The Joys of Buying Books
Orientation was from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM today, and I went online and checked the booklist as soon as I got back. I wanted to get some used books for cheap, and I wrote down what the Pitt bookstore prices were. Oh thank goodness for the Internet.
- Stats Book w/ CD (9th Edition):
Pitt New: $126.65
Pitt Used: $95.00
Amazon New: $130.67
3rd Party New: $24.95
3rd Party Used: $4.86 (LOL, and quite a few at under $15)
Notes: Huge savings because the 10th edition is out (the 3rd party sellers are selling it for about ~$70). This one was tricky because many of the New copies were actually the Teacher’s Edition. Many did not come with the CD, but some noted that these contents can be downloaded from the publisher’s website. The one I bought was only in “Good” condition, and I suspect it will be heavily marked up. I could have gotten “Like New” for ~$24, but the IT book was not as good a deal, so I decided to do it on the cheap. Also, the fact that it is marked up implies it is the Student Edition. I’m expecting a crappy copy, but it came with a CD and only cost $4.86. I paid $3 more for Expedited Shipping, bringing the total up to $11.85. -
IT Paperback Book (3rd Edition):
Pitt New: $50.70
Pitt Used: $38.05
Amazon New: $43.62
3rd Party New: $38.00
3rd Party Used: $35.32
Notes: The used versions were not a good deal, so I just got the new version from a 3rd party vendor. Even with Expedited Shipping it was cheaper than a new Pitt version, and there were not actually any books (used or new) in the Pitt bookstore, so it’s not like I could have saved money on this book. The total came to $44.99 with shipping.
It was definitely tricky navigating through the various editions and such, but I was careful to note the editions in the bookstore and check them with the booklist. I wish there had been copies of the IT book to make sure that the Amazon version was the same, but because the prices were all so similar, I figure it must be the same book. The Stats book has a lot of room for error, but even if it is the wrong book, it was so cheap that the risk is not very high. Overall savings came to between ~$100-134 dollars, so I think it is a worthwhile gamble.
