For a brand new semester, buying books can be expensive, especially if you’re a broke college student like myself. With the help of financial aid and parents, it still can be a little pricey even for used textbooks.

I’ve asked the employees at the bookstore why they are so expensive. Their response is that it’s not them making the price, it’s the publishers that ask for so much. This is somewhat understandable. They’ve got to make a profit, too.

However, there is another way to buy our books cheaper and it’s not at the bookstore. Students have come to learn that buying books online is cheaper and easier. The leading seller of new and used textbooks online is Abebooks.com. It’s been the top-selling Web site over the past few years and business and science students are the leading online purchasers.

Let me give you a good example. The No. 1 book that is purchased seems to be the “Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry” textbook by D. Nelson, M. Cox and A. Lehninger. At regular price at a campus bookstore, it would be $139.95. At Abebooks.com you only pay $55. Now that’s a bargain!

Lisa Stevens, vice president of marketing at www.abebooks.com said, “Science students have felt victimized for years because their textbooks have been so highly priced — clearly, they believe the Internet is an attractive alternative to campus bookstores. Business students are putting what they learn in class into practice and choosing the seller that offers the widest selection and the cheapest prices.”

With over 70 million used, new, and rare titles, www.abebooks.com is the world’s largest online marketplace for textbooks. They have millions of registered customers who purchase around 20,000 books a day from its five global sites, according to Richard Davies, PR manager.

They have been selling successfully online since 1996 and are a private company in Victoria, B.C., Canada, with offices in Germany and Spain. You can go to their Web site at www.abebooks.com or contact them by phone at (250) 412-3238.