Comparing ASUCLA’s textbook-buying tool to the competition

As we head into a new year and a new quarter, we must once again face the daunting challenge of buying another set of textbooks, and finding the most bang for your buck requires a little bit of extra research. The UCLA Store recently added a “price comparison feature” under its textbooks tab developed by the software company Verba, which specializes in implementing these tools for campus stores. Nevertheless, many students still turn to websites like Amazon, SlugBooks and Bigwords to buy or rent their books. I decided to test a few of these sites out, along with UCLA’s Free and For Sale Facebook group, in an effort to find the most affordable copy of my organic chemistry textbook, Vollhardt’s and Schore’s “Organic Chemistry: Structure and Function,” which retails at $281.50.

Amazon

Amazon was probably the most organized of the three websites that I tried. Not only did it list the new, used and rental prices in separate categories, but it also provided filters for the condition of the book. And for students with Amazon Prime, shipping would be much less of a hassle.

SlugBooks

SlugBooks provided a very clear form of price comparison as well, showing a supplier with the price they were offering directly below. It offered price comparisons for a combination of new and used books. What I liked the most about SlugBooks was that it gave a selling option to “put your book on the market” specifically for students from your school, along with just selling it on the website as a whole.

Bigwords

Bigwords was probably the most difficult for me to navigate out of the three. When I selected the “Buy” option, shown in the picture above, it redirected me to only one other site to complete my purchase, as opposed to showing all of the suppliers in an orderly fashion like SlugBooks. Nevertheless, Bigwords did provide several search-refining tools, such as “quality enforcer” and “I need my stuff by…” to make the process smoother, though I would have preferred to have all of my options laid out in front of me, like in other two websites, as opposed to only being able to see the buy with the cheapest total price.

Facebook (Free & For Sale)

Another method for buying your textbooks is to make a post in UCLA’s Free and For Sale group on Facebook. On one hand, the group makes it easier to connect with UCLA students only, many of whom usually sell used books for prices lower than those in the school store or even sites such as Amazon. The only disadvantage is that students are constantly posting new items for sale. When I advertised my need for my organic chemistry textbook, it was quickly replaced by an outpouring of new posts, and I still haven’t had any responses.

UCLA Store

Lastly, one can always turn to the UCLA Store website (accessible directly from my.ucla) and its in-house price comparison feature. In my case, the version of my textbook being sold by UCLA was a loose-leaf edition, so no alternative offers appeared. The prices that UCLA offers for new and used books are typically higher than the comparable options listed below.

Verdict

Even though the UCLA Store’s new price comparison feature streamlines the process of finding the most affordable versions of your textbooks, it doesn’t change the fact that the store’s prices are not. Many times its used textbooks cost more than the used books offered from other websites and sell out very quickly. Of the first three websites I tried, I found almost identical prices for buying and renting my organic chemistry textbook, and I found Amazon and SlugBooks to be more user-friendly than Bigwords. The best option, in my opinion, will always be to buy your books from a friend, ex-classmate or fellow UCLA student who has taken the class.