Shopping for textbooks can be overwhelming for all students, especially if it is your first semester buying them. There are several different options, from renting or buying used copies to purchasing them brand new.
It is widely known that renting textbooks is the lowest cost option for students, but if students want to keep their books as references in future classes, they can purchase them brand new at retail price or buy them used at a lower price.
As a pricing guide, we will compare a common textbook for all first-years, “An Insider’s Guide to Academic Writing: A Rhetoric and Reader,” for ENG 101 between each selling platform, new and used, respectively.
Here are some of the most popular routes students take to buy their textbooks:
Wolfpack Outfitters
“Insider’s Guide”: $100.15 | $75.15
Students can access the Wolfpack Outfitters website directly through their MyPack Portal, with a list of textbooks for their specific classes.
Textbooks are available to be bought brand new or used, or they can be rented through Wolfpack Outfitters.
Students have the option to ship textbooks directly to their home address or pick them up from the Wolfpack Outfitters store in Talley Student Union.
Students can also use the comparison shopping tool through the Wolfpack Outfitters website to compare prices of the same textbook at other retailers.
Amazon
“Insider’s Guide”: $76.99 | $69.08
Amazon also offers rental and purchasing options for new and used textbooks, which can be accessed by entering the textbook’s ISBN number into the search bar of the Amazon website.
With Amazon textbook rentals, students will receive a return date and can ship textbooks back to Amazon at the end of a semester with a prepaid shipping label printed from the Amazon website.
Chegg
“Insider’s Guide”: $79.99 | N/A
Chegg, a site also used for study and tutoring services, offers textbook purchase and rental options.
Similar to Amazon, students can return textbooks to Chegg after the semester ends with a prepaid shipping label. Chegg also gives students the option to extend a rental period or purchase a rental textbook if they decide they want to keep the book at any point during the semester.
Students are allowed to highlight inside rented textbooks from Chegg, but cannot write inside rentals. No other textbook provider listed encourages highlighting or writing in textbooks.
Barnes & Noble
“Insider’s Guide”: $93.87 | $69.55
Students can take advantage of the Barnes & Noble website to purchase or rent textbooks, using the ISBN number to search specific volumes, similar to Amazon.
Additionally, students have the option to visit stores to find textbooks, as the chain has reopened following the initial shutdown due to COVID-19. However, selection for textbooks will be limited in physical stores.
University Libraries
“Insider’s Guide”: Available upon request
Currently, physical copies of textbooks are unavailable for rental or purchase through university libraries, in response to COVID-19.
Through the university libraries website, students can find electronic copies of textbooks, searching by course with a curriculum code and course number. Libraries are also scanning textbook chapters by request.
D.H. Hill Jr. Library will reopen on Aug. 3, and Hunt Library will reopen Aug. 9.
“Insider’s Guide”: N/A
Electronic copies of textbooks, usually in PDF version, are becoming increasingly popular for students enrolled in online courses.
Various online services offer electronic copies of textbooks, such as Elsevier and HeinOnline Academic. Students can access the materials using their Unity ID.
Many publishers have made their books available online for free in response to COVID-19. A list of these publishers can be found on the NC State University Libraries website.
