Textbooks.
They’re expensive, and buying them can be a budget-busting, heartbreaking experience. But luckily, students in Gainesville have lots of options for getting the books they need for class.
The most obvious choice, and the most convenient for those living near the university, is to take advantage of the on-campus UF Bookstore, located in the Reitz Union.
Off campus, there are plenty of other bookstores to browse through. Some of the major stores include Orange and Blue Textbooks (OBT), with two locations near campus, and the Florida Bookstore, with three locations around town — two on West University Avenue and one on Southwest 34th Street.
The major bookstores in town, including the UF Bookstore, recently started textbook rental programs that allow students who don’t want to permanently keep their books to save money. Books aren’t usually due until the last day of exams or the day following, depending on store policy.
Matt Stevens, floor manager for OBT, said renting is a good option for students because, at his location, books are rented for half the price of new books.
“It works kind of like a library card does,” he said.
Stevens said minimal highlighting and writing is allowed in texts. However, if a book is returned with too much damage, students will be charged the remaining 50 percent of the book cost.
He said rentals are non-deferrable, and not all the books they sell are up for rent, including course packets. They do have a wide selection, though, and most large-class texts are offered.
Buybacks for the major stores are open year-round, although students shouldn’t expect all their books to be bought or to receive even half of the original price.
Some students choose to buy non-textbooks, like required literature or history books, at local stores like Book Lover’s Vegetarian Café on Northwest 13th Street. Others use national chains like Barnes and Noble.
And, of course, a growing trend among students is simply to forgo textbook stores and buy books online. There are plenty of online options, too, such as amazon.com, craigslist.com, ebay.com and gainesville4sale.com.
Ana Silva, a 21-year-old anthropology major, said she buys most, if not all, of her textbooks online using a website called bigwords.com. She said it acts like a search engine to find customers the best deals from many different online stores.
Silva said she thinks buying online is definitely the most affordable option for students.
“The advantage is definitely the price,” she said.
“You can find some textbooks, I’m not even kidding, for $5 … and the quality is pretty much the same as buying used.”
She said the only disadvantage is waiting for the texts to arrive, especially if you wait until the end of the drop/add period to order them.
Silva said she keeps some of her books, but the ones she doesn’t want she either sells to local stores or uses bigwords.com to find the highest bidder.
Silva also added that textbooks can also be rented online.
