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Purchasing College Textbooks Online: -85725229679500A Feasibility Report for StudentsWritten by Lauren Pavlus-Newill, Sarah Patterson, Jalyn Nickerson, and Brytavian LewisTable of Contents TOC \o "1-1" \h \z \u Table of Contents PAGEREF _Toc342463903 \h iiiIntroduction PAGEREF _Toc342463904 \h vMethods PAGEREF _Toc342463906 \h 3Results PAGEREF _Toc342463908 \h 7Pricing PAGEREF _Toc342463909 \h 7Shipping Time PAGEREF _Toc342463910 \h 9Shipping Price PAGEREF _Toc342463911 \h 9Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc342463913 \h 13Index PAGEREF _Toc342463915 \h 15IntroductionThere are many ways to buy XE "buy" or rent XE "rent" textbooks for the college semester at the University of North Texas. In addition to the bookstores on campus, there is the option of buying and renting books online. A good bookstore XE "bookstore" needs to have the textbooks you require in good condition and at a reasonable price. Our team went both around campus and searched popular online websites XE "websites" in order to find the best way to buy XE "buy" a book early for the next semester. We compared four bookstores around the UNT campus and five online websites in order to get what we believe to be the best way to rent XE "rent" or buy and textbook early. Because we attempted to find the books three weeks before the Fall semester of 2012 was over, the bookstores on campus either did not have their prices listed or did not have the books in stock, so our attentions were focused mostly upon renting or buying books through an online source. In the end, we concluded that was the best choice to buy XE "buy" and rent XE "rent" books early online. MethodsMethods Determining which bookstore XE "bookstore" or which website to find books at was a long process. We wanted to compare both physical bookstores and online sources XE "online sources" in a variety of categories to determine the best place to buy XE "buy" or rent XE "rent" these books.CategoriesWe had several categories for each bookstore XE "bookstore" to determine the best stores to rent XE "rent" and buy XE "buy" books from.Quality of the book (e.g. Used or New) Ability to Rent or Buy booksPrice of the bookCondition of the book (e.g. Highlighted, Torn, Ripped)Variety of booksPhysical Bookstores:Service within the bookstore XE "bookstore" Length of the check-out lineOnline Sources:Shipping Time XE "Shipping Time" Shipping Costs XE "Shipping Costs" After coming up with these criteria for each bookstore XE "bookstore" , we picked three books that incoming students might need. We looked in each bookstore for these three books, but noted the variety within each bookstore.The American Journey XE "The American Journey" : A History of the United States, 2nd Concise Edition, Volume 1 By Goldfield, Abbot, Anderson, etc. (HIST 2610.001)Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" , 2nd Edition, with CDBy Michael Sullivan, III and Katherine R. Struve (MATH 1010.001)Biology: Science for LifeBy Colleen Belk, Virginia Maier, etc. (BIOL 1082.001)BookstoresFor the physical bookstores around campus, we listed each and every one that was within a good walking distance away from the UNT campus. The Recycled Books bookstore XE "bookstore" was included as well despite not being a textbook store.When determining the bookstores around campus, we came up with four different stores. The first was the Campus Bookstore XE "Campus Bookstore" at the intersection of Avenue C and Eagle Drive. The second was Voertman’s XE "Voertman’s" on West Hickory Street. The third was Eagle Textbooks XE "Eagle Textbooks" on West Prairie Street. Lastly was the Union Bookstore XE "Union Bookstore" inside of the Union on campus. Two people divided the physical bookstores between them and went to write down information in each of the categories. Unfortunately for the bookstores around campus, none of them had their books in stock and only the Union Bookstore had their prices online for incoming students to see. With this obstacle present, our group turned our focus onto mainly online bookstores.Online SourcesThe online sources XE "online sources" became our main focus as the campus bookstores did not have any early stock. In the beginning, we choose five websites XE "websites" to look at due to their popularity amongst college students. Our first website was XE "" because it was the most well-known. Our second and third choices were XE "" and XE "" , a few websites known by most students. Our last choices were XE "" and XE "" .When we picked these five websites XE "websites" , we also split these between two people. With these websites, we had to focus more on the price of each book and their shipping time instead of the condition of the book. The websites we judged more harshly when they became the main focus of our report.ResultsResultsWe listed the prices of each of the three books and what each store, whether online or around campus, listed for the book and both the rented and bought price. In addition, the online sources XE "online sources" have their own shipping dates and their own shipping price.PricingUnion Bookstore XE "Union Bookstore" The American Journey XE "The American Journey" Buy New$39.00Buy Used$28.80Rent New $60.00Rent Used$45.00Digital Copy$29.00Biology: Science for Life XE "Biology\: Science for Life" Buy New$163.75Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" Buy New$184.00Buy Used$138.00Rent Used$64. XE "" The American Journey XE "The American Journey" Buy New$54.00Buy Used$28.80Rent$14.26Biology: Science for LifeBuy New$148.93Buy Used$73.10Rent$32.80Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" Buy New$38.80Buy Used$33.75Rent$19. XE "" The American Journey XE "The American Journey" Buy New$65.00Buy Used$50.00Kindle Edition$39.29Biology: Science for LifeBuy New$107.49Buy Used$95.77Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" Buy New$140.99Buy Used$63.56Rent$48. XE "" The American Journey XE "The American Journey" Buy New$111.49Rent$56.99etextbook$58.85Biology: Science for LifeBuy New$115.99Rent $44.99etextbook$64.74Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" Buy New$102.49Rent$22. XE "" The American Journey XE "The American Journey" *Not Available*Biology: Science for LifeBuy New$151.34Rent (125 days)$56.49Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" Buy New$167.39Buy Used$119.68Rent (125 days)$27. XE "" The American Journey XE "The American Journey" Buy New$66.32Rent$39.99Biology: Science for LifeBuy New*Currently Sold Out*Buy Used$82.65Intermediate Algebra XE "Intermediate Algebra" Buy New$110.40Buy Used$92.00Shipping Time XE "Shipping Time" XE "" 2 XE "" 5-20 XE "" 3 XE "" 3-7 business XE "" *Not Available*Shipping XE "" Free 2 day shipping for students ($5.00) XE "" $3.65 per XE "" Depends on XE "" Free 3-7 day XE "" Not XE "" has the overall best deal if a student would like to get textbooks early. It has the best prices for the books we looked at and although it does not have the lowest shipping price, the price is not excessive, at $3.65 per book. It does not have the option of etextbooks XE "etextbooks" . However, for those students who like that version of a book, but for most students it is a great way to save money to get the books they need for their classes.15240009652000Index INDEX \c "2" \z "1033" , 4, 8, , 4, 7, 9, , 4, , 4, 8, 9bookstore, v, 3buy, v, 3Campus Bookstore, , 4, 8, 9Eagle Textbooks, 4etextbooks, 11Intermediate Algebra, 3, 7, 8, 9online sources, 3, 4, 7rent, v, 3Shipping Costs, 3Shipping Time, 3, 9The American Journey, 3, 7, 8, 9Union Bookstore, 4, 7Voertman’s, 4websites, v, 4 ................
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