Purchasing textbooks does not have to be the same burden as it was years ago; but then again, they are relatively more expensive today. With the increased price, there are also three local bookstores and endless online services that compete for students’ business, each with advantages.

Here are some of your options for purchasing textbooks:

Local bookstores

Illini Union Bookstore, or IUB, gives students the opportunity purchase and rent textbooks or their digital counterpart. Students can pre-order their books through its website, which carries the official textbook listings. Once they arrive on campus, books will be ready for pickup before the first day of classes.

“We do all that tracking for (the customer). They don’t have to wait in line and pay when they pick up their books,” said Brad Bridges, IUB manager.

Being a department of Illini Union, the sales help support Illini Union activities, such as the Illinites.

In addition, T.I.S. College Bookstore and Follett’s Bookstore have also been options for students for decades.

Joe Siegel, textbook manager at T.I.S., said the bookstore has been popular with students for more than 20 years and continues to be today.

All three bookstores also offer Fighting Illini gear as well as school supplies.

Illini Book Exchange

Illini Book Exchange, or IBX, offers students the option to purchase books from students previously enrolled in the class.

Students can search for textbooks, negotiate prices with sellers and plan to meet at a designated place to exchange the textbook.

Josh Sulkin, graduate student and president of IBX, said students save money by “cutting the middle man.”

“IBX is free for students to use. We don’t take any of the profit from buying and selling textbooks,” he added.

IBX has transacted more than $2.4 million worth of books since it opened in 2002 and currently has more than 16,000 books listed for sale.

Amazon

Amazon has countless textbooks for sale, with listings from different suppliers.

College students are eligible for a free “Prime” account, which offers members free two day shipping on various products, such as textbooks. According to its website, customers save up to 90 percent on used textbooks and up to 30 percent on new textbooks.

In addition, students can sell their book through the company’s trade-in program.

Amazon generally offers more money for the book than other online services, but it is in form of a gift card.

Chegg and Barnes & Noble

Chegg, which gives students access to about 4.2 million books, is the No. 1 source of college textbook rentals, according to a Student Monitor LifeStyle & Media report published in 2010.

Recently, Chegg has grown into a service that also allows students to purchase books and rent ebooks through its website.

Barnes & Noble entered the market in 2010 and has said students can rent books for 42.5 percent of their original price. The bookseller has created its own software, NOOKstudy, for ebook users to help students highlight and create custom notes within the digital copy.

Buying textbooks isn’t as hard as you think — it just takes careful planning and consideration.

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