Shocked at how expensive college textbooks can be? Let me introduce you to Slugbooks.
I remember being overwhelmed when I pulled up my university’s online bookstore. I couldn’t believe that textbooks could cost so much! Thankfully, someone introduced me to Slugbooks the summer before I started college.
And today I’m passing this magic information along to you!
I don’t even want to think about how much money I would have wasted by buying all of my textbooks through my university’s bookstore! PLEASE do not buy books from your university’s bookstore except as a last resort! Trust me, you can save so much money going through other sites.
And that’s where Slugbooks comes in.
Slugbooks allows you to search for your textbooks and then it shows you a side-by-side price comparison of how much that book costs on different websites. You can then go to those websites directly from Slugbooks and purchase (or RENT) your book.
There are a few steps involved in using Slugbooks and it can be hard to figure it out on your own. No worries, I’m here to help!
I’m going to share a step-by-step photo tutorial for you to use as you buy your textbooks.
You may want to keep this post open and follow along with this tutorial as you shop for your textbooks.
Also- Be sure to pin this post so you’ll be able to refer back to it every semester! :)
This post includes affiliate links. You can see my disclosure page here; thanks for your support!
How To Use Slugbooks:
Step One: Go to slugbooks.com (click here).
Step Two: Open a new tab in your browser and go to your university’s online campus bookstore.
Step Three: Find the textbooks that you need in your university’s bookstore.
I think this varies from university to university, so I don’t feel qualified to give a tutorial on finding the textbooks in your college’s online shop. For my university, I had to select the course-code of each of my classes.
Above is a screenshot of a textbook listing in my university’s online store. Notice that the list price is $84. Buying a used copy is $59.99… not that much better.
Step Four: Locate the ISBN number of your textbook.
In the picture above, the ISBN number is right underneath the bolded title.
Step Five: Copy the ISBN number and paste it into Slugbooks.
Step Six: Click “Search.”
A screen like this should pop up.
Okay, on this screen we see a few things:
- The list price according to Slugbooks is $102. This is the cost at most universities’ bookstores.
- Amazon is the next expensive option, and yet buying it on Amazon would save you $72.
- Renting the book from Amazon Rental, Chegg, or ValoreBooks Rental saves you significantly more money.
Step 7: Repeat steps 3-6 with your other textbooks.
Slugbooks automatically saves your previous searches, so you eventually will have a long shopping list of books :)
Step 8: Choose the website from which you’d like to buy or rent the textbook.
Helpful hint: I always check Amazon to see if the textbook has free Prime shipping, especially if the prices between Amazon and another site are close together. (For example, The Living World book pictured above.)
Even if it looks like another site would be cheaper, don’t discount shipping costs. It could be worth it to pay a few cents extra on Amazon and get that free Prime shipping. (Don’t have Amazon Prime yet? In a minute, I’m going to share how you can get a free 6-month trial.)
When I click to buy the literature book on Amazon, I’m taken to this screen:
Here I see how much each individual copy of the book costs and what condition it is in. From Amazon, I can rent or buy a copy of this book. If I choose to buy a copy, I can decide if I want a used copy or to buy a new copy.
On the sidebar, I can filter the listing to find exactly what I want.
Notice how you can rent the textbook AND get free Prime shipping! Now that’s a great deal!
(However, for this particular book, renting through ValoreBooks is significantly cheaper. So, I would rent this book through ValoreBooks and rent The Living World book through Amazon to get the free shipping.)
I hope Slugbooks is useful for you and that it saves you a bunch of money!
It certainly helped me out all throughout college.
I love how it shows you the prices of each website so you don’t have to open new windows for every single online store.
I also love how you can rent textbooks from Amazon and get free Prime shipping at the same time!
Speaking of Amazon Prime shipping, I want to quickly share with you how you can get 6-month free trial of Amazon Prime.
It’s called Amazon Prime Student, and it’s amazing! I signed up for Amazon Prime Student right before I started college and LOVED my free trial so much that I never canceled it.
Some of the benefits of Amazon Prime Student:
- Free two-day shipping
- Amazon Prime Video (like Netflix, but with different shows/ movies)
- College deals and exclusive promotions
- Free, unlimited photo storage (so you can save your college memories without using up all the space on your phone!)
- Amazon Music (like Pandora or Spotify, but without adds)
And, if you’re like me and end up LOVING Amazon Prime Student, you can keep your subscription to Prime for 50% off the normal cost of Amazon Prime. Say what?!?
But, if you don’t end up loving it, you can cancel anytime.
I encourage you to give it a try though. At least long enough to get free shipping on this semester’s textbooks :)
You can learn more about Prime Student and get your free trial here!
I hope that Slugbooks and free Prime shipping save you money!
And I hope you have a fabulous semester at college!
Blessings,
Kara
