<p>is there a major difference b/w "ucsd custom" textbooks and the norm?</p>
<p>for ex., for ERC, The Heritage of World Civilizations UCSD custom book is required.</p>
<p>The original book is bigger. Basically, the "UCSD Custom" version contains selected chosen pages from the original. Unfortunately, you won't be able to find many UCSD custom books on eBay, Amazon, or Half.com</p>
<p>i usually just buy a used copy of the original book on half or ebay...it's still scores cheaper than buying some custom edition from ucsd. but my experience lies with one book (physics)...</p>
<p>I felt the custom binds were a huge rip-off, especially if you are taking a class sequence that requires several binds of the same book.</p>
<p>so, if the price is cheaper, just go with buying the original?</p>
<p>custom books are the biggest scam since trying to sell land in the Everglades. avoid like you would any other form of radioactive waste.</p>
<p>basically, it's to try to drive sales to the ucsd bookstore and make reselling impossible. also on notice: "[insert year here] edition", "with [XYZ] update", "[super duper] online pass included", "shrinkwrapped set", "included CD-ROM"</p>