When is the best time to buy your books for college?

I start school this friday and I haven't purchased any books yet. When is a good time to purchase the books for your classes? Should I wait til I have the class then go from there?

this is my first year of college..I'm not sure what i'm doing ahaha!When is the best time to buy your books for college?
The best time to purchase is before class starts. You can usually get them much cheaper used online than even the used ones at a college book store. If you wait until class starts, the used ones are usually gone from the book store, and you don't have time to buy online and wait a week for them to get shipped to you. So you have no choice but to buy them at the new price from the book store. (I've actually bought online after class starts, and it's a hassle trying to do the assignments for a week or so borrowing other people's books. You could overnight it, but that cost shipping is ridiculous.)

In my experience, I could usually get them for less than half the price for $100+ books. That adds up to quite a bit of savings.

Some professors will expect you to use the book the first day and assign homework from it. Though, if you don't have the book in those cases, you can usually share or borrow from someone who does have it. Many teachers won't require it on the first day, because they know a lot of students are slackers, and won't have gotten the book.

I usually would not have my books until after the first day of class, simply because I procrastinated. It was very rare that we didn't use the book, and I usually regretted when I hadn't saved the money ordering online ahead of time rather than waiting and needing to buy from the book store. In the rare case where we didn't use them, I could return them to the online store, sell them back to the book store for not that much less than I paid online, relist it for sale on Amazon myself, or sell it to an online textbook buyer. Lots of ways to get your money back. You really lose much more money buying from every book from the book store than you would buying used online and not needing 1 out of 5 books, which you could get most if not all of your money back for.

If in doubt, check the price you can get it online vs the book store. If you'd save a lot of money, buy it online ahead of time. If you wouldn't save much, wait til after class starts then buy at the book store.When is the best time to buy your books for college?
Yes, you should wait till you have your first class. Like I said on an earlier question, the professor may not even require the book. What I have been doing every semester for the past three years is waiting until the first day of class when the professor tells us whether we need the book or not. If we need it, I buy it. If we don't, I don't. Now if you buy the book before class begins and the professor says you dont need it, you may not be able to return it. So, just wait until class begins.When is the best time to buy your books for college?
There's usually nothing wrong with waiting until classes start. But if you're buying them online, you have to consider shipping time. And buying earlier means you're more likely to get good deals on used books.