Best College Textbook Stores in Arizona

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Where Can I Find the Best College Textbook Stores in Arizona?

In Arizona, you deal with long drives and hotter-than-hot afternoons, so grabbing textbooks online feels like a relief. With three major university systems in the state - ASU, UA, and NAU - you get plenty of course-linked bookstore pages to pull from. Instead of trekking to a counter, you can open your course list, pull up those sites, and see what's required in seconds. With ISBNs visible thanks to federal disclosure rules, you can feel confident that you're picking the right edition.

From Tempe weekends to late-night study sessions, you can hop onto the ASU Bookstores site and build your cart straight from your schedule. You choose campus - Tempe, West, or Polytechnic - then pick your section, and you get the exact ISBNs tied to your instructor. You can sort among rental, used, new, and digital, and you'll usually see estimated savings right on the page. When you see a price-match option, you can submit a link during checkout and shave a few dollars off.

Down in Tucson, you can search UA BookStores by term and instructor and load every required or recommended title for your classes. You often run into Inclusive Access for big intro courses, and you can opt out by the posted deadline if you'd rather switch formats. If account charging is available during the rush, you can place the order and have costs hit your student account instead of your card. In Arizona, you usually won't see shipping slowdowns early in the term, but you can still choose pickup near the Student Union to play it safe.

Up in Flagstaff, you can use NAU's online bookstore tools to line up rentals and set a return reminder for finals week. You can pick free pickup to avoid snow-delayed delivery, or you can select home shipping if you're off campus. You usually get a rental check-in window that covers the last days of the term, and you can convert to buy if the book proves useful for upper-division work. With the mountain weather in play, you can order a week early and sidestep any hiccups.

After a monsoon downpour clears the air, you can scroll through community college portals just as easily. On the Maricopa Community Colleges sites, you can search by course across the system and grab ISBNs for quick checks across formats. Over at Pima Community College, you can do the same, and you'll usually see rental versus digital side by side. Across Arizona, you can keep an eye on add/drop dates, because you usually get a return window that mirrors that first week - a small detail that can save you real money.

There are many factors to consider when comparing online retailers for college textbooks. Here are the top ones on our list:

• Cost. Why spend more than necessary on your textbooks? When two books are identical and only the price differs, it's a no-brainer: go with the less expensive option. However, some online retailers have bulk discounts or rewards programs, making it a little trickier to decide which copy to purchase - and be aware of any "service fees" or "digital access fees" added at checkout at some vendors. Keep in mind the condition of the book you're buying as well, if you want to try to resell it to recoup some of your book budget.
• Selection. Many online retailers we reviewed only sell textbooks and thus have a larger selection. If you want one-stop shopping, you'll have to choose one of those options. To save some money, you may be willing to look at multiple retailers, and that's a valid choice as well, especially when free shipping is offered.
• Shipping. When you're spending this kind of money, you want to cut costs where you can. Some retailers offer free shipping options with minimum purchases while others have a per-item add-on charge. Make sure you know what you're paying regarding shipping when you compare textbook prices. Speed of shipping can also come into play if you're shopping close to the first day of class.
• Return policy. Buying the wrong edition, dropping a class, or having the instructor change course materials on the first day of class - all of these can be costly mistakes if you buy from a retailer without a return policy you feel comfortable with. Some charge restock fees while others are more lenient. Similarly, the return window that retailers offer will vary.
• Access codes and bonus materials. If you need a textbook with an online access code, a DVD, or other learning materials, you may need to focus on purchasing a new copy. Most rentals and used books do not include these features.

To help save you time and money, we at Top Consumer Reviews have sifted through the most popular online textbook retailers. Check out our top choices, order your class materials, and get back to the business of learning.