Many community college students spend more on their textbooks than their enrollment fees.Although most students interviewed for this article buy their books at the campus bookstore, some choose to shop at online bookstores for lower textbook prices. But the online route to textbooks requires students to put more effort into their book-buying experience; books need to be ordered with enough time to allow for shipping, and students must be very careful that they are buying the correct edition of the textbook. Returns can be expensive if a student orders the wrong book at an online bookstore, or needs to drop a class.”They have to pay for shipping both ways,” said Gina Brenner, bookstore operations assistant, who has been the acting manager of the Oxnard College bookstore since 1985. “I think it all boils down to the customer service.”The Oxnard bookstore refund policy states that returns will be accepted with a receipt up to two weeks after the start of the semester, or up to one week after late-start classes begin. After that, returns are accepted up to 24 hours after the purchase.Although campus bookstores provide a valuable service, a little research into alternative sources for books might uncover some great bargains.Used books are an excellent way to save money, but campus bookstores don’t always have used textbooks available. Some professors change textbooks from year to year and authors frequently come out with new editions, so the campus bookstores cannot always buy back used books.”All the change cuts the amount of used books we get in,” said Chuck Wilson, bookstore operations assistant at the Ventura College bookstore. The Ventura bookstore buys all the used books it can during finals every semester at half the retail price, and then sells them the next semester at 75% of the retail price, said Wilson. The Oxnard bookstore buys used books from students five times each year and also orders used books from wholesalers, but only has used books available for 25% of their titles, said Brenner. A search of Amazon.com revealed that used textbooks are more plentiful and cheaper online. For example, the book “The Great Conversation”, 4th edition, is $84.25 at the Moorpark College bookstore and there are no used books available. On Amazon.com, a used version of “The Great Conversation” can be purchased for $49.99 plus shipping. Students can find real bargains if their professors don’t care about the latest edition of the textbook. Often, one or two-year-old editions can be found for 10% of the price of the newest edition. It could be a money-saving idea to ask the professor if an older edition is acceptable.Most students spend an average of $100 on textbooks for each class, and buy all of their books at the bookstore. Students say that although the books are expensive, the bookstore is easer, less time-consuming and the service is great. But some students would like to buy their books online if they had more time.”They only release the book list one week before school starts,” said Lisa Pitt, 36, Moorpark College child development major.Gina Brenner tries to have the Oxnard bookstore textbook list as complete as possible before releasing it to customers. She said she waits until a couple of weeks before each semester to post the list because of late orders and class changes. The bookstores have a 26% mark-up, called the margin, which goes back into the bookstore fund to cover freight, salaries and everything else that is needed to run the bookstore, said Brenner.