Battle of Prices

School almost starts! I have 7 courses for the fall term, which means....around $700 will be spent on textbooks. I have no intention of spending that much money, so I started to search for used books. I was able to find many textbook sale posts on craiglist. It was fun to compare the prices each seller is offering, and don't forget that edition can affect the price. I don't want to buy a cheap textbook, but end up having difficulty following the instructor in class. Thus, it's actually a lot of work to compare the prices, and check out the edition and author.

Top Goal: Cheapest but Newest Edition I can Find

After several success in finding the lowest price of the edition that I've targeted, I had the confidence to do it again with accounting textbook. First thing I did was to contact the sellers who offered the price that I targeted. One of them replied me first, and he was offering two accounting textbooks for $110. I've seen some posts offering two accounting textbooks for $100, so I assumed that it was the cheapest price I can get. I took the deal and asked the buyer to meet at 7:30pm. Around 4pm, another girl sent me an email, said she was offering "both for $70." She was originally offering each for $45. It sounds too good to be true. So I asked her if she meant "both for $70 each or both for $70?" She didn't reply me instantly. I just thought...never mind I'll get two books for $110 then. By the time I get my books, she replied and said she meant both for $70. Regret. Lots of regrets. If I didn't act on impulse, I could have saved $40.

Lesson learned: Don't rush it. I can wait.

Even though a lot of people offer a set of textbook for discounts, I still insist on buying the lowest price of each one. Why? Because sometimes I don't need certain books in the list, and I had the confident that if I bought individually, I can still beat the discounts they offered. At the end, I spent about $350 in total. I saved up over half of the money. Mission accomplished! :D