Buying used books for competitive exams: what to get second-hand and what to buy new

Usually safe to buy second-hand

• Standard reference books on core subjects — physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, history, polity. The underlying concepts rarely change between editions.
• Classic problem books that toppers have used for years.
• NCERT textbooks, as long as they are the current edition for the syllabus.
• Literature, essay and language books.

For these, a copy a few years old is often almost identical to the latest one. Check the table of contents against the current syllabus and you will usually save half the price or more.

Better to buy recent or new

• Current affairs compilations and yearbooks, which date quickly.
• Books written for a specific exam pattern that has recently changed.
• Solved previous years' papers, if the most recent years are missing from older copies.
• Test series and mock-test books where the answers have already been filled in.

Check the syllabus, not just the cover year

Exam conducting bodies publish their syllabus and pattern on their official websites. Before you buy, open the official syllabus and compare it with the book's chapters. If a topic has been added, you may only need to cover it from another source; if a large part has been removed, an older book can still be useful but you will know which chapters to skip.

Notes from a previous student can be a bonus

Unlike school workbooks, exam reference books with neat margin notes, marked important questions or a list of mistakes to avoid can be more useful than a clean copy. Ask the seller how they used the book and whether the notes are theirs.

Sell it on when you are done

Keep your books in good condition through your preparation and list them as soon as your exam is over. Next year's aspirants start buying early, and a well-kept set sells quickly.