I sat in my accounting class two years ago, amazed other students hadn’t made any effort to buy their textbook well ahead of the beginning of the semester. OK, I may be a little obsessive compulsive, but I don’t have any desire for my GPA to suffer because the bookstore isn’t willing to accommodate its customers (that would be us, the students) by providing a product which should be guaranteed.If a class is offered at the University, all material for that class should be made available at the Union Bookstore.I felt no pity for those students in my accounting class without textbooks. But, as they say, when you walk a mile in another’s shoes your perspective is bound to change.I am dealing with this issue for the first time this year. As usual, I ordered my books several weeks before the start of the semester. Three weeks into the semester  — in one of the hardest classes I’ve taken so far — the bookstore apologized and said the books required for the class would not be made available. We would have to find them online.This was after repeated assurances the books should be received and available for pick up one day soon. It seemed at the time it would be better to wait for the books to show up, rather than order it online. It seemed logical my bookstore order was sure to be available by the time an online order was shipped. The entire class is now about nine chapters behind and struggling to catch up to where the professor is lecturing.The subject matter is somewhat complex, and the ability to pre-read the material would have greatly facilitated understanding during lectures.But it seems Murphy’s Law wasn’t through with me. After breaking down and ordering my books online (at a price much cheaper than the bookstore’s) they were lost en route when shipped. This fact is irrelevant to my point — but I feel better after venting.To be fair, this is the first semester these particular textbooks have been used for this class, and I like them as much as anyone can like a textbook. The books were a good choice for the course. But the fact they would not be available through the bookstore should have been determined well before the beginning of the semester.Students could have been informed earlier they would need to purchase the material online.When comparing prices charged by the bookstore to prices for books purchased online, the savings far outweigh any potential convenience realized by shopping at the Bookstore.The only advantage to purchasing your textbook at the bookstore is the ease with which you can return it when they give you the wrong book or inform you you need a book you don’t actually need. That is, of course, if you return it in time. If you wait one day too long, you’ll have to trade it in at a much-reduced price. For your information, don’t trade the book in at the bookstore. You will receive much more for your “used” textbook at Amazon.com.In the end, I learned a valuable lesson — which, after all, is what school is all about. I have learned from this time forward to make every effort to avoid purchasing textbooks at the bookstore. Much better resources are available where the same product can be purchased at a cheaper price with a higher probability of receiving the item for which you paid. I did eventually receive my books from FedEx, which is more than I can say about the bookstore.Nathan Shull is a 35-year-old finance junior from Seattle. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_nshull—-Contact Nathan Shull at [email protected]