Sunday, July 1, 2012
New (unchecked) Source of Savings?
So I posted some of these tips on another website and I got some feedback I wanted to pass on because its always great to get more options. I haven't tried it myself, but its worth checking out anything that could save a buck right? so the website is BIGWORDS.com and I did a little looking around, it seems pretty cool. You can search through it for textbooks at different stores (comparison shopping). And it gives you the option to look at rental pricing, buying pricing, and even selling. And in buying, it will calculate buy back prices, whether they are guaranteed or a possibility, pretty interesting. They give the 'best option' first so you don't accidentally jump at the most expensive thing. Its a little weird to navigate, but it gives you a little 'If you're lost, click here' link to help navigate. Just something to look into. As I said I haven't fully investigated it but it looks interesting enough :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tax Time Life Savers
So many people forget Tax time and don't be one of them.
If you are young or old, independent, or a dependent student, most anyone qualifies for some tax credits. If you paid for your books out of pocket you may qualify. If your pell, or any other grand or scholarship paid for them, don't try it because its like asking for double free money... kinda dumb right? But if you or someone close to you bought them, they can be written off. If however you get money back for them, like say you sell them after the fact (like say you get the tax credit worth $500, and then you sell the books on eBay for like $400 you owe the government that money). Basically I mean I am no IRS guy but pretty sure that is how it works.
You also have to be conscious of the timelines and requirements. Like many of the credits require that you be pursuing an undergraduate degree, not a graduate, or that you be in the first so many years of college, or not have completed so many credits, you cannot claim multiples at once (like the AOTC and LLC), and there is a limit to the amount of years you can claim a credit. Most of the time you have to be enrolled at least half-time according to your school's enrollment definitions. It changes a bit each year so be sure to check the IRS website!
I am not perfectly knowledged on this but I like to get the information out there because it can be a lot of savings! The credits are The American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit and you may be eligible for some other deductions. Just be conscientious when filling out your taxes and makes sure you get your 1098T forms from your school! If your parents are the tax filers, let them know. And if someone else got the books for you, talk with them about it, and look into it, one of you may be able to claim it (like say if it was your parents), but you have to be sure if both of you are filing taxes, you don't both claim it!
If you are young or old, independent, or a dependent student, most anyone qualifies for some tax credits. If you paid for your books out of pocket you may qualify. If your pell, or any other grand or scholarship paid for them, don't try it because its like asking for double free money... kinda dumb right? But if you or someone close to you bought them, they can be written off. If however you get money back for them, like say you sell them after the fact (like say you get the tax credit worth $500, and then you sell the books on eBay for like $400 you owe the government that money). Basically I mean I am no IRS guy but pretty sure that is how it works.
You also have to be conscious of the timelines and requirements. Like many of the credits require that you be pursuing an undergraduate degree, not a graduate, or that you be in the first so many years of college, or not have completed so many credits, you cannot claim multiples at once (like the AOTC and LLC), and there is a limit to the amount of years you can claim a credit. Most of the time you have to be enrolled at least half-time according to your school's enrollment definitions. It changes a bit each year so be sure to check the IRS website!
I am not perfectly knowledged on this but I like to get the information out there because it can be a lot of savings! The credits are The American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit and you may be eligible for some other deductions. Just be conscientious when filling out your taxes and makes sure you get your 1098T forms from your school! If your parents are the tax filers, let them know. And if someone else got the books for you, talk with them about it, and look into it, one of you may be able to claim it (like say if it was your parents), but you have to be sure if both of you are filing taxes, you don't both claim it!
Online Saviors: eBay OF COURSE
Then of course we have the lovely eBay ...
eBay rocks because it is backed by PayPal's and its own buyer guarantee. So if anyone tries to sell you crap, even if they say 'no refund' you WILL get your refund, as long as you are assertive... which basically means as long as you open a dispute or call PayPal. Every time I have EVER had a problem with a seller, if I ever truly cared to make a fuss, it was taken care of.
The great thing about eBay is that books start cheap, stay cheap, these are the books that people just don't care so they are trying to get anything out of a lot of times, or they are wholesalers, or people with International Editions. But that is the big thing, make sure you know what you are buying. But I have a few pointers for this.
International Editions - If you are from the US you CAN buy them. They aren't illegal. They have a different cover, sometimes pages are jumped around, maybe the index and glossary are swapped, exercises are missing, whatever. In college you don't tend to use these things. So ask your instructor if it is okay to use the IE. I have for the past 2 years now and I checked them against neighbors' copies in class... EXACTLY THE SAME - PAGE FOR PAGE - WORD FOR WORD - PICTURE FOR PICTURE. Sometimes my pictures are even better quality and in color :P I love buying international editions because I have had books that I couldn't find anywhere, even on eBay itself for under $150 standard US edition, but I would find for $40 IE :D The important thing to remember here however is that many sellers are International sellers so keep the shipping times in mind!
# Editions - This is something some students have said to me, I haven't tried personally but it has worked. Searching eBay and you find the first edition for $4.30, you need the second edition. The second edition is $102.56. Contact your instructor. It may not be all that different, especially if they were published very close together. SOME THINGS YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITH!!. Such as: Psychology Major here - The APA manual we use for citations, writing papers, referencing, etc. We are on the 6th edition. Using a prior edition would make every paper written wrong. So bad idea. Many manuals you shouldn't risk. You shouldn't risk anything without talking to someone in the know about it first, but even then I PERSONALLY would not risk the more important books. I have seen people get the okay, and then struggle. Last semester we had a glitch where the bookstore told the students the newer edition and the teacher had the previous. She worked from both because the structure of the class, but eventually many of us bought both books to be able to follow along because there were entire studies missing from both books. Point? Sometimes the edition DOES matter. Other times it may be completely irrelevant. It is relevant however, for cost. If you are getting an older edition, if it isn't some special unprinted edition, make sure you don't pay as much as you would for a new edition. That is the idea, it will save you.
Always keep seller feedback ratings in mind. Many book prices are just a few cents off from each other and it is definitely worth it to choose someone that has a 99.1% feedback with thousands of buyers that costs even $1-2 more than a seller with 98.1% feedback with thousands of buyers because that is hundreds of more dissatisfied people. And read the reviews to see transit time, quality of books, etc. I have heard of people getting the wrong books, but I have NEVER had a problem. I once had a little bend in one of the books but I could hardly complain given it was probably the delivery guy, the book came overseas in just a few days, and it was brand new otherwise at 1/3 the price anywhere else :) And again, I haven't felt the need to sell ANY of these books either because they cost so little and because the money I used to buy them, I got on Points2Shop.
And of course you can sell your books on eBay. What I really like is the option to do that (if I choose to, I haven't yet though because I am starting to like keeping them!). I have sold other stuff on eBay and I like that the amount of books I have bought on eBay has really boosted my selling abilities because I look trustworthy based on my feedback score as I am a fast and reliable buyer since my PayPal is always funded and ready for my purchases - sorry I just gotta give a shoutout to Points2Shop, part of the reason why I don't scream my head off come Aug and Jan.. and soon to be June since I will be doing year round school for my Masters :O Wish me luck!
eBay rocks because it is backed by PayPal's and its own buyer guarantee. So if anyone tries to sell you crap, even if they say 'no refund' you WILL get your refund, as long as you are assertive... which basically means as long as you open a dispute or call PayPal. Every time I have EVER had a problem with a seller, if I ever truly cared to make a fuss, it was taken care of.
The great thing about eBay is that books start cheap, stay cheap, these are the books that people just don't care so they are trying to get anything out of a lot of times, or they are wholesalers, or people with International Editions. But that is the big thing, make sure you know what you are buying. But I have a few pointers for this.
International Editions - If you are from the US you CAN buy them. They aren't illegal. They have a different cover, sometimes pages are jumped around, maybe the index and glossary are swapped, exercises are missing, whatever. In college you don't tend to use these things. So ask your instructor if it is okay to use the IE. I have for the past 2 years now and I checked them against neighbors' copies in class... EXACTLY THE SAME - PAGE FOR PAGE - WORD FOR WORD - PICTURE FOR PICTURE. Sometimes my pictures are even better quality and in color :P I love buying international editions because I have had books that I couldn't find anywhere, even on eBay itself for under $150 standard US edition, but I would find for $40 IE :D The important thing to remember here however is that many sellers are International sellers so keep the shipping times in mind!
# Editions - This is something some students have said to me, I haven't tried personally but it has worked. Searching eBay and you find the first edition for $4.30, you need the second edition. The second edition is $102.56. Contact your instructor. It may not be all that different, especially if they were published very close together. SOME THINGS YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITH!!. Such as: Psychology Major here - The APA manual we use for citations, writing papers, referencing, etc. We are on the 6th edition. Using a prior edition would make every paper written wrong. So bad idea. Many manuals you shouldn't risk. You shouldn't risk anything without talking to someone in the know about it first, but even then I PERSONALLY would not risk the more important books. I have seen people get the okay, and then struggle. Last semester we had a glitch where the bookstore told the students the newer edition and the teacher had the previous. She worked from both because the structure of the class, but eventually many of us bought both books to be able to follow along because there were entire studies missing from both books. Point? Sometimes the edition DOES matter. Other times it may be completely irrelevant. It is relevant however, for cost. If you are getting an older edition, if it isn't some special unprinted edition, make sure you don't pay as much as you would for a new edition. That is the idea, it will save you.
Always keep seller feedback ratings in mind. Many book prices are just a few cents off from each other and it is definitely worth it to choose someone that has a 99.1% feedback with thousands of buyers that costs even $1-2 more than a seller with 98.1% feedback with thousands of buyers because that is hundreds of more dissatisfied people. And read the reviews to see transit time, quality of books, etc. I have heard of people getting the wrong books, but I have NEVER had a problem. I once had a little bend in one of the books but I could hardly complain given it was probably the delivery guy, the book came overseas in just a few days, and it was brand new otherwise at 1/3 the price anywhere else :) And again, I haven't felt the need to sell ANY of these books either because they cost so little and because the money I used to buy them, I got on Points2Shop.
And of course you can sell your books on eBay. What I really like is the option to do that (if I choose to, I haven't yet though because I am starting to like keeping them!). I have sold other stuff on eBay and I like that the amount of books I have bought on eBay has really boosted my selling abilities because I look trustworthy based on my feedback score as I am a fast and reliable buyer since my PayPal is always funded and ready for my purchases - sorry I just gotta give a shoutout to Points2Shop, part of the reason why I don't scream my head off come Aug and Jan.. and soon to be June since I will be doing year round school for my Masters :O Wish me luck!
Online Saviors: Amazon & Friends
The best solutions I found for the internet are Amazon and eBay. Let me start with Amazon.
With Amazon, you can get brand new books for quite a bit cheaper than the school bookstores sells even their used books! I had to get this biological psychology book once and the NEW hardcover was about $100 cheaper than the used softcover was at my school -_-' not...even...joking.
What is great too is if you buy a lot of the same books, usually you get them cheaper. Like psychology books are always a percentage off for me because that is always what I am buying and looking at. So having a major and buying on Amazon is a great plus.
They of course have used copies, and I usually just buy new because used usually means merchants and merchants aren't as guaranteed, but going through a big boy like Amazon, you will get support if something goes wrong which is a plus. Once I did get a book from a merchant and it wasn't 'like new' to me, which again, that is personal interpretation. Still the merchant was 100% awesome about it, willing to refund, replace, etc. I just ended up dropping it because I needed the book more than I cared about the different, plus it was still better than the price at the school!
Another great benefit is that many places such as Points2Shop allow you to earn points and cash to be used on Amazon. So you can sign up and once you have enough points you can redeem for your books on Amazon through the website, or if you prefer handling it yourself, you can just keep withdrawing the cash until you have enough to buy it with your own account. What is great is that many of these website give you stuff when you sign up like $2.50 so that is already $2.50 off your books. That may not seem like a lot, but it is in the long run, trust me! And whats great is you can get other stuff too, not just your books. So your calculators, stethoscopes...even tuition can be paid with the websites because they pay out in cash. (I paid my electric bill once when I had put the money in my bank toward tuition when I missed the financial aid application and was waiting for the delayed approval).
A great thing about Amazon is that they have bonuses for being a student and buying books. You have Amazon Prime which you get a free trial of as a student (if you don't want the full sub after you can click not to renew after signup, and then just use it throughout the trial time). The great thing about Amazon Prime? FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING. So if you don't purchase your books until the last minute, you will get them in time for class. This has been a life saver for me because instead of doing the voucher for books thing, I just waited for my refunds or loans, then did Amazon, and had the books in time for class, before most of the other students even :) And if you want it past the trial period, since multiple accounts and emails to obtain Amazon Prime isn't appropriate ;) ... Amazon Prime is discounted for students :D
And a big yay for book buyers (well textbook buyers) is the MP3/Movie credits. I never use them because I have other methods of music and movie downloads, but still they come in handy for MANY people :) They used to be $5 but I think they have them down to $3 that is still a song or two, almost a full album if you like some older music :P
I LOVED finding Amazon and Points2Shop because I went from being livid trying to sell my books back, to keeping my books because they were free anyway. Selling them back would have just been making profit :)
With Amazon, you can get brand new books for quite a bit cheaper than the school bookstores sells even their used books! I had to get this biological psychology book once and the NEW hardcover was about $100 cheaper than the used softcover was at my school -_-' not...even...joking.
What is great too is if you buy a lot of the same books, usually you get them cheaper. Like psychology books are always a percentage off for me because that is always what I am buying and looking at. So having a major and buying on Amazon is a great plus.
They of course have used copies, and I usually just buy new because used usually means merchants and merchants aren't as guaranteed, but going through a big boy like Amazon, you will get support if something goes wrong which is a plus. Once I did get a book from a merchant and it wasn't 'like new' to me, which again, that is personal interpretation. Still the merchant was 100% awesome about it, willing to refund, replace, etc. I just ended up dropping it because I needed the book more than I cared about the different, plus it was still better than the price at the school!
Another great benefit is that many places such as Points2Shop allow you to earn points and cash to be used on Amazon. So you can sign up and once you have enough points you can redeem for your books on Amazon through the website, or if you prefer handling it yourself, you can just keep withdrawing the cash until you have enough to buy it with your own account. What is great is that many of these website give you stuff when you sign up like $2.50 so that is already $2.50 off your books. That may not seem like a lot, but it is in the long run, trust me! And whats great is you can get other stuff too, not just your books. So your calculators, stethoscopes...even tuition can be paid with the websites because they pay out in cash. (I paid my electric bill once when I had put the money in my bank toward tuition when I missed the financial aid application and was waiting for the delayed approval).
A great thing about Amazon is that they have bonuses for being a student and buying books. You have Amazon Prime which you get a free trial of as a student (if you don't want the full sub after you can click not to renew after signup, and then just use it throughout the trial time). The great thing about Amazon Prime? FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING. So if you don't purchase your books until the last minute, you will get them in time for class. This has been a life saver for me because instead of doing the voucher for books thing, I just waited for my refunds or loans, then did Amazon, and had the books in time for class, before most of the other students even :) And if you want it past the trial period, since multiple accounts and emails to obtain Amazon Prime isn't appropriate ;) ... Amazon Prime is discounted for students :D
And a big yay for book buyers (well textbook buyers) is the MP3/Movie credits. I never use them because I have other methods of music and movie downloads, but still they come in handy for MANY people :) They used to be $5 but I think they have them down to $3 that is still a song or two, almost a full album if you like some older music :P
I LOVED finding Amazon and Points2Shop because I went from being livid trying to sell my books back, to keeping my books because they were free anyway. Selling them back would have just been making profit :)
Online Bookstores Beware
So...
My venture away from college bookstores brought me to online, and there were a lot of websites that offered books for okay prices. I thought it was great as many would even buy them back. But then you gotta always read the FINE PRINT and understand that online, you cannot be guaranteed what a books condition is going to be.
"Brand New" "New" "Like New" "Good" "Acceptable"
Well these words are up for interpretation, especially on textbook websites. Brand new being most expensive can be used by people that want to sell you international editions, which is fine, except when they are the same price as a standard edition and may be missing exercises you NEED. But its not a big deal with the IE is the same as the standard in content and is much cheaper (but its not often the case on these 'textbook****.com' websites). The biggest issue is you never know what you are going to get from many of these websites, and sometimes you think you are getting a standard edition or a certain edition (like first, second, fifth) and you get the wrong edition. Not many of these websites have guarantees if you get the wrong book - Lame.
So I said to hell with buying from these websites what about selling back (because the cool thing was that you don't have to sell to them, to buy from then)....well here comes the FINE PRINT. MANY of these jack and ape textbook buy back website say we need your book first, and then we will give you a price, but if its not in good condition, we will destroy the book... yeah that sounds legit. More like you will say my book is in bad condition, say you destroyed it, then sell it without giving me a dime. And some are honest, they will return your book if you would like if you don't like their quote, but many times you have to pay that return shipping, because you did just waste their time. Understandable. But its sort of a scam. They convince you to send your book, you send it, you are stuck getting the small amount of money, or nothing, or paying return shipping, or if you are lucky back where you started with your book, no loss, except the time it took to send it in, with less people to sell to because the next semester is closer.
I'll admit it. I fell for one of these once. I ended up with a dollar from one book. The rest were 'destroyed'. Right...
But the internet is not all bad (see my next post)...
My venture away from college bookstores brought me to online, and there were a lot of websites that offered books for okay prices. I thought it was great as many would even buy them back. But then you gotta always read the FINE PRINT and understand that online, you cannot be guaranteed what a books condition is going to be.
"Brand New" "New" "Like New" "Good" "Acceptable"
Well these words are up for interpretation, especially on textbook websites. Brand new being most expensive can be used by people that want to sell you international editions, which is fine, except when they are the same price as a standard edition and may be missing exercises you NEED. But its not a big deal with the IE is the same as the standard in content and is much cheaper (but its not often the case on these 'textbook****.com' websites). The biggest issue is you never know what you are going to get from many of these websites, and sometimes you think you are getting a standard edition or a certain edition (like first, second, fifth) and you get the wrong edition. Not many of these websites have guarantees if you get the wrong book - Lame.
So I said to hell with buying from these websites what about selling back (because the cool thing was that you don't have to sell to them, to buy from then)....well here comes the FINE PRINT. MANY of these jack and ape textbook buy back website say we need your book first, and then we will give you a price, but if its not in good condition, we will destroy the book... yeah that sounds legit. More like you will say my book is in bad condition, say you destroyed it, then sell it without giving me a dime. And some are honest, they will return your book if you would like if you don't like their quote, but many times you have to pay that return shipping, because you did just waste their time. Understandable. But its sort of a scam. They convince you to send your book, you send it, you are stuck getting the small amount of money, or nothing, or paying return shipping, or if you are lucky back where you started with your book, no loss, except the time it took to send it in, with less people to sell to because the next semester is closer.
I'll admit it. I fell for one of these once. I ended up with a dollar from one book. The rest were 'destroyed'. Right...
But the internet is not all bad (see my next post)...
College Bookstores and 'Approved' Bookstores
College textbooks are expensive.
For the longest time I was one of those students that bought their books from the school or 'approved college textbook store'. Spending hundreds based on the promotion of the school that they would buy the books back from me at the end of the year if I bought them from the 'approved' places -the school or the store across the street, supposedly unrelated, about $10 cheaper per book, but always missing supplemental materials. However, if I bought the books ANYWHERE else, NO buybacks NO WAY! Sounds reasonable enough, the school trying to maintain their income. I didn't think too much of it. Plus I was a Pell recipient and they had this procedure in which I could get $600 worth of books put on my pell through them, and I couldn't get that anywhere else....
But here is the tricky part...
That whole Pell thing: well that $600, if it didn't go to my books, it was refunded 2 months later...2 months that weren't necessarily all that hard to live through without those books, or which I could have borrowed the money in (or used loan funding) and bought the books elsewhere, ANYWHERE for much cheaper. I would not have needed anywhere near the $600 for those books (proud junior college grad here).
And what's more?
Has anyone tried to do the bookbuy backs at their school? The money you get back is a JOKE! If you get anything back at all since 75% of the time they have 'unfortunately decided to alter the reading materials for the following semester and will no longer be accepting [your] book for buy backs'. Because somehow between May of one year and Aug of another, the first edition and second edition of two books both made in the 90s are so drastically different, that your first edition, isn't as useful as the second, even tho both editions are outdated as there is a fifth edition most recently having been released.
And does anyone feel that sting of 'Does that mean I didn't get as good of an education compared to if I were to have just waited a semester?''.
I once took a Spanish 101 class in college. I decided to drop it ONE DAY after the final drop date for full refund of the course and thus books. I went to the bookstore and asked for a refund and they said I could not get a refund with my receipt given I missed the refund date, I said okay, well how about buybacks? The response: they were no longer using the book. It was not even halfway into the course and they were no longer selling the books. There were other Spanish 101 courses that started midway through that semester, and even they had a different book. So not only did I lose out on over $150 because it was a textbook, CDs, and a workbook, but I also realized that just 2-3 weeks into the semester, and the book wasn't good enough to learn from technically, and yet the remaining students in the class I dropped continued to use it for the semester. That sort of suggests either they are really trying for your money, or they really don't care about the education of their students that knowing just a few weeks into the semester the books are not good enough to sell, yet they still have them learn from them.
That was really my last straw with college bookstores. I never bought another book from the school itself or even the 'unrelated yet still close and in the same database' bookstore. Its like a bottomless pit. I have bought used books from those stores, kept them in perfect condition, and I was told I could get nothing for them because they had highlighting... well then why sell them to me with the highlighting in them? I surely do not highlight my books!
You don't have to fall prey to this either. There are plenty of other ways to save on your books....
For the longest time I was one of those students that bought their books from the school or 'approved college textbook store'. Spending hundreds based on the promotion of the school that they would buy the books back from me at the end of the year if I bought them from the 'approved' places -the school or the store across the street, supposedly unrelated, about $10 cheaper per book, but always missing supplemental materials. However, if I bought the books ANYWHERE else, NO buybacks NO WAY! Sounds reasonable enough, the school trying to maintain their income. I didn't think too much of it. Plus I was a Pell recipient and they had this procedure in which I could get $600 worth of books put on my pell through them, and I couldn't get that anywhere else....
But here is the tricky part...
That whole Pell thing: well that $600, if it didn't go to my books, it was refunded 2 months later...2 months that weren't necessarily all that hard to live through without those books, or which I could have borrowed the money in (or used loan funding) and bought the books elsewhere, ANYWHERE for much cheaper. I would not have needed anywhere near the $600 for those books (proud junior college grad here).
And what's more?
Has anyone tried to do the bookbuy backs at their school? The money you get back is a JOKE! If you get anything back at all since 75% of the time they have 'unfortunately decided to alter the reading materials for the following semester and will no longer be accepting [your] book for buy backs'. Because somehow between May of one year and Aug of another, the first edition and second edition of two books both made in the 90s are so drastically different, that your first edition, isn't as useful as the second, even tho both editions are outdated as there is a fifth edition most recently having been released.
And does anyone feel that sting of 'Does that mean I didn't get as good of an education compared to if I were to have just waited a semester?''.
I once took a Spanish 101 class in college. I decided to drop it ONE DAY after the final drop date for full refund of the course and thus books. I went to the bookstore and asked for a refund and they said I could not get a refund with my receipt given I missed the refund date, I said okay, well how about buybacks? The response: they were no longer using the book. It was not even halfway into the course and they were no longer selling the books. There were other Spanish 101 courses that started midway through that semester, and even they had a different book. So not only did I lose out on over $150 because it was a textbook, CDs, and a workbook, but I also realized that just 2-3 weeks into the semester, and the book wasn't good enough to learn from technically, and yet the remaining students in the class I dropped continued to use it for the semester. That sort of suggests either they are really trying for your money, or they really don't care about the education of their students that knowing just a few weeks into the semester the books are not good enough to sell, yet they still have them learn from them.
That was really my last straw with college bookstores. I never bought another book from the school itself or even the 'unrelated yet still close and in the same database' bookstore. Its like a bottomless pit. I have bought used books from those stores, kept them in perfect condition, and I was told I could get nothing for them because they had highlighting... well then why sell them to me with the highlighting in them? I surely do not highlight my books!
You don't have to fall prey to this either. There are plenty of other ways to save on your books....
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