Like a growing number of Nicholls students, Jamie Weber, freshman from Napoleonville, is finding out that textbooks can be bought more cheaply and often more easily online.”This semester I bought about 90 percent of my books in the bookstore,” Weber said. “I preferred online because it is a whole lot cheaper. Next semester I am going to look online first; I am only going to the bookstore if I can’t find it (online).”

At first glance, the long list of online bookstores can seem like a dark and scary jungle. However, it just might be worth sifting through because of the large discounts offered to entice students into avoiding on-campus bookstores.

For example ECampus.com promises savings of 20 to 50 percent, while campusbooks.com says it can save students up to 90 percent of regular bookstore prices. Bigwords.com claims an average saving of $71 on orders of two or more books and supplies a price comparison just before checkout.

Weber says she spent $400 to $500 on books this semester, but hopes she will have to pay much less next semester by taking advantage of the discounts.

Nathan Folse, English senior from Thibodaux, said an instructor told him about abebooks.com, a Web site he has used ever since.

“When I started here as a freshman I would buy all my books at the bookstore,” Folse said. “I realized pretty quick there were cheaper ways to find them.”

Saving time and avoiding bookstore lines are other lures that online booksellers are dangling in front of students. But some students are worried about selling books that they bought online to the bookstore at the end of the semester. Textbook clerk Sheila Kling says students should have little to worry about.

“It does not matter where they buy the book,” Kling says. “The buy-back policy is the same for all books. The only books we cannot buy back are rented books.”

Angelle Caillouet, bookstore manager, said the bookstore will buy back books, but will not refund them.

“Refunds are what we do the first week of class, and you need a receipt,” Caillouet said. “There is no receipt needed for a buyback. We will pay up to 50 percent of the price of the book.”

Other worries of students are the time it takes to ship books from the distributor and whether teachers will excuse missed work because a book is “in the mail.”

“It sounds good to buy it online, but what if you need the book today?” Charles Shannon, freshman from Schriever, said. “I usually don’t even think about the book until the homework is due, and then it is too late.”

Caillouet said students should utilize the on-campus bookstore because it is part of the University and is simple, easy and convenient.

“You don’t have to wait,” Caillouet said. “The books are here on the first day of class.”

In the past, Nicholls students have also relied on renting books from Textbook Rentals, Inc., located on Goode Street. TRI gives students a chance to use a textbook for the semester while only paying half the price of a new book. Books can be marked in, as long as the text is still legible, according to TRI manager Melissa Trahan.

“If students rent textbooks, they don’t have to worry about losing money on old editions or discontinued books (which the bookstore will not buy back).”

Gail Rome, freshman from Metairie, has rented textbooks in the past and does not consider it to be an advantage.

“Even though I rented them, I still spent $200,” Rome said. “Then, you have to give them back at the end of the semester. You don’t get that little bit of cash at the end of the semester.”

Sarah Menard, freshman from Hathaway, who has spent up to $700 on books in a single semester, might just have the best idea yet.

“I just don’t buy a lot of books,” Menard said. “I just find a person in every class who had a book and borrow theirs.