Sent this to the school newspaper just now. Keeping it under 500 words was difficult:

    This semester, I have 3 required textbooks. They would have cost $384.78 (including tax) through the BU Bookstore. I got them online for $96.70 (including shipping), a 74.8% discount. Here is an introduction to what I’ve done to avoid paying hundreds of dollars per semester on textbooks:
    You must first determine what books are needed for your classes. Here are some ways to do this:
- When the BU Bookstore announces that they are taking preorders, use their website (bu.bkstore.com) to see what books are assigned for your courses. Only an abbreviated title and the author’s last name are provided. Searching Amazon is usually sufficient to find the rest.
- Go to the bookstore in person and find the ISBN for each of your textbooks. It can be found near the barcode or on the copyright info page.
- Ask the professor. I’ve never encountered faculty who aren’t sympathetic to their students’ limited finances, so it’s unlikely your professor will mind. If it’s not too much trouble, ask for the ISBN.
    Once armed with ISBNs for each textbook (which guarantee that you get the correct editions), it’s time to shop. There are two types of online bookstores; retailers (standalone stores with their own website) and resellers (students and independent booksellers who list their inventory on other, larger sites). Resellers will sometimes offer “international editions”, which are discount paperbacks originally sold in foreign countries. They are otherwise page-by-page identical to US editions, their only downside is that the BU Bookstore doesn’t accept them for buyback, but they’re so cheap that you often save money regardless.
    To begin your search, I recommend using sites like isbn.nu to get prices across several online booksellers. When planning your purchases, be sure to take the seller’s location into account. For example, I would strongly recommend a seller in Illinois over one in Singapore, if only due to shipping time. Additionally, avoid sellers whose reviews are more than 5-10% negative, and use a credit card for purchases, not a debit card. If you order with a credit card and the book never shows up, you’ll be able to deny payment through the credit card company. In seven semesters of buying textbooks online, I’ve never needed to do this, but it’s good to know about.
    I recommend that you buy your books at least two or three weeks before classes begin, allowing plenty of time for them to be shipped. I have only encountered one instance where, due to some nasty weather which delayed shipping, the book arrived later than expected. If you need an alternative before your book arrives, you may use a reference copy in the BU Library, or buy a temporary copy from the BU Bookstore and return it when your book arrives in the mail. If you do this, avoid shrinkwrapped books, because the bookstore will refuse returns of unwrapped copies, even if you have dropped the class.
    You should now have all you need to start saving on textbooks. Good luck!