should go straight to the web. There are tons of places online offering deals that cannot be found in a campus store.

Here are 20 places where students can buy, sell, and rent cheap textbooks online:

Buy

JS Campus – JS Campus is the UK’s leading student bookseller. Students can receive regular deals on textbooks and shipping.

Better World Books – Students can buy both new and used textbooks through this online book seller. Shipping is cheap–only $3.97 worldwide.

Amazon Textbooks – Students who shop Amazon can save from 30 to 90 percent on new and used textbooks. Amazon is also a good source for study guides, reference books, and prep guides.

Buy.com – Buy.com is a great place to find cheap textbooks online. Students can choose from new and used books and can save more 10 percent off Amazon book pricing.

Powell’s – The largest independent book store in the world, Powell’s offers a wide variety of in-print and out-of-print textbooks at discounted prices.

Waterstone’s – Waterstone’s offers significant discounts on books and free shipping in the UK.

Blackwell – Nicknamed the "knowledge retailer", Blackwell has one of the largest collections of academic texts online. Books can be purchased new or secondhand.

Biblio – With millions of new and secondhand textbooks, chances are Biblio has the text you need. Biblio also features wonderful customer service for students who need help with textbook buying.

The Book Depository – This online book seller offers free worldwide delivery on textbooks and other academic texts.

iChapters – This unique site allows students to decide how they want to purchase textbooks. Students can buy an entire textbook or single chapters.

Sell

AbeBooks – Although they are better known for selling books, AbeBooks also has a buyback service for students who want to sell their textbooks. More than one million titles are eligible for buyback.

Student Books – This site offers a free place for students to auction their old textbooks. Sellers can also bid on other items.

Half.com – Students can use this eBay company to sell their textbooks to other people around the world. Half.com allows sellers to set their own price.

PriceMinister – PriceMinister is an excellent place to sell textbooks. Listing items is free and sellers are allowed to set their own price.

PlayTrade – PlayTrade is another favorite among students who want to make money off their textbooks and other old stuff. Selling on the site is easy and commissions are low.

UniTextbooks – Students can list old textbooks for free on this site and then arrange to meet the buyer face-to-face to avoid paying a seller commission.

Preloved – Preloved makes it easy for students to sell secondhand textbooks. There are no listing fees, no selling fees, and no commissions to pay.

Rent

YungJunk – This site offers more than one million textbooks that can be rented for free. Students pay only for the shipping.

Zilok – Students who want to find cheap textbooks online can rent books from other students through Zilok. The site allows buyers to name their price and decide how far they want to travel to get the books.

Find Guru – University students can search for rentable textbooks on Find Guru. Site members can also use Find Guru to rent out books.

Guest Post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about accredited online colleges for OnlineCollege.org.

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20 Places to Buy, Sell, and Rent Cheap Textbooks Online

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Money Making Report No.16

Martyn @ MMS — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:16:54 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the sixteenth money and possibly last making report, here’s the last one.

I’ve decided that although it may be interesting to read, (I hope!) it seems pointless to produce a post monthly that seems to vary little. So it may appear occasionally, who knows…

With uni work and exams, MMS will probably need dusting down!

But, for possibly the last time, here’s the figures…

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $73.09 (approx £49.94) [+$11.29]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk - now defunct

Total Earned: £124 (approx $184)

Received: £124

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $96.49) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £77.45 (approx $113.49) [+£29.35]

Received: £77.45

Private advertising seems to be the way to go, there seem to be many advantages. The main advantage is you are dealing with real people, you get feedback, you get to manipulate to your customer needs. Where the robotic nature of Google ads or the disjointed nature of affiliate marketing can seem so impersonal. Although the returns could be potentially greater than private ad sales, I have yet to actually confirm that. Plus there is no ‘real’ alternative to Google. By ending or reducing the number of money reports is not a sign I’m giving up, it’s just a reflection of how busy my life is at the moment. As they say Time = Money…

Best of luck,

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.16

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Money Making Report No.15

Martyn @ MMS — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:07:37 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the fifteenth money making report, here’s the last one.

A lack of time this month leads to a cut down money making report this month, so no dribble to start with. Here’s the figures…

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $61.80 (approx £43.33) [+$2.44]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk - now defunct

Total Earned: £124 (approx $184)

Received: £124

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $96.49) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £48.10 (approx $70.50) [+£0]

Received: £48.10

A lack of time down to uni and work commitments hit hard last month, even answering surveys for cash was put aside so I could concentrate on more pressing matters. Just one point of note, I signed up for Twitter, like many more out of curiosity. Odly enough I like it, I feel a post on the subject would be a better way to explain it. Although, if you can’t wait, you can ‘Follow Me’ @Martyn_MMS

Until next time best of luck,

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.15

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Money Making Report No.14

Martyn @ MMS — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:02:16 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the fourteenth money making report, here’s the last one.

Ah well, with the world well and truly up to the neck in financial uncertainty, it makes me wonder whether good news still exists. I personally think the best way forward is to keep away from the general pessimism of the media. I know in a media driven society this is nearly impossible. But with any positive attitudes trampled on by the media, it seems any motivation to push towards economic recovery is tethered. Take the slamming of a British minister for saying “…she could see a few green shoots…”. Chin up and smile, that’s all I’m going to say! Now for some figures….

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $59.36 (approx £40.26) [+$4.81]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk - now defunct

Total Earned: £124 (approx $184)

Received: £124

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $96.49) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £48.10 (approx $70.50) [+£0]

Received: £48.10

Nothing of note to really mention at the moment, I have seen no return from TradeDoubler as of yet, but I suppose I am still experimenting with which adverts work and which don’t. Signing up for eBay again is a must, they used to be part of a network and then decided to set up their own. Which is a nuisance, but I reckon Amazon’s own affiliate system ain’t bad, so it could be ok!

Until next time best of luck,

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.14

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Money Making Report No.13

Martyn @ MMS — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:20:53 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the thirteenth money making report, here’s the last one.

Well, this turned into a bad month! Matched.co.uk closed down on the 19th November 2008, which is obviously a great disappointment. Matched.co.uk had proved to be quite a handy little earner. For all its little drawbacks it will be missed. End of obituary. Time for some figures….

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $54.55 (approx £36.74) [+$10.10]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk - now defunct

Total Earnt: £124 (approx $184)

Received: £124

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $96.49) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £48.10 (approx $70.50) [+£0]

Received: £48.10

With Matched.co.uk taken out of the equation and Money4Banners not reinstated yet, the only thing to look at is AdSense. AdSense are never going to be a big earner unless I have more visitors, but relatively, this month was quite good. So the search goes on for an immediate replacement to matched.co.uk. In the current ecconomic climate, I cannot see a similar offering comming along. Possibly private advertising is the route to go? Or maybe just pay per click, such as AdSense. It is worth noting I’m past the half way point in terms of recieving my first payment from Google. Hopefully I will make that Milestone early in 2009!

Best of luck,

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.13

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Money Making Report No.12

Martyn @ MMS — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:14:01 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the twelfth money making report, here’s the last one.

Money seems to still be flowing in at the moment, which seems very strange to me. Although the global recession is starting to bite, I seem to be avoiding the problems floating around at the moment. Hopefully this will last.

Well on to the figures!

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $44.45 (approx £30.34) [+$6.74]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk

So far earned: £124 (approx $181.67) [+£12.00]

Received: £124

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $95.29) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £48.10 (approx $70.50) [+£0]

Received: £48.10

Growth is my next step, 3 new websites are on the way. More advertising routes must be exploited, more marketing and finally more content. I have neglected this site in favour of concentrating on another project (plus uni work!) So it is about time I start generating new content for here. Initially I have some ‘weekly web round up’ posts to set up, plus a few new series of posts to start in the next couple of weeks.

So I’m back!

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.12

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Money Making Report No.11

Martyn @ MMS — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:17:25 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the eleventh money making report, here’s the last one.

Well not a lot has happened!

Not a lot to report other than a brand new header design, a bit more tidying up of the theme will also be undertaken. I won’t bore you with sore random rubbish, so here’s the important numbers…

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $37.71 (approx £23.62) [+$5.66]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk

So far earned: £112 (approx $183.70) [+£12.00]

Received: £112

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $106.61) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £48.10 (approx $78.85) [+£0]

Received: £48.10

I must firstly apologise to money4banners for wrongly saying they had failed to pay me for last month. In fact it turns out that I had a coding error. Therefore the advert was not shown. What disappoints me is there is no attempt of notifying you of the error. Unlike matched.co.uk who give you a daily status email. Although I do question how good their spider is. I think it may be a little blind as it seems to come up with inaccurate information.

As for making money, I’ve decided to take a back seat this month and what a month it has been! With the credit crunch, fluctuating world markets and exchange rates, I’ve decided to take a step away from things so I can just watch and listen.

I like many have been amazed at how brittle the financial system was. But is it a good time to make a quick buck online? With companies tightening their belts, money is less likely to be thrown at internet marketing without a lot more consideration. One thing I have noticed is cost per click seems to have improved, from a publishers point of view? Is this related to the current economic climate?

I think a little more time and the situation will become a bit clearer, hopefully making day to day business easier.

Until next time best of luck,

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.11

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Money Making Report No.10

Martyn @ MMS — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:31:45 +0000

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the tenth money making report, here’s the last one.

A bit late, preparation for my third year at uni has taken priority!

Over the last month I have been considering whether posting more frequently will generate more revenue, or should I diversify more. The answer comes down to time. More posts would be detrimental to my general life, as I would have to devote more focus to this, whereas more websites involve research and the initial time investment and maintenance. Which is a better option? I am leaning towards the latter as that probably holds more interest for me. Daily posting seems a waste unless you really have something useful to say, otherwise you just dry up. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Back to finacial matters, Project Wonderful has returned in the form of 125×125 ads, these have been more successful although I still am not sure of them. But atleast they work a little better.

Now for the important numbers…

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $32.05 (approx £16.02) [+$7.11]

Received: $0

Matched.co.uk

So far earned: £100 (approx $200) [+£0]

Received: £100

Money4Banners

So far earned: £65 (approx $130) [£0]

Received: £65

Private Advertising

So far earned: £48.10 (approx $96.05) [+£48.10]

Received: £48.10

Matched.co.uk and Money4Banners are late with their payment, which I’m quite dissapointed about. I will wait a little longer before shooting some emails at them. M4B has been late before and they did appoligise, so hopefully that will be resolved in the same way. Matched.co.uk is a case of watch this space…

On the brighter front, I have decided to accept suitable private advertising, which has been very successful. Although it will be unpredictable I suspect! But it may provide an interesting new income stream.

until next time best of luck,

Martyn

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Money Making Report No.10

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