Textbooks - price watch, shop around and compare prices for the best deals!

24 August 2010

The A level results are out and the Universities are oversubscribed with another year of record passes and A grades. GCSE results out today show a further increase in achievement with 25% of exams taken achieving A and A* grades, and overall pass rates up to 69.1%.

So with the uncertainty for many young people over, it is time to start preparations for the new term. One of the biggest costs for students starting college and University is the price of textbooks. Loaning from libraries is one option, but it can be problematic, as often the demand for library loans outstrips supply, especially leading up to exams and assignment deadlines.

How can I reduce the cost of purchasing textbooks?

Option 1: Shop around - check the prices of all your required books using our price comparison service.

Option 2: Consider buying used second hand text books (but check edition numbers carefully with the course requirement).  We have Amazon MarketPlace, eBay and Abebooks, all of whom offer second hand textbooks.

Option 3: Price watch – this is a service we offer on all books. Simply register for the price watch service on our site using a username and email address. Search for the titles you require and add them to your price watch list. You will be able to set a maximum price you are prepared to pay. If your required textbook becomes available at that price you will be sent an immediate email. This will allow you to purchase before supplies become limited at the price you are prepared to pay. You will also be sent a regular email telling you of the price at that time. This is usually sent out weekly and will keep you abreast of fluctuations in prices.

How can I find books other than the set text on my reading list using the find book service?

We have an enormous catalogue of books, but it is not always easy to browse and be certain that a book is going to be suitable. Our advice is to search on your subject or specialism. For example, biology, cell biology or micro-organisms, will retrieve any textbooks with these words in the title. They are usually presented in order of popularity, but you can change the filter to present in order of release date. Read the synopsis, and if you are still not sure, we recommend you follow the read more links, where you will be taken to Amazons product page and you will be able to check if any reviews have been published.  If you are still not sure – do a general search online for reviews. Textbooks are very expensive; even if you have compared prices, so do make sure that you spend wisely. If you do make a mistake, most retailers will be happy to refund if you follow their refund terms and conditions.

If you are looking for textbooks for A level, AS level and GCSE's – we have categories available to browse from the home page – See Education A/AS level and Education GCSE - but we recommend you get a reading list or revision guide recommendations from school.

If you want to browse your specialist subject some of these categories:

Art, Architecture and Photography
Business, Finance and Law
Computers and the Internet
Health
History
Music, Stage and Screen
Poetry, Drama and Criticism
Science and Nature
Scientific Technical and Medical
Society, Politics and Philosophy

Find Book Review competition

And finally to all students: whatever course you are doing, medicine, literary critism or physical education, we wish you - our future Doctors, Journalists and PE teachers our best wishes, from all here at Find Book. If you find any of the textbooks you use particularly useful or very poor value let us know by writing a review. Each review is submitted to our monthly competition and the winner receives £50 worth of Amazon vouchers – which will assist you to purchase more useful textbooks or some light reading for the holidays.