Practical information about buying Books

griffdaddy

Although I finished my degree a year ago, I thought I'd pass on this bit of advise about buying books. In second and third year I used mainly the Campus Bookshop, purely for convenience sake, but then I started shopping online, and realised the price differences were astronomical, particulary on English or Philosophy books. For instance, the Campus Bookshop might charge over €10 for a novel, and it would be available online for €5 or €6 delivered, and this really starts to add up. By the end of third year I realised i'd saved almost €200. Also, the gift cards you can buy in Jervis or Stephens Green shopping centers are actually prepaid mastercards with cc numbers and ccv numbers attached to them, so even if you don't have a credit card you can just go to one of those places and buy as much 'credit' as you need and shop online. I mainly use thebookdepository.co.uk which delivers free to anywhere in the world.

I hope this helps somebody, as I know how taxing it can be when you have to buy about 15 novels, 6 plays, 4 poetry and 10 philosophy books a semester, and even if you get money from your folks or whoever for books, you can price them at Campus or Waterstones prices and then spend the money you 'save' on pints, drugs or STI check-ups. Everyone's a winner. By the way, I don't mean this post to sound bad about the Campus Bookshop, they provide a great service at a premium, and the staff are very helpful and friendly. Neither is this a shill for bookdepository, I just found it to be the cheapest place, particulary because of the free delivery.

lemon_sherbert

I've found an excellent website to be www.bookfinder.com - it's a price comparison website, new and second hand books.

delta_bravo

The only perk of the campus bookshop is the convenience and the rather eccentric owner who is often seen sporting a fine pair of red velvet trousers

WeeBushy

Excellent post, thank you.

I'm in a science course and the books are very expensive. I borrow from the library as much as I can, but the bank account always takes a hit at the beginning of each semester. I'll be sure to check them out in the future.