Textbook Buying Tips

Get a list of the required books

  • When your student pulls up their schedule from the Howdy portal, it gives them the option to pull up a list of the books that they’ll need.   This list includes price & ISBN.  This list is not available on the Parent Howdy portal.
  • You can look up the books for each individual class at the A&M Bookstore.  Plug in the classes & get the list of books required.

Easy method – higher cost

Higher effort method – lower cost

  • Using the information gathered from the A&M Bookstore (especially ISBN), shop for & order books online.  Directtextbooks & DealOz search many sites, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, half.com, eBay & many more.
  • You may want to do a separate search of eBay, as additional choices are available.
  • Savings can be significant.  Coppell Aggie moms have reported >50% savings over the easy method.
  • Tips:
    • Pay attention to seller ratings, if available.
    • Use caution with the less expensive paper International editions.  Though they say they’re identical, experience has indicated that exercises in the books may be different from the US edition.
    • To stretch the dollars even further, consider selling books that your student no longer wants.  A favorite for this is eBay & including a ‘Buy It Now’ price is recommended.  Many times, you can get the same or more than the original purchase price, if you had purchased online.