Free College Textbooks

How Do I Get Free Textbooks Online?

Getting free college textbooks could be a real possibility - if you are willing to put in a little more effort and are open to different book formats. For example, you may need to sell some old books first and you may be downloading a free textbook PDF, rather than getting a new copy.

Nevertheless, for the thrifty and determined college student, here’s our guide to getting free (or nearly free) textbooks!

Create an Account & Sign Up for eWards

It all starts with creating an account on eCampus.com and joining our eWards program. This will allow you to earn your first 250 eWards points, which can immediately be redeemed for a $10 Gift Card code. Creating an account will also allow access to our best coupon codes and you'll also be eligible to start selling old books to us. Everything starts here.

After signing up for our eWards program, you'll also earn more points (and gift cards) for book sales, purchases, and social media efforts. Start racking up points and use the free money you've earned on your college textbooks!

Sell Books for In-Store Credit

Not only will you earn real money for selling your old books, you will also earn 1 reward point for every dollar sold (after you’ve signed up for eWards). These don’t need to be textbooks - any book with an ISBN can be searched on our ‘Sell’ page to see if we’re offering to purchase a particular item.

Once you have entered all of the books/ISBNs that you wish to sell, make sure to select “In-Store Credit” as the payment method. Doing this will earn you the most money for your textbook purchase and is also the fastest way to get paid for your books. Be sure to use the shipping label provided and ship your books in a timely manner for free.

Earn eWards

eWards are earned for completing these actions on-site and off-site:

• Signing Up for eWards
• Connecting Your FB and Twitter Accounts
• Tweet and Post
• Refer Friends
• Email a Product or Deal

If you complete all of the above actions, you can earn up to $20 off an order of $120 or more. This will come in handy later!

Save with Rentals, e-Textbooks, and Renting e-Textbooks

Review all the purchase options for your textbooks and choose the version that is right for you. You can save with eTextbooks and Rentals, and you can even rent eTextbooks! Some textbooks also come with free 7-day eTextbook access. However, you’ll want to consider whether or not you will need supplemental materials (such as access codes, CDs, or Loose-Leafs). If you don't need supplemental materials, then consider purchasing one of these more cost-effective options.

Other Ways to Earn Money for Textbooks

eWards are earned for completing these actions on-site and off-site:

• Become an eCampus.com Influencer - Influencers are people who have a loyal social media following and refer their audience to eCampus.com. By signing up for our influencer program, you could earn commissions on each sale you refer and we even offer in-store credit to some of our partners! Click here for more info about our influencer program!
• Become an eCampus.com Affiliate - Affiliates earn steady cash by promoting our products online via affiliate links. We have affiliates who have earned thousands of dollars by adding affiliate links to their site. It’s simple to get started. Click here to join our affiliate program!
• Ask for Gift Cards - Talk to your parents and loved ones about sending you some eCampus.com gift cards. Our gift cards are unique codes that apply in-store credit to your account. These can be purchased by a family member and you can use them on your next purchase. Here’s a link to our gift card page.

By following the steps above, it is definitely possible to get your textbooks for free (or nearly free). We hope this gives you a path forward to getting the best possible deal on your textbooks.

Thanks for choosing eCampus.com!

Final Tips:

DO: Search for Free eBooks on Project Gutenberg

While you may not be able to find college textbooks for free here, Project Gutenberg does offer a wide selection of 60,000 eBooks (mostly novels). If you're taking a literature course or another related class, you may be able to find what you're looking for on Project Gutenberg for free.

How Does Project Gutenberg Work?

• Project Gutenberg mostly offers books available in the United States Public Domain.
• This means that the books are not protected under U.S. Copyright Law. Often, these books were authored by individuals who passed away long ago and whose estates have surrendered the copyrights or whose copyrights have expired. This means that anyone can read or distribute these intellectual property in the United States. If you don’t live in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country you live in before downloading and distributing eBooks on Project Gutenberg
• Additionally, some authors give Project Gutenberg permission to distribute their book(s). However, this permission does not automatically expand to include you. If you want to distribute a copyrighted eBook you found on Project Gutenberg, you would need to contact the author and stipulate an agreement.



DON'T: Use Z Library or Libgen

While it may be tempting to use a site like Z Library or Libgen, which claim to offer free textbooks; these sites can lead to very dangerous consequences. Libgen and Z Library contain files from unverified sources, which can contain malicious software (malware). Malware is a program or file that is intentionally harmful to a computer, network, or server. Types of malware include computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware and spyware. Accidentally downloading malware can cause disruption to a computer, leak private information, allow unauthorized access to information or systems, and interfere with the user's computer security and privacy. Additionally, nearly all of the textbooks available on Z Library and Libgen are not copyright free. This means, getting caught downloading these textbooks could lead to felony criminal charges, accompanied by up to five years of jail time and fines up to $250,000. All in all, using Z Library and Libgen is a very dangerous practice and it's highly recommended to acquire your textbooks from other legal sources.