Cheap or easy-when it comes to buying textbooks, you usually can't have both.
Students have to weigh the convenience of buying locally against deals available online.
Scott Laming, public relations coordinator for abebooks.com, said buying textbooks online is usually cheaper because online vendors cater to a national market. The greater customer base allows vendors to purchase their supplies of books in bulk, often at discount prices.
"Smaller local bookstores just don't have the same buying power and can't get the same prices that we do," Laming said. In addition, online vendors do not have to pay to operate a storefront, keeping prices low.
But Laming said students who need a book immediately usually buy it locally rather than waiting or paying to expedite shipping.
Also, if a professor makes any last-minute changes to the syllabus, students who purchased online are stuck with a book they no longer need. Buying locally makes returns and exchanges easier.
Buying from the UF Bookstore allows students with financial aid to defer textbook costs until financial aid is disbursed.
Peter Shekailo, a UF microbiology senior, bought his textbooks from the UF Bookstore because of the convenience of the deferment program.
"Here I can just slide my [Gator 1 Card]," he said.
Even though the books may be more expensive than buying them online, Shekailo said he doesn't mind because he is paying for books with scholarships.
"I'm not supplying the money I'm using," he said. If he went elsewhere, he would pay out of pocket and wait to be reimbursed.
The UF Bookstore also offers digital copies of some textbooks at a lower price. Director Lynne Vaughan said a student can purchase a code that, when entered online, downloads the textbook to a computer. The copy expires after 180 days and cannot be sold back.
The campus bookstore also hosts the UF Book Market on its Web site, allowing students to post classified ads to sell used books at a price they set. Buyers can search the listings and purchase directly from other students.
While buying used is generally cheaper, it's not always feasible.
Keith Cox, manager at Orange and Blue Textbooks, said some students have to buy new books if their courses have an online component. This coursework is accessed with a code provided in new copies.
According to Vaughan, early shoppers tend to buy all the used books first, forcing others to buy new.
Brittany Hicks, a materials science and engineering freshman, purchased two calculus books from the UF Bookstore. She bought her other books online through amazon.com, but was unable to find the last two on the site.
The campus bookstore did not have used copies of the books she needed, so she bought them new.
"At that point I just wanted to have them," she said.
