Nursing School Textbooks: How to get cheap deals on books in nursing school. This article is on how to get cheap deals/save money on nursing school textbooks. If you are a nursing student, you know how expensive nursing textbooks are.
Well, if you are not let me give you an idea! For just one of my nursing classes, I had to have 5 textbooks and they were all required. My professor literally used every single book and took test questions from each book. So, in other words if you didn’t have those 5 textbooks you would fail the class.
One of the textbooks I had to get for that class was a Nursing Medical-Surgical book that costs $110. All in all, I spent over $450 on textbooks just for that one class and I had four more classes to buy for. However, I did save money on my textbooks and came out better than my classmates because I shopped around online.
If you want to save money on your textbooks here is what you do. About two weeks (earlier is possible), before you start a new semester of school go and see what books you need for the semester.
When you are there write down the prices and ISBNs of every book you need down on a sheet of paper. The ISBN in found on the back of the book which is the book’s searchable code (this is very important for finding your books online). Then go home and search these sites for deals on your books.
- Amazon.com
- Half.com
- eBay.com
These are the only website I use, because I do not trust other ones and they usually have higher prices than the ones listed above. When you go to these sites put the ISBN in the search bar and it should bring up the book you need. Seriously, if you do this you will save some major money!
Even if you are not a nursing student but in college, this is a great way to save money on your textbooks! Shop online because they are usually cheaper than your college bookstore.
Here is a video that gives you additional tips on how to save money with textbooks:
Ways to Save Money on Textbooks
- Shop around using the ISBN, or the Author’s name, Textbook name and edition. Get a list of books required by going to the bookstore and making notes. You must do this 1 month or so before classes start, because the cheap deals get snagged up once school starts. Then shop around on Amazon, eBay, and Barnes & Noble.
- Buy Used: Used books are a lot cheaper than new books. However, you have to buy them early to get a used one. Students tend to buy up the used ones fast because they are cheaper!
- Buy International Editions: It may not be legal to do this in all areas, but sometimes you can buy an international version for cheaper. I know there was a legal debate about whether this was safe/legal to do in the U.S., but I do know that a lot of people used this strategy to save money. So use caution and make sure it is legal before doing it!
- Buy Older Editions: Many new editions are really the exact same as the older, but they may update a few illustrations, new stories, etc. Ask your professor if an older edition will work. An older edition could save you $100 or more!
- Share a book with roommate. If you have a roommate or classmate, see if you can share a book and study together.
- Exchange books with other students. I once took a course after a friend took it, and she gave me her book. I also gave her a book for a class I’d previously taken. It was a win-win situation.
- Sell your books back at the end of the semester. I sold my books on Amazon, and occasionally eBay. It is easy to create a seller account, and sometimes I got more than I paid for it!
Thinking about going to Nursing School?
Are you contemplating going to nursing school, or are you actually in nursing school right now? Nursing school can be challenging, especially if you do not know what to expect. Here is a great guide by S. L. Page BSN, RN called “How to Pass Nursing School“. This book gives you detailed information about how to pass nursing school from beginning to end. S.L. Page, the creator of this website, complied all the information students what to know about nursing school into one easy to read guide. She gives in depth information on how to succeed in nursing school.
S.L. Page graduated from nursing school with honors and passed the NCLEX-RN on her first try. In this eBook, she reveals the strategies she used to help her succeed.
Here is what the book looks like: