<p>I ordered a used textbook for my son from an Amazon affiliate and it arrived without the required on-line access code. I rented another textbook from Amazon but it included the on-line access code. After digging around a bit, it appears that I will need to purchase the missing on-line access code for $117. Before I order that, I wanted to ask if anyone has discovered a workaround?</p>
<p>The textbook is for an Intro Macro Econ class and the access code is needed so that the students can take the on-line quizzes. It appears that the quizzes are created by the textbook publisher and not by the professor.</p>
<p>I have not discovered a work around - new textbooks with the online access code are considerably more expensive - more or less full retail, in fact. If the teacher requires the online component, there is little choice than but to buy the book with the code. With my three kids, I’ve found that that teachers rarely use the online modules, or my children find them pretty useless…I really hate spending the extra money!</p>
<p>My friend, welcome to the world of textbook publisher shenanigans. There is really no way around the requirement to use the online part of the course, without running the risk of missing an important exam or assignment from the professor. 117 bucks for an “universal” access code from Wiley Publishers, for example, is a bit above the asking price you might find on Ebay, but not outrageous.</p>
<p>Thanks @Gourmetmom – I wouldn’t have known it was an issue except that my son had to log on to take an on-line quiz. The used version of prior edition w/o access code is $20 but new with access is well over $200. </p>
<p>Thanks @LakeWashington – will just bite the bullet and hope he doesn’t drop the course!</p>
<p>Was also fascinated to see dynamic pricing in rental market. I had ordered a rental of one of his texts a few weeks ago. Rental price has since increased from $17 to $51.</p>
<p>My D bought the access code for her math class last year, and the prof didn’t use it (D never entered it). She had a friend lend her a Stats book this year, so she tried the mathlab code and it unlocked the stats course. I don’t think it would have worked for a totally different content area.</p>
<p>Lake Jr.'s experience is with Wiley Publishers and their access code textbooks. Wiley does issue course specific as well as universal access codes. Also, there tiered offerings. Some codes include a complete digital copy of the textbook and some do not. The e-book access codes are priced a bit higher.</p>
<p>I think my son’s Econ textbook publisher is Pearson and I am actually going to attempt to call them tomorrow (HA!) as I did read that some texts are university-specific. </p>
<p>Oddly, the rental text for a different course came with the on-line access code so that one is all good. It is the used Econ text that arrived w/o a code. Rookie mistake! (But, am now happy that I got the rental at $17 instead of $51.)</p>
<p>Thanks @mamaduck – that is interesting. I assume the access code would only work one time regardless, but intriguing that the code worked for an entirely different course.</p>
<p>My daughter has needed access codes for all of her micro and macro econ classes (and she is an econ major so this semester we will be doing this for the fourth time.) The codes are only good for 1 year and then expire. Her teachers have varied in how they use it - some did not, some had graded homework on it, some had a community board set up for the class on it, etc. My daughter does enjoy reading the text online (which you get with the access code). The accompanying textbooks have been unbound (it had three holes and you needed to put it into a binder or use those rings to keep the book together). We have bought new with the code from amazon in past years - slightly cheaper than the bookstore price. The book for this year says it is specific to her school so we need to buy from the bookstore (at $250 new with code).
Oh and one of the text online portals only worked in firefox (how annoying is that).</p>
<p>Custom edition textbooks issued to specific colleges is simply another method used by publishers to protect their turf by minimizing the used textbook market as much as possible. The custom editions are just different enough such that if your child’s professor actually assigns work from the “school specific” sections, your kid could be at a disadvantage if she doesn’t have that exact textbook version.</p>
<p>I don’t begrudge publishers’ desire to maximize profit, but their tactics border on graft. For the life of me I do not understand why professors go along with this nonsense (unless of course, it’s because of the free ‘instructor’s editions’ that some receive from the publishers). I think this practice should be scrutinized at all state-supported colleges. Private schools are free to do what they want; UNLESS they run afoul of antitrust law.</p>
<p>If it’s ‘Economics Today the Macro View’, someone is selling the access card on Amazon marketplace for $75. I sometimes get access cards that way. You can save at least a little and occasionally a lot. We picked up a writing composition environment card for $5 last year. I figured it was a scam but couldn’t resist trying it out. Lo and behold it actually worked.</p>
<p>As a professor, textbook author, and parent of a college-bound child, I do have some perspectives that can perhaps clear up some notions.
As a professor, I use many of the online features , like quizzes,of intro math textbooks. Math symbols and graphs are hard to make from scratch online, and the publisher content is much more versatile. Most of my students simply buy the entire e-book package, with access code, for less than $100, from the publisher website. If they want a hardcopy to refer to, I tell them to buy an older edition from Amazon for a very cheap price. I find that many profs simply don’t tell students about these options and simply direct them to the $250 pkg. at the bookstore.</p>
<p>Instructors do get free desk copies, and if it is a class with multiple sections, the publisher will send us enough for all instructors, at no cost to the school. So add this to the final cost to the student.</p>
<p>As a textbook author, writing this stuff takes a lot of time. And it has to be proofread, have production value etc. All this costs money, and requires professionals, and the publishers can recoup their costs only through selling new copies.While that doesn’t justify the really high prices, it is not just greed. Also, the big publishers have extensive sales and marketing teams, b/c professors still like to have reps knock on doors to tell them about their products. So add professors with antiquated ideas about books to the mix as well.</p>
<p>And as a parent of a child heading to college in a year, I plan to have him use ebooks, used books, etc.(anything except illegal scanned copies). Only get the package if there is no other option.</p>
<p>@mathprof63 – as a first-time college parent, I am learning quickly! I think someone (the professor?) needs to be clear that while it is OK to purchase the prior edition of a hard copy text, the student will still need to purchase the on-line access for $100+ in order to participate in the class and complete on-line assignments. The use of on-line material has eliminated the used book market.</p>
<p>I am guessing that I just got lucky when the rental textbook contained the on-line access code (for a different class).</p>
<p>Chegg has the code for this Econ course for $77 so I will probably go that route, unless anyone here has had a bad experience with Chegg. I have been amazed at the requirement to purchase custom packets, ranging from $25 to $99. I haven’t added up the purchases, but I can see the bill hitting $750 for the semester.</p>
<p>Some students avoid activating the code for the express purpose of re-selling it to recoup some of their investment in the hard copy. And some students just find digital textbooks inconvenient, particularly when trying to read STEM formulas and problems on computer or tablet screens.</p>
<p>Another professor here. I utilize the MyLabs extensively in my classes. Pearson has the best technology with the MyLabs as far as I’m concerned and they are priced competitively, particularly in comparison to other publisher’s technology. Their packages offer built in student help for the homework called Help Me Solve This, customized study plans, videos, and many other tools that can appeal to a variety of learning styles and provide automated tutoring.</p>
<p>There are ways that your student can save money when access codes are required. They can purchase student value editions which are three ring binder editions which save money upfront, but are not repurchased by the bookstores. Students can sell them for small amounts online or sell them to students who can use them the next semester. Again, the big savings are upfront since these bundles are typically about $100 less than a hardback book with an access code. I order these for my students.</p>
<p>Another tip - when books roll to new editions, the code is generally priced very inexpensively in a bundle with the book. However, when the book can be purchased used, the student can typically purchase the code directly from the publisher at a savings of $20-25 from the bookstore price of a stand alone code. If they are in a discipline where an e-book can be easily used, the student can purchase the code and e-book access for around $100 total. In my discipline, the hardback book and access code bundled new costs over $300, so that’s a pretty good savings. Another option is to purchase or rent a used book from a more cost efficient seller and then to buy the code directly from the publisher.</p>
<p>As for purchasing previous editions, there are typically enough changes in the books for my discipline to make that a non-option. I know that instructional materials are expensive, but if you think about a package for a 16 week course costing around $200, you’re looking at a weekly cost of $12.50/week. If the instructor uses the book and technology heavily, this is not an outrageous cost.</p>
<p>I gave students the option of purchasing the online code direct from Pearson for $55 (includes an etext) or buying hard copy with the code, close to $200. Most go the hard copy route. I don’t get it. </p>
<p>ordinarylives, my D always gets the hard copy, whether or not the course includes a free e-text, never mind paying for one, and no matter the price of the book. Reason is that spending all day every day staring at a screen is stressful and difficult. She can’t avoid it in many cases, but to minimize it, she buys paper books when possible. They are easier to look at, adjust posture to, and page through is still far superior to scrolling at this point in tech development. She hates the online math HW environments. I know they are great for 3-D visualizing and Latek or whatever is easier for prof to read than bad student pencil scratches, but she almost cried in relief spring semester to find that all her math HW was paper submission. Back to MATLab this fall, boo. I empathize. </p>
<p>My daughter’s first estimate of textbook costs for her first college semester (engineering) was $800-1100. Gasp! I’m not sure where we came out, but it was interesting shopping. She ordered several used, compared used +access vs new vs renting, emailed instructors and the school bookstore to clarify requirements. It was interesting! In the end, two of the more expensive textbooks could be used multiple semesters, one text that was a new edition turned out to be fine in any of the last several editions, one access code-book combo was cheapest when purchased from the bookstore and one was cheapest when we purchased the code from the publisher and the book used. One used text tuned out to be missing lots of pages (didn’t realize it was a workbook-seller listed it as good condition) and useless. Lost $20 there and she had to go buy it new from the bookstore today.
The whole shopping experience was complicated but I think we came in under the original $800 low end estimate and next semester may just be cheaper. </p>
<p>We spent ~$900 on textbooks this semester for my son’s engineering textbooks. Admittedly, we didn’t even make a serious attempt at economizing this semester, because there was enough new stuff to figure out without adding the complexity of figuring out what combination of rent, used, new, etc. would give us the cheapest cost. The little bit that I did look made it seem like it wasn’t worth the bother – most of his textbooks were new editions, so used was not an option. Even if they weren’t new editions, the ISBN given by the college was for a special “bundle” specific to his college, so it wasn’t available anywhere else or if it was, wasn’t any cheaper; we might have been able to figure out what was in the “bundle” and purchase them separately cheaper, but for this first semester, it just didn’t seem worth the hassle. And then there is the whole requirement to have the online access code for everything. Oh, and the iclicker too…</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just cranky and getting old, but I really see most of this “technology in the classroom” stuff as pure fluff that just inflates the cost of textbooks/supplies and education in general. It is not <em>needed</em> to teach the content. And evidence is starting to mount that using technology may actually be a less efficient way to learn and retain information than the “old school” way of reading a textbook (vs an ebook), doing written homework (vs. stuff done online), and taking written notes (vs. typing them on a laptop). They’ve even shown that just the <em>presence</em> of a cell phone is distracting from whatever is happening around you to both you and those around you, even if you don’t use it. And I find it outrageous that some colleges/classes are only offered online … what the heck am I paying such big $$ for then?! But what are the chances the pendulum will swing the other way? Slim and none…</p>
<p>The list prices of all the required textbooks for my D’s first semester in Engineering total at around $900 so far. Organic Chemistry alone costs over $400 (textbook, study guide, lab manual) and ~$300 for Calc3 (text and solution guide). The rest is for course packs and a few other much cheaper books. Hopefully some of the books would be used for more than 1 semester. There are still some books/course packs to be announced. I bought the chemistry textbook and study guide used plus the lab manual new for ~$120 (I could have got it even cheaper if I order the study guide even earlier). For the Calc3, my D borrowed it from a upperclassmen for free. For the course pack and other much cheaper books, we bought them new but with discounted prices. At this point, she got everything for below $200. However, there may be additional cost for the access codes if required.</p>