NC State students save big with tax-free online textbook orders

Saturday was day two of North Carolina's sales tax holiday, and many people got their 7 percent savings on school supplies without stepping foot in a store.

At the North Carolina State University bookstore, where one textbook can run $200 or more, buying books during the tax-free weekend can add up to double-digit savings.

Larry Sampson, a senior applied mathematics student, said he saved $37 on a $553 textbook, for example.

The bookstore makes it easy to save. An army of staff are filling online orders – which are eligible for the same great savings – for students to pick up before they start classes later this month.

"It's definitely worth it," said manager Anthony Sanders. "We've saved students, generally each year, over $100,000 just on textbooks."

They estimate filling about 7,000 online orders this weekend, a figure that bookstore director Pat Hofmeister would like to see grow.

"If you look at enrollment here – we have close to 30,000 students taking classes here – and 7,000 is a small percentage of that," Hofmeister said. "I'm always surprised that more students don't do it."