I admit it: many websites that compare textbook prices are pretty hard to tell apart from each other. Much like girls’ cafeteria lunch options, most textbook comparison sites tend to look the same and ultimately all serve the same function. CheapestTextBooks.com, just one of the many textbook comparison search engines out there, doesn’t appear to be anything special at first glance. It has a rather bland color scheme and design, and the bored-looking girl on the first page is dressed in a long-sleeved sweater that makes it look like this website was born, improbably, in the early ’80s.
However, if you can get past your initial doubts, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Start typing the name of a book or the author in the prominent search bar and you’ll be given an autocomplete suggestion that CheapestTextBooks.com has extracted from your mind through telepathic means. Either that or they give you the most popular book titles based on what you’re writing about. Pressing the “Go!” (it doesn’t have a nice sound, unfortunately) leads to a page where you can see different editions of the book you wrote along with a cover image, perfect for quickly selecting which version of the textbook you’re looking for.
The chewy goodness doesn’t stop there: CheapestTextBooks.com gives you a little information box that lets you quickly check the prices of the textbook you’ve selected, this section is aptly named “QuickPriceCheck.” (Clearly, naming creativity is not this website designer’s forte; reports say he has named his first child “Baby One.”) even adding the added bonus of the best textbook rental and repurchase prices anywhere on the web.
Scroll down a bit and you’ll see different options for buying used and new textbooks online, conveniently compared and sorted by price. Always willing to go the extra mile for you, CheapestTextBooks.com also lists shipping prices, alerts you to coupons or special offers, and even gives you a back rub while you browse your options. It doesn’t get much better than this, unless you’re doing something other than buying cheap textbooks online, of course.
The only problem with using a college textbook search engine like CheapestTextBooks.com to compare textbook prices is that, by nature, the process can be a bit tedious. Sure, you’re saving time because you don’t have to go through all sorts of dirty textbook selling websites, but when you actually go to buy your books, you’ll most likely have to have separate shopping carts from separate websites. for separate books. Separate. I’ve written separately so many times it doesn’t even seem like a word anymore. But I digress. The point here is not to be surprised when you need to sign up for accounts at five different sites to get your textbooks instead of just one. However, if that seems like a small price to pay, then CheapestTextBooks.com should be your next destination.