<p>We've been looking at textbook prices online. The cheapest are international editions that come in softcover and are printed entirely in black and white. While they're usually shipped from overseas (India?), it looks like we'd be able to get them to our S's school in time, at least for the classes we're most sure he's going to be taking.</p>
<p>Anyone have any experience with these textbooks? Even with fast shipping rates they're a small fraction of the US price. What's the downside?</p>
<p>probably pirated editions.</p>
<p>Downside? Sometimes different page references. Sometimes the absence of supplementary material like CDs that publishers throw in (and no one uses) in an attempt to obscure similarities.</p>
<p>A few other options: Amazon.co.uk sells to and ships promptly to the US. Used books can be an option. Try Abebooks. Often the previous edition does not have many differences. Indeed, publishers frequently force out new editions just to obsolete the used book pool. If you don't believe this, just go to a large library and compare editions of a popular text to see how minimal the changes are.</p>
<p>Remember that in a good college course, unlike HS, the text is not core to the course. This is especially true in the sciences, where the most expensive texts are usually found. There will often be additional references in the library, reprint packets etc.</p>
<p>The downside I suppose is that if EVERYONE did that the authors would quit working so hard to write their textbooks, as their royalty payments are meager from authorized international editions. The international editions distributed in Taiwan have exactly the same pagination, on thinner paper, and the same color illustrations (just printed in some different country) as in the United States editions. They sell at retail in Taiwan for about one-third the United States retail price. They are not SUPPOSED TO BE resold, but surely some are. All the top titles in math textbooks are available in English in Taiwan, and I'm sure Taiwan students stock up at home before traveling to the United States to study.</p>
<p>tokenadult: the authors would quit working so hard? You mean they don't make enough already? You mean we parents should go into more debt so a few college faculty can get richer at our expense? Sounds like private welfare to me...an income transfer program from students and parents to well paid facutly authors. </p>
<p>Pardon me for not being sympathetic.</p>
<p>I remember in high school, one of my history books had a whole page about how buying textbooks new benefit everyone.</p>
<p>As an author, I know what kind of royalties to expect when my agent sells foreign rights. I agree to that, and it isn't a problem. I do object when my work is pirated and sold. I am far from rich, and I am not getting richer at anyone's expense. This is my livelihood, and I would never quit working hard. I am totally sympathetic about the cost of textbooks--obviously--since I am reading this thread looking for a good deal.</p>
<p>the overseas versions are not pirated. We're not talking about buying the books in some alley somewhere; you can buy textbooks that contain word-for-word the same content as the US edition on amazon.uk, for example. </p>
<p>Its a classic example of price discrimination, right out of the econ textbook. Being on different continents is a good way of separating customers. Publishers charge different prices in different markets, and until the advent of the internet when it was easy to check prices overseas most people didn't know about this, or if they did couldn't do much about it due to the transaction costs of finding a book overseas. That's all changing.</p>
<p>I bought all of my books (except for the really cheap ones that cost as much as shipping and handling) online and saved at least 60%.</p>
<p>bstewart - what sites did you use?</p>
<p>I'd like to know as well...</p>
<p>Simple..</p>
<p>Amazon and half.com, all you have to do is type in the name of the textbook followed by the author, and in many cases you will get the newest edition first.</p>
<p>Now keep in mind that you don't always need the latest edition of a book - email the professor and see if you can get an older version - but I doubt this is acceptable in math and science classes or courses that require one to turn in work based on questions in the book. If you don't want to be labeled 'cheap' by a professor, just don't tell them who you are ;)</p>
<p>More later.</p>
<p>The problem with old editions is that they often has problems numbered differently. That makes problem sets annoying, because you have to borrow someone else's book to make sure that you're doing the right problems.</p>
<p>The international editions are not pirated. Not only is the outside cover soft, the nside pages are of thinner quality than the expensive hard cover edition.</p>
<p>There are MUCH better sources of used books than Amazon or Half, who both add substantial fees to the cost. Try abebooks.com</p>
<p>There have been numerous threads on this subject on CC. However, all you have to do is google "cheap books" or "cheaper textbooks" and the number of alternatives will blow you away. There are several web sites that specialize in comparing the offers from many resellers. The key is to find the ISBN number and check the editions carefully. </p>
<p>FWIW, it is hard to feel sorry for the publishers of academic books. They are able to maintain sky high prices by exploiting the ineptitude and laziness of the groups that represent the ultimate buyers: parents and taxpayers. Very few -if any- of the books would fetch 30% of their listed price if they were not sold to students. Schools districts and school bookstores do not seem to care and seem to do everything possible to deter people finding competitive sources by delaying distributing the information or hiding ISBN. </p>
<p>It is an abject racket. The good news is that it won't go on forever.</p>
<p>Beck is right. Two years ago, my S took a Bio course for which he had to buy the textbook. The prof told the class that the 6th edition was not very different from the 5th; there was just an additional chapter. But the numbering of the problems had been altered, and the prof did not want to take the time to do a correspondence. Since students did not have the means to do a comparison, either, most ended up buying the 6th edition at $100+.</p>
<p>There appears to be a consensus that college textbooks -- let's stay with college for now -- are way overpriced relative to what they would cost in a competitive, efficient market. I think it is also fair to say that most college textbook authors are not really rich from their writing. There are maybe just a handful of freshman level textbooks whose authors made small fortunes, but such textbooks are small in number, and the fortunes are modest indeed as far as fortunes go. So where did the money go? As far as I can tell, book publishers are not fabulously profitable companies; their stocks do not trade spectacularly well. Do they use profits from textbooks to subsidize some other money-losing business? That would not seem rational. Does anyone want to speculate?</p>
<p>Academic book publishers (university presses) are not doing well, but publishers of high school textbooks are doing very well. With CA and TX having statewide textbook adoption, publishers who can market their textbooks to these two states earn very high profit. As I related in an earlier post, there is not much revision from one edition to the next, but it's enough to force school districts and individual purchasers to buy the newer version. But since there is not much revision, authors do not earn much from their labor.</p>
<p>I sort of figured I would get replies along the lines of both post #5 and post #7. I think post #8 sums up the economic incentives in this situation quite well.</p>