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Official thread to complain about textbooks/bookstores

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This is the official thread for complaining about your college/university's textbooks, and/or bookstore.

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Grrr.... My professor for my oceanography class wrote the textbook, AND there is a CD-ROM with it, which means that I won't be able to return it. Therefore, I must spend $120 for a new one. AND $20 for the answer book!

Gah!

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

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I had to take College Algebra last year (well, I could have taken higher, but I only needed one math credit, and that's easy), and I had to buy a $70 book with software. I never even cracked the damn book. All we did was use the software. And then they refused to buy it back at the end of the year because it had already been opened! And this year is even worse. My girlfriend is a freshman now, and she's in College Algebra, and they're still selling that crap for $70, but now it's just the CD and no book! $70 for a fuggin' CD?!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Why don't all the student put in money to buy one, and burn copies of it? I mean, 70 dollars for a CD is ridiculous.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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I always hit up Amazon and eBay to pick up books. One time I picked up a woman’s literature book that was going for 350 bux at my college book store for 28 bux on eBay. It can be a pain in the ass but its still has good deals from time to time.

Seriously isn't 350 bux for a book just asking too much? Who the hell has money for that after paying to take classes? It's a little out of control if you ask me.

I'm so glad I'm done with school.
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I go with amazon way cheaper, then at the end of the semester sell it back to the bookstore.
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Gaffer, couldnt you just give your book (since you couldnt sell it back) to your girlfriend? I mean, even if they issue a new release every year, they are generally the same book, maybe a couple pages change, they just release new books every year to screw the students.

I really hate when the professor makes you buy their own book for the class, thats pretty messed up. I had one professor that was in the process of writing the book and he would give us photocopy packets of each section, that was cool. But I also have friends that had to buy "books" their professor wrote that were just printed papers in a notebook.

You know what makes it all worse, that professors usually get a kick back from the publisher for using a certain book. Thats crap if you ask me.

Glad Im done with the college thing. now the only 'school supplies' i have to buy are Kendo/Iaido gear for my class that happens to be through the community college. Some of its expensive, but you also have choices on what to buy (and actually can get away with only spending like $35) and it lasts way more than one semester. Plus the class is fun.

-Darth Simon
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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Originally posted by: Darth Simon
Gaffer, couldnt you just give your book (since you couldnt sell it back) to your girlfriend? I mean, even if they issue a new release every year, they are generally the same book, maybe a couple pages change, they just release new books every year to screw the students.

I really hate when the professor makes you buy their own book for the class, thats pretty messed up. I had one professor that was in the process of writing the book and he would give us photocopy packets of each section, that was cool. But I also have friends that had to buy "books" their professor wrote that were just printed papers in a notebook.

You know what makes it all worse, that professors usually get a kick back from the publisher for using a certain book. Thats crap if you ask me.

Glad Im done with the college thing. now the only 'school supplies' i have to buy are Kendo/Iaido gear for my class that happens to be through the community college. Some of its expensive, but you also have choices on what to buy (and actually can get away with only spending like $35) and it lasts way more than one semester. Plus the class is fun.

-Darth Simon


I'm glad you mentioned that, since that is exactly what I did. The only problem was, each CD has its own access code, and that one was already registered to me, so it didn't work. Huge ripoff. You see, the CDs connect you to an online program to do your homework, and the server sends the data back to your teacher.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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There are three great online sources for textbooks... Amazon Marketplace which you all already know about, Barnes & Noble online which has its own textbook store, and halfpricebooks.com (Abebooks) which is a repository of individual sellers and small-market bookstores selling new and used stuff. I've purchased from all three. What's nice about B&N is that they maintain all their own stocks so you don't have to rely on a third-party seller to get you the stuff. Of course, this means they have a bit less of a selection than Amazon and Half Price, but shipping and refunds are a dream through B&N.

Also, if you buy from B&N, they will make you an offer on your used book when you're done with it. Dunno what percentage they offer back as I haven't sold back to them yet. Or you can just try to sell it yourself through the other two or sell it back to your own bookstore which I do a lot to save the headaches.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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My bookstore charges us a $2 service fee everytime.
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OMG i hate buying textbooks. why the hell cant they give us a good deal and include them in the stupid class cost! its soo annoying! plus they are always changing editions and finding new things. i'm doing a biology major and its soo annoying cuz for each class we need at least one +$150 book and in some classes like neurobiology, you have to buy three textbooks and use only certain chapters from each one! LAMEO

~* you know you love me... xoxo *~

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I hate it when the prof makes you buy his/her book, and each year he/she comes out with a new one so you cant sell it back and they make more money!
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To be fair, my oceanography prof. has good rating on ratemyprofessors.com.

And the lectures so far have been interesting. Lucky me, I go to community college, where the professors are there to teach, not whore out for research grants.

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

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There are ways around everything...

HLF, in those classes where you use one or two chapters from a book, wait to buy it and find a bunch of people who are willing to split the cost and then just photocopy what you need. When you sell the book back, just have an agreement to split the money earned on the buyback.

My entire time in grad school, I was afforded the luxury of being able to check books out of the university library for an entire semester instead of just a month like everyone else (perk of being a grad student), so I checked out as many of mine and my girlfriend's (now wife) books as possible. Over the course of three semesters, we save over $500.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Also you can often buy books from other student cheaper then the used book prices.