Most students use the OSU Bookstore to acquire or sell textbooks. I like this
organization, and for a brick-and-mortar enterprise, it has done a super job
while I have been at OSU. Nonetheless, students can often find much better
prices if they are willing to shop on-line.
Since BA271 is all about using computers effectively, I
want to encourage you to shop on-line and save money, either by buying
textbooks at the beginning of the term, or by selling unwanted
textbooks. For this reason, I’ve decided to create a new, optional,
graded activity this term: I’d like you to either buy or sell a textbook on-line
and report the results to me.
I want to make this optional activity as straightforward as possible. Simply
buy or sell a textbook online. Then fill out the Buying and Selling Textbooks
Online Survey (available at
https://surveys.bus.oregonstate.edu/BsgSurvey2_0/main.aspx?SurveyID=1105&cmd=survey)
before noon on the third Friday of the term. This survey will ask basic
questions about your online transaction such as the book's title, the website
you used, and the sales or purchase price.
Assuming all goes well, you should see this confirmation page when you
complete the survey:
Textbooks no longer seem like the best way to communicate ideas about
computing. They are generally out-of-date by the time they are published, and
better sources of information are often available for free on the web. For this
reason, we will not use a printed textbook for the first half of the term. We
will use the BA271 website (available at
http://classes.bus.oregonstate.edu/ba271) supplemented by links to various
other websites instead.
For the second half of the term, when we are studying Microsoft Access, we
will have a required textbook:
Microsoft Office Access 2003, Introductory, written by Joseph Adamski and
Kathleen Finnegan, published by Course Technology (Thomson Learning) on
December 11, 2003. Note that this is not the most current version of the
textbook. The most current version has different exercises -- but all the
same basic instructions about how to use Microsoft Access. It sells for a bunch
more than the older version, so I stuck with the older version.
The easiest way to acquire this book will be to walk over to the OSU
Bookstore and purchase either a new copy (for Fall term 2005, the price is
$38.18) or a used copy (for Fall term 2005, the price is $28.75). While this
approach is quick and easy, I do not recommend it. Instead, I recommend buying
the book for less on the web. As an example, here is a listing of the price and
availability of used versions of this textbook that I downloaded on September
26, 2005 from
www.Amazon.com.
Here are comments from students who completed this optional activity
during Fall 2005.
Note: this list is unedited and includes every comment made by
anyone who completed the activity.
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I just saved a ton by switching to Half.com |
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Buying a textbook was very easy. I probably would have saved more money
if I had bought it earlier. |
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This saved me so much money it is the first book I have bought online.
Now that I know how much money it can save me I am going to try and buy
all my books online because when you are paying for your own college
tuition it helps to save a few extra bucks. |
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It was faster than going to the bookstore. I can't return it but I can
sell it when I am done. |
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Actually went to cheaptextbooks and they searched different sites and I
found a good inexpensive one at Half.com |
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The book is brand new, the only difference is it is a soft cover. I got
it in less than a week. |
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I have never tried ordering books online before, but I was pleased with
how simple it was and I loved that I could do it from my own house and
not have to pay ridiculous prices or wait in line. |
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It was so simple! |
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Buying online was quick, easy and definately beat waiting inline at the
bookstore. |
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$8.76 is a small savings.. but will buy you beer, food, a movie, gas,
etc. |
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None |
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When searching for some books I would click on an icon which would send
me to a list which one of them was thousands of pages long and there was
no good way for me quickley find it, so I went on a different search and
that person didn't get to sell me a book. |
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I love that you are doing this, I do not like buying or selling from the
bookstore. I have never sold my books back to them, so they can turn
around and rip someone else off! And I never will! Thanks for bringing
this option to students awareness! |
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I felt that this particular website was very cheap. I feel that many
students should really look into this site for buying their books. Lots
of money really can be saved. |
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I was currently living in Eugene working a 40 hour/week summer job
during the time I purchased the book online. Because the OSU bookstore
is only open M-F during the summer, I didn't have time to purchase the
book in person. However, buying the book online worked out well because
although I had to pay for shipping I didn't have to pay for the
roundtrip of gas from Eugent to Corvallis which definitely costs more
than the price of shipping. |
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This was a great way to get some money back from the book because the
bookstore would not take this book back since there was a newer edition
coming out in the fall |
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it was really fast way to save some $$ |
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The bookstore wasn't going to give me any money for the book so I put it
on half and least now I will get money for a book that I don't want. |
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Very easy and as long as it comes befor we need it i will be happy. |
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The original price of the book was $25.68. I chose the cheaper of the
shipping prices. Also, to my advantage, I had $10.60 of gift
certificates to use at Amazon. So I saved even more by using up the
certificates. |
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Im gald you pointed it out, I returned two other books as well and saved
even more money |
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The book was in pretty bad condidtion, but it says everything was
readable... works for me |
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This was a fast and easy transaction that saved me money. |
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Eventhough you might be taking a chance and blindly trusting what is
being advertised, I feel that buying online is beneficial and I do it
for most all of my books. |
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I also bought a math book that ended up saving me over $30.00. |
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I have shopped online many times for textbooks since I was a freshman. I
used amazon.com, half.com, bookbyte.com, etc. Barnesandnoble.com, in
particular, is the one i use recently. If your total purchase is $25 or
above (no matter how many books you got), you get free shipping &
delivery. If it's less than $25, ths shipping cost is still low. So, you
might want to check that out too. |
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I bought this book for another class. I hope that it is okay to use on
this assignment. I buy several things on Amazon.com, but I never really
thought about buying my textbooks until I started this class! |
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I'm glad you had this assignment. I had never bought a textbook online
becuase i thought it would be a big hassle. But, it was really very easy
and i will definitely continue to buy online when I can save a few bucks
or even more. |
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Shipping was $3.50, the book was an older edition, but I have other
friends who have the newer one, just in case any of my homework
assignments are not entirely covered by my version. The book store just
uses the new editions so you can't sell the old ones back anyway. |
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It was easyer than I thought it would be. |
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I heard that they were $30 at the bookstore, and if so i lost about 4
dollars, if not cool. i still get xtra credit =p |
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The book showed up in my mail box about 4 days after I bought it!!
Thanks for suggesting this |
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I think buying books online is a great idea, and a good way to save
money. This is my first time buying a book online so this is a good
trial, and a good way to get a few extra cedit points. |
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This was a great learning experience for me. Before now I wasn't
cofident enough to try buying anything online, afterwards I found out it
was a lot easier than I thought it was. I will deffinitally buy my books
this way agian! |
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Bought the international softcover version. The bookstore has it in
hardcover with a different ISBN. The website claimed it was the exact
same as the US version. |
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Ive done alot of ebay stuff so this was easy! |
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The book took 3 days for me to get it, which is the only bad thing about
ordering books online. |
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Basically, I'm really anal about buying/using new books only. The book
store ran out of new copies and wouldn't order one for me (although
they've done so in the past); in the end I spent a little more, but I
bought what I wanted. |
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I was amazed to find a picture and description of the newest edition of
my international business book with cd for only 25.50 on ebay.
Unfortanately, I was fairly angry to recieve the book in the mail two
days later and realize it is an older edition that was not the book
pictured on the website, nor will it work for the class...my online book
purchasing experience was to good to be true. |
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The greatest thing about buying textbooks online is being able to sell
them back to the OSU bookstore, or being able to sell it online after
you use it. |
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The reason I saved so much money on this book, is because it is the 5th
edition, not the 6th edition. My teacher requested the bookstore to
carry the 5th edition (because it is cheaper), but they only would carry
the 6th edition, which is $103.75! Therefore, our teacher told us to
take the expensive 6th editions back...and order the cheap 5th editions!
An $82 save! |
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It took almost three weeks for the book to arrive once I placed my
order. This was longer than I expected. |
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I just put this book on Amazon today, hopefully someone out there will
find this book useful. |
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It was alot easier than I thought it would be to register and jump
through all the hoops to get the book. |
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The transaction was fast and easy. It was shipped to me right away also. |
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It was very easy and convienent! |
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I thought it was very easy to buy the textbook online. I did this
assignment a little late and as a result did not get as low of a price
as others, but it still saved me money in the long run. I will most
likely use this method again to buy textbooks in the future. |
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I hope the book makes it on time for it to be used. |
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This survey was very easy to follow. |
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I bought the book at OSU bookstore for $90.00. Amazon was selling it for
$65.00. I was willing to give up $10.00 in the hopes that my book will
sell faster. |
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The transaction was extremly quick. I do wish there was a picture so
that the seller could prove the quality of the item. That's what I like
about ebay. |
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It was a really easy process. |
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I liked saving a bit of money. However, I find it much more covient to
walk over to the bookstore (I live on campus) and purchase all of the
books I need. 15+ dollars does not have that much value to me. |
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By selling books online, I am able to recieve 3/4 of my money back or
all, instead of 1/4. |
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It is really easy to purchase books online. I do however, wish they had
more pictures of the books. My seller gave a great description so I
purchased from them. It was nice to save money, even a little. |
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Half.com saves your info, so every time I buy a book now it takes about
10 seconds to pay for it, after I find the book I want. |
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Buying books online can save you cash! |
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I also looked at Powell's website to see if they had the book for cheap,
but the price was almost identical to the cost of the bookstore. I have
posted books to sell on Ebay before, but none of them sold, most likley
because they were old editions! |
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all long as i order the book ahead of time(for class)its worth the
little amount saved. |
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Book arrived last week. |
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The OSU Bookstore couldn't get this book to me until late next week, for
a higher price. However, by using Amazon, it will arrive on Friday! |
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It was very very easy. It took me no longer than 10 minutes to create an
account and buy the book. |
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Im buying all my books online from now on. $10.00 here and there really
adds up. |
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It was an older edition of the accounting book, however the professor
noted that it was not important to have the most up to date version. |
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It was fast and easy. |
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I like buying book on-line because it saved money and I can compare the
prices. |
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I need to buy books online more often. |
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I saved lots of money, I just hope it gets here on time! |
