Blog Post #11: When & Where to Buy Textbooks - TIPS!
Textbooks are required materials issues by a Professor for a specific course. Textbooks can encompass academic research materials, legal statutes, case materials, commentaries & journal articles, and more.
When Should I Buy My Textbooks?
Professors often change the textbooks they issue for a course - especially the edition. I recommend waiting until the first week of classes before purchasing your textbooks, unless you are able to determine in advance which texts AND editions the professor is planning to use. During the first week, the Professor will indicate, through the syllabus, which text is being used.
Where Can I Buy My Textbooks from?
The University of Windsor Bookstore
The official University of Windsor bookstore website contains all the required (and often, many supplementary) textbooks required for each course.
You can search for books on the University of Windsor bookstore website for texts by course code, author, course, and more.
Other websites - Amazon, LexisNexis etc.
Several third-party websites such as Amazon and LexisNexis sell legal textbooks. A quick search through google will indicate if you can get the textbooks in other places.
Windsor Law Students
Using the Windsor Law Facebook pages, students will post their books for sale. Students will sell their books at a significant discount. Be sure to ask about the book:
(i) what edition?
(ii) what condition? Is there there highlighting? markings? notes?
Tips to Consider
- While you may see advertisements of upper year students selling their first-year textbooks at a great price, determining the professor is, in fact, using the same textbook and edition are crucial to ensure you do not waste your money. Some students do not return money even if you accidentally bought the wrong edition.
- If there is more than one textbook required and you buy more than one from a previous student, negotiate an additional discount.