How much would you pay for a college textbook?

The college textbook market will have to wake up and face reality pretty soon. E-Commerce Times writes that the market functioned almost as a monopoly, with university professors having the power to decide which book students would have to buy for their courses. Prices have been increasing, and it has become seemingly impossible to get a textbook for less than $100. Some years back when I was in college, most of my textbooks were in the $65-$95 range, adding up to $350-400 for the semester, which was really outrageous.

To beat traditional publishers, several small sites have come up that provide students with cheaper options for textbooks and other school supplies. One of the largest of these sites is Chegg.com, which has just got $2.2 million as funding according to BusinessWeek.com. At Chegg.com, students can buy and sell used textbooks for free. Books on chegg.com are also cheaper than the campus bookstore.

One Chegg user says her book expenses have dropped to $200 -- from $500 to $600 -- since she began using the site in September. "It's a really great way for students to find textbooks, tutors, or jobs. The prices are cheaper than other sites," says Stacy Lynn Austin, a junior who is studying journalism and creative writing at New York University.