Another cost of higher education outrage

[groundloop]

So..... I'm shopping around online for the best prices on college textbooks for my 2 kids and stumbled across a situation which I didn't realize existed. One particular textbook sells for anywhere from $180 to $250 new, and the cheapest used price I could find was around $150. Yet the international edition can be purchased for $30 new.

I've done a bit of reading about these international edition textbooks and have found that in most cases they're content is identical to the US version except they might be a paperback or might have a different illustration on the cover. In some cases I've read that the publisher puts practice problems in a different order, so that if a professor assigns problems 1, 3, 8, and 12, for instance, a student with the international edition book would be working the wrong problems. (And because of that possibility I'm afraid I'm going to shell out $180 for this book instead of taking a chance on the international edition - just what the publisher wants me to do).

If a book publisher can make a profit selling books in countries other than the US for $30 why the hell is the price $180 in the US? Obviously they're gouging the hell out of our college students (and parents).

Another thing I've noticed is that they'll come out with a new edition every couple of years, usually with exceedingly minor changes. This, of course, kills the sale of used books and forces you to buy the overpriced newest edition.

I bet if I write my congress critters about this they'll immediately begin hearings on why publishers are ripping off American students. Sadly, I believe that publishers are being shielded from competition the same as drug makers.

[LibDemAlways]

1. Is the book available as a rental? My

daughter rents most of her college texts. Saves considerable $$. I agree the purchase prices are outrageous.

[groundloop]

2. Hah.... yeah, I could rent it for $150.... that's crazy.

[LibDemAlways]

6. Ridiculous. Normally rentals are cheaper. Must be

an unusual or rare title.

[djean111]

3. Oh, the puublishers have already moved on this one.......

http://tap.usf.edu/news/international-used-textbooks-may-become-illegal/

.......
It all began with Supap Kirtsaeng, a student from Thailand attending an American college, who noticed that the textbooks he used in class were sold cheaper in his homeland. He asked his family if they would be willing to send him some of these textbooks. He proceeded to sell them to American students for much cheaper prices than a student bookstore and made a little profit for himself. However, it ended when the publisher John Wiley and Sons sued him for copyright infringement.

Wiley won the case and Mr. Kirtsaeng was ordered to pay $600,000. However, now the case has made its way up to the Supreme Court of the United States and there are several parties that are looking to overturn the verdict. One of the parties is the Owners’ Right Initiative with the motto of “if you bought it, you own it.” The group is composed of members such as the American Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, eBay, Goodwill Industries, Powell’s Books, and technology vendors.

The Owners’ Right Initiative argues for the “first sale doctrine” to be upheld, which allows a buyer to freely sell or dispose of a purchased book. The doctrine was codified into the copyright law by the Supreme Court in 1909. However, in the 1990s a section was added to the copyright law which states, “importation into the United States, without the authority of the owner of the copyright under this title, of copies . . . that have been acquired outside the United States is an infringement of the exclusive right to distribute copies.” Wiley argues that the “first sale doctrine” only applies to books “lawfully made under this title,” and only books published in the United States are governed by its copyright laws.

No stone unturned.

......

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. Don't we have anti-trust laws any more? nt

[djean111]

10. Anti-trust laws are now a joke, and only used when convenient.

Also - insurance companies and major league baseball are exempt.
For the right price, it seems all of our laws can be subverted with "exceptions".

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. It's absolutely disgusting just how right you are. nt

[KT2000]

13. this was tried with fabric

More and more fabrics are licensed which means you cannot sell what you make out of it without permission
from the holder of the license, and paying a fee. So far it has held up as first sale in the courts.

[enlightenment]

4. It is outrageous, I agree -

but I think the poster above offered good advice. A lot of textbooks are now offered as rentals; many are offered in digital versions for a fraction of the cost (usually the cost gives full access to the digital text for 180 days).

Check out Coursesmart -they do a lot of digitization for various higher ed textbook publishers; also check the publishers website directly. If you want to PM me (or just post) the title/author/volume/edition of the books, I'll be happy to help you look for alternatives.

http://www.coursesmart.com/

[ClarkeVII]

5. Colleges are turning into a scam

From http://www.thetextbookguru.com -

Why are international editions cheaper?

Is something wrong with them? The answer is no, they are simply made more cheaply to be sold at prices international buyers can afford. Suddath said these books are” printed frequently in India, although sometimes in other Asian nations — under copyright agreements with Western publishers that allow the books to be sold for a discounted price.” If you think about it, publishers are simply charging what the market will bear, and it bears a lot less internationally so prices are lower.

Personally, I'd buy the International Version. Save your $$$. I'm so tired of the gouging done at Colleges / Universities. They know how to exploit young kids that have little knowledge of personal finance.

[exboyfil]

7. The issue is the order of the problems and perhaps value changes

What I do is the following.

1. Many courses require the online testing/problems as part of the course. The access card for these problems comes with an online textbook. I will usually purchase the card and an earlier edition of the textbook. The search feature for online textbooks is pretty useful.

2. I have bought international editions in the past, but I would not rely on them for the problems (see above). I also would not call attention to having this text.

3. Rentals are a great option when no access card is required. Again for many subjects I usually purchase an earlier edition or the international textbook.

In many cases you get what you pay for. My daughter used a simply awful Mechanics of Materials textbook that was available "free" online. The first thing I did was pay $40 to have the book printed. If you take a computational class like this you will understand. We also had an earlier edition of a good textbook available that explained the material in a clearer fashion.

You are right about the exploitation. The textbook/access card for my daughter's biology is almost as much as the tuition for the course. This is going to be an expensive semester for me. One daughter has three science classes, and the other has four engineering classes.

[groundloop]

12. "... charging what the market will bear...." - IMO the market has been manipulate against us

I've really mixed feelings about parts of this.... I'd prefer to purchase goods which were produced in the US so that we're not exporting more jobs to India, China, etc. On the other hand, I feel like publishers are taking advantage of us in a huge way by using copyright law to protect their unfair practices.

[ClarkeVII]

14. So true...

Step 1 - Find the least knowledge demographic regarding finance 18 - 25.
Step 2 - Charge them what the "market will bear"
Step 3 - Give them a false sense of relief them with usury like financial aid.
BONUS - Line up Visa and Mastercard booths all around your campus. Make sure the university gets a cut.

Viola

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. It was a scam back in the 1970s when I went to college

and it sounds like it still is today. In law school, professors would require you to buy latest editions that seemed to come out every year with minor changes consisting of new cases that could be covered with a thin paperback pamphlet. The prices were really high then too.

[groundloop]

15. An update - we bought the International Edition and it's identical

We figured what the hell, for $25 vs. $200 it was worth the gamble. Worst case is my son goes to the college bookstore and pays their price for a used book and I'm out the $25. The international edition textbook arrived today and my son compared it to the US version, absolutely identical content.