Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Buying books in Uppsala

Studying in Uppsala requires a lot of reading. I was used to the fact that going to the classes and reading a little bit was more than enough, but here in Uppsala doesn’t always work that way. You are going to see yourself many times in the situation were you need to read almost the whole book to actually understand the class and that requires owning the book.

Buying used books is always cheaper but they are hard to find since not everyone sells their books. Also, not everyone actually gives you a good deal and many people try to sell their books in almost the full price. Anyway, books are as expensive here as in any other place (at least from what I’ve seen). If you are looking for a place to buy your books you can go to Studentbokhandeln. The books there have an acceptable price, sometimes even cheaper than amazon.com and you will get a 10% student discount if you spend more than 1000 SEK.

If you can actually wait a week or so to get your book, I would recommend buying them in bokus.com. They have a large selection, books are noticeably cheaper than in Studentbokhandeln, and if you have your student card from Mecenat.se, you earn 2.5% of what you pay as a student bonus (5% the first time), which you can use to buy books as well. I have used this page many times and, in my experience, they have a pretty good service.


View Studentbokhandeln AB in a larger map

I know there is actually at least another book store here in Uppsala, but here I’ve always find the books I’m looking for.

Update: here is a list of bookstores I found on a course website (online and offline)


4 comments:

  1. Hi Andry, There's no second hand book stores in Uppsala? Do you now it? tack!

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    1. Hej Luisa! I just edited the post to include a list of secondhand bookstores. I hope you find it useful :)

      Also, check out student boards. Many students sell their old books that way.

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  2. Hello Andry. Does the Uppsala University have its own bookstore? I really need to buy Kristian Pella's book titled "The Kakure Kirishitan of Ikitsuki Island: The End of a Tradition" and I can't find it anywhere.

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    1. Hi! No, the university doesn't own a bookstore as far as I know. I can see it's a doctoral thesis, so perhaps you can contact the author or the supervisors asking for a copy. You can get their contact information on the university website. Another option would be to borrow it from the library.

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