Since the uni semester is coming up, I thought I'd try using the coupon code from this previous deal on textbooks. Surprisingly it works. Tested on several universities' textbooks and the discount appears to apply too. I saved $78 myself, paid through PayPal without a problem.
6.4% cashback from Cashrewards
$20 cashback on $100 spend with Amex, thanks ts13
Edit: Code expires 01 March 2016 (thanks nofighting)
It really depends. If you buy them now, you can start reading them earlier. Otherwise, you can attend some lectures/talk to people who have done the course before and find out whether the textbook is actually necessary for your course/s. Also, congrats on starting uni!
Try university or local second hand book stores. Texts usually don't change very much from year to year so you could get away with previous editions. You will save a lot of money.
A lot of textbooks are available in electronic format. You can read them on the uni library website, or buy them cheaper online. Also, after uni starts you might find previous students selling their textbooks via notice boards around campus. The ones that are advertised as 'brand new, almost mever used' are likely to be ones you won't use, either lol.
I've found that brand new international editions are often cheaper than second hand, and easier to procure.
Depends what you're doing and how well you're planning to do. For the most part you don't even need the textbook. But if you want to get them now it's almost always cheaper to get them from bookdepository if you want new, otherwise secondhand (most uni's have a secondhand bookshop but you need to get in early).
I have always waited until the first weekend so I have time to consult the lecturer/other students. Sometimes you don't even need the textbook. Nowadays I just borrow it from the library in the first week since there will still be plenty.
I remember first semester of uni I decided to buy all my textbooks - that was easily the biggest waste of money. We rarely ever used them, if ever, and the lecture and tutorial notes covered everything so the textbooks became useless. Since then, there have only been 2 subjects in my 5 years of uni that we needed - mainly to answer questions for the tutorials, and I just got those books from the uni library for one day each week to do those. If you are not so keen on the library - there is usually PDFs floating around of popular textbooks. But if you are still keen on getting the actual physical copy of the textbook - definitely look at the 2nd hand shops (we have one at UTS) and they are usually around half the price they are sold for new and in great condition.
If I were you, I would hold off until I knew more about the course. A lot of recommended or "compulsory" textbooks are unnecessary, whereas others can literally be the backbone of a unit.
Wait until you spend a week or so in class so you can figure out if the book is necessary. The drawback here is that if you desperately need the book, you may need to get it ASAP and forgo discounts (except Co-Op does click and collect, so you should be okay).
Otherwise, see if you can get in touch with anyone else who has done the same unit in previous years and use their advice. Be warned however that unit structures can change quite often - to the extent that even textbooks can change (not just editions of textbooks). This is because a lot of units (especially commerce units) are leaning towards online associated learnings with specifically compiled textbooks for this purpose. You'll find science units much more traditional in their use of textbooks, but that their lectures can also be very comprehensive depending on the unit coordinator.
Also, don't just assume that Co-op is the cheapest bookstore for textbooks. Look into sites like bookdepository and booktopia to compare prices. Most things are cheap on co-op; especially because I think some books are government subsidised as they can be several hundred dollars cheaper than books on bookdepository (an intl store), however, the odd book can be cheaper from other sources.
It's a good time to sign up for co-op membership if you're happy to open a MeBank account, as you'll get your $25 sign-up fee back; you can sign up for this movie deal (one free movie per month if you use paypass at least 1x per week); arguably, the highest current interest rate at 3.6% (1.8% + 1.8% bonus if you also use paypass at least 1x per week), with unlimited withdrawals from your savings account and no other terms; free ATM transactions everywhere and no account-keeping fees.
Congratulations and best of luck with starting uni! Don't screw up your first year like I did. It only gets harder and if you need to keep up your GPA, first year is the time when it's easiest to keep it up. Also have fun, join clubs if that's your thing, and keep an eye on the expiry dates of all those offers to make sure you don't leave it too late :)
Appreciate the advice mate, thanks.
If you can get them really cheap, via an international edition, I suggest getting them. If not, wait until a few weeks into the semester, to see if you even need them
I wouldn't buy them now. Some subjects I had (mainly computer science ones) listed a textbook to buy, but were not at all used throughout the course instead they were more like extra reading books. Also have a look at 2nd hand websites such as studentVIP and your uni facebook groups. You can usually easily find textbooks for more than 50% off RRP.
Buy when you start. At least 50% of the "recommended" books are not needed. And of the other 50%, most of them are only used for 1 year or 1 semester etc and can be bought second hand
Don't forget $20 cashback on $100 spend with Amex
and 6.4% CR
disounts add up real quick. Can't be bothered doing the specific mathematics as all the discount mechansisms work a bit differently (e.g. CR applying before discounts - and Amex cashback not affecting CR) however looks like this might be up to a 40% discount on a ~$100 spend.
Thanks OP
thanks Ts13 & OP. saved me a fair bit of $ on a text book.
Holy shit your textbooks costs $500?
Yeah fml
Dude jesus christ they are really milking it aren't they…
At my uni, many lecturers compile their own custom textbooks by stealing pages from other textbooks, then sell it for a huge markup. And then the same lecturers tell the students that the textbook is compulsory.
@victorwilson: I've had that happen once and he made us get the latest edition. I checked the older editions and they were the exact same thing EXCEPT they changed the numbers slightly in the questions that we needed to do for homework…………………..
Law ones are like $1000+ per semester in total.
$500 is not much. Especially if it's a reference book.
$500 not much relative to law textbooks? Or just not much if it's a reference book… 99% of (broke) uni students will disagree with the latter
relative
$1000+ a semester? Bit ridiculous.
I do law at one of the Go8 unis and it's like $350 max.
Yes. USYD i regularly sold books over $1k per semester for law.
Perhaps it's your subject selection.
Every Uni course is different when discussing textbooks. As a current student in education and science faculties for the last 4 years I would say that my fields heavily rely on the textbooks to bump you up from receiving a credit to a high distinction for the unit. My latest science exams (two weeks ago) I would have been lucky to get even 50% if I didn't have the text books. Also you might find that many uni's like mine do, put a hold on the books in the library, can only borrow them there and not take home. I have always bought my books, used them heavily throughout assessments and has helped my GPA throughout.
It's just horrible when unis get you to purchase a textbook NEW just because there is some digital supplement included that you need for a 15% assessment…and if you want to purchase the supplement separately, it's almost as expensive as the bundle. Personally I buy all my textbooks second hand from other students - usually $30-40 each; once or twice bought new just for a supplement which was like $100+ each minimum…it's just bullshit.
Precisely.
I did that for a Maths book and ended up dropping the subject for the following Semester and had to buy ANOTHER DAMN DIGITAL THINGY.
This is like my friend. She was so proud she got through the entire semester without buying the book with a high credit average then the exam became open book…
I agree about the distinction stuff - anything below a distinction average….you better have an amazing CV or be in accounting where there seems to be big recruitment.
Bear in mind that the prices the Co-op sells at is driven by the publisher's price, plus the commercial reality that the Co-op has a commitment to maintain a presence on campus throughout the year (which it pays for both in rent/oncampus licence and labour/capital costs).
Whilst a textbook may not vary much from year to year, it's entirely the publisher/author decision to "tweak" each year and drive the incentive for new text purchases each year.
Frustrating yes…tweaks may only be as subtle as changing a few questions that the Tut's rely on….a cheap update for the publisher and impacts on the secondhand text market.
Check booko.com.au first before buying and I don't recommend buying textbooks until you really, really , really need it.
Anyone else having an issue with the site showing someone elses shopping cart? Looks like they've got a similar caching issue to what Steam had the other month.
I worked there for a bit. I HIGHLY recommend it for the rush period. You get to see and chat to all the students - find out what they are studying, their aspirations etc. You meet so many people, learn about cool places and things you hadn't thought of. I made some cool friends and got some dates.
It's super fun and easy money.
PS - I also wanted to see how hot everyone was. It was disturbing when I saw the birthdates of the hotties - born in 1997. Damn. Then when they would ask me out…..pretending i was younger than I was.
Damn I feel old now
Tell me about it.
The good thing is I look so young so they didn't realise I was finishing my SECOND degree and they were just starting their first one….
Edit - there was a really cool guy I was chatting to. I will never forget him suavely walking over putting a bunch of pens on the counter saying 'I'll get these bad boys" and seeing his birthdate. He was 18 :(
As stated earlier, always wait for the first week to really see if you need it or ask your mates who have done it (at least that how it was with commerce)
Start at https://studentvip.com.au/textbooks and https://booko.com.au/ and this deal website.
I despised my uni book shop praying on first years, so second and third year I bought a few dozen of each accounting, fiancne, marketing and management text books and sold them for $30-$60 less than the bookstore. Thanks bookdepository for making me some easy coin!
Perfect! Thank you OP. Just in time for semester 1 :)
Any idea when this code expires? We don't get our booklist until the first week of the semester…
No idea, sorry. I haven't seen any email or page where the discount code is advertised by Co-op.
On the Co-op website you can try and enter the details of your uni and course code, and it should show you what your prescribed textbook/s will be.
Expiry date?
Is the site stuffing up for anyone else? I go to my cart and it's someone else's.
It's happen twice to me, I've been directed to carts with management accounting, and then chemistry textbooks.
Borrow the textbook at the start of the semester from the library, don't return it and cop the $25 fine cap upon returning it.
A real dick move to save some cash, but textbook prices are not something a student should pay considering the fees you already contribute.
Haha at my uni there's a $30 fine every day the book is late
Yeah as other's have said, see if you really need a copy of the book before purchasing one. Most of the time though, you can get away with a PDF versions of the book, unless you need physical books such as for open book exams.
This is awesome
Just wished I had this earlier, when over $1000 was spent.
But I have a couple more to get, so thanks.
Great find, saved $150 on this sem's $1000 worth of textbooks :(
So basically this is what happened.
1) I made an online Co Op account and purchased a $110 gift card, I then used coupon code CRM1015D to get $10 off making the total amount $100 to still qualify for the Amex offer.
2) I then added two books to my account approx 165 and 65, plus the $25 membership (to get a mebank account and $25 Co Op voucher etc..) the total came to approx $255, I then used the code CRML0315 to get 15% off (reducing it to approx $217) as well as my previously bought $110 voucher, the final total being $107 (again over the $100 limit to take advantage of the Amex offer from another Amex card that I have)
And then the website crashed! When I reattempted part 2, the website was convinced I had already used the coupon CRML0315 so it didn't allow me to use it again! luckily it still let me use the gift voucher… so instead I made a new Co Op account and reattempted part 2 for the third time- allowing me to use CRML0315 this time but after putting in all my CC info etc the website crashed again!
That's besides for the major privacy issue with the caching problem and randomly seeing other people's names and orders
Oh well…
EDIT: The 4th attempt it worked! possibly because I didn't login until the payment page and possibility because I also selected the regular Co-Op membership and not the combined MeBank offer , now so long as I don't get a phone call tomorrow from Co-Op saying they cancelled the order….
TLDR Assuming my order doesn't get cancelled, if my maths is correct, I stacked discounts to get approx 45% off!
Tried to order the gift card, it seems the discount does not get applied on the gift card.
Thanks for the reminder that I'll be down another few hundred lol
If you use the promo code "SHOPNOW" it also gives you 10% off - works on gift vouchers too!
*my first productive contribution to OzB after years of lurking…
Correct me if I'm wrong. So with this 'SHOPNOW' code, you can purchase the gift cards for 10% off, then make another order with the gift card + 15% code to purchase the textbook? Essentially making it a higher than 15%(someone do the maths for me, I suck at maths) discount?
yeah i think so!
I also got emailed codes CRM0930 and CRM0940 for $5 off $30+ purchases - have not tested them out yet tho.
Looks like SHOPNOW no longer works on gift voucher. :(
You the real MVP OP
just got an email with the same code
valid until 01/03/2016.
Thanks, I'll add that to the OP.
Does it say on the email whether it is an online only discount code or can you use it in store as well? I want to pick up a pair before the weekend and you can only use click and collect for textbooks.
it doesnt specify but i'm assuming it applies to online purchases only.
http://puu.sh/nc6oo/581de7f8e9.PNG
http://puu.sh/nc6s1/213e81d8d9.PNG
:( Thanks.
Used the coupon once earlier, but now it doesn't seem to apply for a second time.
It just gives the message: Coupon code "CRML0315" is not valid.
Does anyone know how to fix this? or does this mean that the coupon is one-time only?
Thanks
TERMS OF USE: Not valid in conjunction with any other offer or on sale items. Valid for general book and product purchases only - not on university textbooks or educational reference materials. This voucher can only be redeemed once. 1 voucher per person.
I dunno bout the "not on uni textbook etc. part since OP said it worked?
I understand now, so it can only be redeemed once.
Thanks for the reply.
Anyone else having trouble with paypal?? I'm getting this error: PayPal gateway has rejected request. The totals of the cart item amounts do not match order amounts (#10413: Transaction refused because of an invalid argument. See additional error messages for details). Item total is invalid (#10426: Invalid Data).
Yes, also got same issue.
Let me know if you find a fix?
I contacted them a few hours ago via Facebook and I was advised they are forwarding the information to their IT department. I ended up just using my credit card to pay and it has gone through ok.
code still works
Is it still working for you right now? I'm trying to use it without success :(
bought a book just then and the code still works
still works!
I realised that it's only 1 use per account! Made a new account and all was good :)
I'm going into my first year next week, should I pre purchase the textbooks or get them when the semester starts? Thanks.