The FIU Bookstore: Where you don’t buy your books

Photo by Piotrus via Wikipedia

Stephanie Piedrahita/ Staff Writer

I’ve never liked accepting book advances. I feel that if I ever did, it would be agreeing to pay the steep and abusive prices for our textbooks. I have never met anyone who was perfectly fine with the idea of paying over 600 dollars’ worth of textbooks (like I did my first semester) but it didn’t take me long to learn about the alternatives.

I managed to reduce the cost of books and school supplies from 400 to 60 dollars this semester alone. How? Well, never EVER go to the FIU bookstore to begin with.
A simple one subject notebook costs three dollars compared to ninety nine cents anywhere else. You can only imagine how big the price gap must be when you look at textbooks, many which are mandatory in order to pass a class. This is where I share wisdom that was recently passed down to me…the bookstore isn’t the only place you can get your textbooks. That of course, is painfully obvious and even common sense to a degree but there certainly are students who get the short end of the stick and end up broke after only the first week of class. So, how did I only spend 60 dollars for all of my textbooks this semester? Amazon. The internet is truly a beautiful place full of books that are 1/3 of the cost displayed at the bookstore. You can buy the book brand new for a few dollars less OR you could rent the book out up until a month AFTER school is done. So, instead of buying one of my textbooks for $180 I only paid a whopping $17 dollars for a rental in extremely good condition and you can totally do the same.

“Oh but mine is a custom book!” No worries, usually those books are two different texts put together and they put the word “custom” in the front to make you pay more money. If you speak to a professor, they will usually be fine with you buying older versions of the book or will even tell you what two books would cover your entire curriculum for the semester without breaking your bank (they were students once too!).  When you buy textbooks at the bookstore, you’re paying for convenience. Aside from the fact that they’re expensive, sometimes textbooks are even useless. I remember my first semester I only had to use one of the textbooks I bought, and that was during finals week.

Personally, I feel it’s a waste of money to buy textbooks to begin with since all of my professors (so far) have stuck to lectures and class notes. If you’re a good student, the textbook might not even be necessary for you to pass. Showing up to class, taking notes, asking questions and sitting in on study groups has worked for me and many others.

It’s ridiculous that these books are mandatory the first week and then become paperweights that gather dust. If there is anything I can guarantee that you will learn from textbooks, is that you shouldn’t be satisfied with getting robbed by buying them. You don’t have to be a broke college student after all.