New vs Used Books Forum

[runandplay]

Sorry if this topic has been approached before, but the search isn't working today... As an undergrad I rarely bought books, and when I did they were always used or older edition. In law school I plan on actually opening up a book, so I was wondering whether I should buy them used or new? I'm not sure how much a distraction previous highlighting will be on my reading, etc. I was thinking about buying all the shorter books used and purchasing the casebooks new, for at least the first semester... Thanks!

[LoyolaLaw2012]

Buying the casebooks new will be very expensive. I usually email my professor before he posts the books list, then buy them from amazon. If you purchase them early enough, you will get a better deal. Whether the highlighting is distracting depends on you.

[jennylynn]

I got new for 1L just because I knew I needed to really just wade through the text myself and not use another person's notes as a crutch. This year I'm buying used, but making sure that the highlighting/writing is minimal. You can get a book with barely any handwriting for almost half retail if you look.

[Bosque]

I got new for 1L just because I knew I needed to really just wade through the text myself and not use another person's notes as a crutch. This year I'm buying used, but making sure that the highlighting/writing is minimal. You can get a book with barely any handwriting for almost half retail if you look.

Some good advice.