Textbook prices

[Ballatician]

Why are the international editions of textbooks so much cheaper when the content is largely the same? Softcover only matters so much..

 

[Crono]

They sell the printing and distribution rights.

Most publishers only care to cover national market, it doesn't matter to them if cheaper copies are sold abroad. Plus there is a lower price expectation in countries like India where many products are manufactured more cheaply because of lower labor cost and cheaper materials.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Why are the international editions of textbooks so much cheaper when the content is largely the same? Softcover only matters so much..

Actually softcover matters a lot. Publishers with whom I've spoken say up to ~50% as much. The paper and printing are typically noticeably lower quality, too. Plus, most foreign markets simply can not and/or will not pay what Americans can and will pay, so publishers must lower prices to sell them books.

 

[Ballatician]

I have used international editions without issue in the past but all the sites selling the current book I'm looking at have a disclaimer saying that some exercises at the end of chapters might be different than the US version.

I don't like the ~$100 difference. If it can be sold cheaper and almost the same, it makes no sense to buy the more expensive one.

 

[deadlyapp]

I have used international editions without issue in the past but all the sites selling the current book I'm looking at have a disclaimer saying that some exercises at the end of chapters might be different than the US version.

I don't like the ~$100 difference. If it can be sold cheaper and almost the same, it makes no sense to buy the more expensive one.

usually the material is nearly identical, but as you mentioned the problems at the end are wrong, and if you have a teacher that assigns from the book you're screwed.

 

[Ballatician]

and I'm guessing teachers in the US have to use the US version? something isn't right when its the student getting screwed at the end of the day.

 

[BoomerD]

usually the material is nearly identical, but as you mentioned the problems at the end are wrong, and if you have a teacher that assigns from the book you're screwed.

I saw this happen twice. Professor assigned "Problems 1-15 on page 145 and problems 20-50 on page 163," in tests. He told everyone at the start of the class, "You are welcome to use international editions, BUT, if I assign specific problems from the book...and your book doesn't have problems on those pages...or they're different problems, that's YOUR problem. You will NOT be allowed to get the problems from another student, nor will I assign you other problems."

95% of the time, the textbooks are page-for-page identical...but not always.

 

[boomhower]

I saw this happen twice. Professor assigned "Problems 1-15 on page 145 and problems 20-50 on page 163," in tests. He told everyone at the start of the class, "You are welcome to use international editions, BUT, if I assign specific problems from the book...and your book doesn't have problems on those pages...or they're different problems, that's YOUR problem. You will NOT be allowed to get the problems from another student, nor will I assign you other problems."

95% of the time, the textbooks are page-for-page identical...but not always.

Well that professor was an asshole. College students in general are broke, especially with the massively inflated tuition used to pay his salary. I don't see an issue with getting the problems from another student.

I used some international editions with no issues.

 

[deadlyapp]

I saw this happen twice. Professor assigned "Problems 1-15 on page 145 and problems 20-50 on page 163," in tests. He told everyone at the start of the class, "You are welcome to use international editions, BUT, if I assign specific problems from the book...and your book doesn't have problems on those pages...or they're different problems, that's YOUR problem. You will NOT be allowed to get the problems from another student, nor will I assign you other problems."

95% of the time, the textbooks are page-for-page identical...but not always.

Almost all the time the campus library has a copy of the textbooks used, so you can go copy the problems.

Also to the OP, as much as I hate it, sometimes textbooks ask professors to endorse the particular textbook, and give them a cut. There was some shady articles about it a few years back. Some of my professors have been pretty good at bucking this trend by assigning their own particular problems, which makes things very nice.

 

[frostedflakes]

They price them based on what the market will bear. Same reason software and a lot of stuff is cheaper in China and other countries, people either aren't able or aren't willing to pay the same prices that we do here in the US.

 

[Ballatician]

I think a lot of people aren't willing to pay ridiculous prices but when faced with no alternative, they dip into the limitless pockets of their bank.

Also, as for boomers example, simply making up some problems for the test rather than using the book would solve that problem.

I understand using endorsement as a way of increasing credibility (and profit since more students will have to buy whichever book their prof endorses) but it sucks from a student point of view.

If the book can be sold cheaper elsewhere, the price here is just artificially inflated and since college students are so incredibly rich the publisher can get max money.

 

[shortylickens]

Why are the international editions of textbooks so much cheaper when the content is largely the same? Softcover only matters so much..

Because they know in America people will take out student loans and indenture themselves to the banks for the rest of their lives.

We REALLY need to kill the textbook mafia in this country. Those books just arent worth that much fucking money.

 

[dfuze]

Because they know in America people will take out student loans and indenture themselves to the banks for the rest of their lives.

This. They know we will pay it so why not charge it.

 

[bignateyk]

Aren't international versions softcover and black and white? I'd imagine that makes a difference.

 

[shortylickens]

Aren't international versions softcover and black and white? I'd imagine that makes a difference.

My American books are mostly softcover B&W.
And no, you missed the whole point of this thread. It has nothing to do with the books themselves. It has to do with the fact the textbook mafia runs things in America and we get stuck paying 200 dollars for a book thats worth about 30, tops.

 

[duragezic]

Yes, international editions are often softcover, black and white, and with lower quality paper. Do I care about any of that? Hell no. Not when I'm paying 33% the price.

One thing to keep in mind is that you probably can't sell back international editions at the end of a course, but the price you get from selling any book is usually so little that the international edition is still far cheaper. If its a book you want to keep, even better.

I used international editions whenever possible. Also was able to use an earlier edition once or twice after verifying with the professor that it would work. If not, I'd still pay like half price just because I'd buy it used online. Between those things and borrowing from other people, my yearly textbook bill was $100-200 instead of $800-1000.

 

[Analog]

I am with the students on the textbook thing. Textbook companies are constantly putting out unnecessary new editions of textbooks to nullify the used market of essentially the same text. What burns me, is that I receive for free the new edition, and I thumb through it to find that all the mistakes I tell the students about are still in there!

This semester, I am teaching an advanced electronics class targeted at energy conversion, and I have decided to use no dedicated text, but to supply PDF data sheets and application notes that more than cover the theory I need. I create my own homework assignments, so that is covered, and I write my own labs. More work for me, but from experience, I think the students will appreciate it. There is no one text that covers what I want anyway, and the ones that do, are the very expensive ones. Ultimately, I may put together a course-pack from our university print shop for students that want a hard copy, and provide pdfs of everything for those that want electronic copies. I don't think I would do this for a sophomore or freshman level course, but juniors and seniors should be good with it.

In the spring semester, I teach a 400 level embedded systems class that uses only the manufacturer's data sheet, no text. What's funny is that when I began teaching that class four years ago, I reviewed a couple of texts sent to me, and 2/3's of the text was the same data sheet. The texts were both over $180 each. So basically they're selling what's available for free, and to add insult to injury, the data sheet they've printed in the text is already out of date, as these are revised all the time. What a crock.

 

[BoomerD]

Well that professor was an asshole. College students in general are broke, especially with the massively inflated tuition used to pay his salary. I don't see an issue with getting the problems from another student.

I used some international editions with no issues.

For homework-related problems...I agree, but in a test?

"Oh no professor, we weren't cheating, I was getting the problems from him."

 

[AstroManLuca]

For homework-related problems...I agree, but in a test?

"Oh no professor, we weren't cheating, I was getting the problems from him."

Since when have professors assigned book problems as part of a test? It's too easy to get the answers to those.

No, the prof was just being an asshole. What you do outside of class is up to you. I don't see the issue with getting a "study buddy" who has the US version of the book and using the same problems. Or hell, going into the student book store and copying down the problems from the back of the book so you don't have to buy the book.

A tenured professor makes roughly $100k a year and has excellent job security. Some try to empathize with their students. Others are just jerks about it. The worst is when they assign a book that they themselves wrote and never let you hear the end of it.

 

[Gibson486]

I am with the students on the textbook thing. Textbook companies are constantly putting out unnecessary new editions of textbooks to nullify the used market of essentially the same text. What burns me, is that I receive for free the new edition, and I thumb through it to find that all the mistakes I tell the students about are still in there!

This semester, I am teaching an advanced electronics class targeted at energy conversion, and I have decided to use no dedicated text, but to supply PDF data sheets and application notes that more than cover the theory I need. I create my own homework assignments, so that is covered, and I write my own labs. More work for me, but from experience, I think the students will appreciate it. There is no one text that covers what I want anyway, and the ones that do, are the very expensive ones. Ultimately, I may put together a course-pack from our university print shop for students that want a hard copy, and provide pdfs of everything for those that want electronic copies. I don't think I would do this for a sophomore or freshman level course, but juniors and seniors should be good with it.

In the spring semester, I teach a 400 level embedded systems class that uses only the manufacturer's data sheet, no text. What's funny is that when I began teaching that class four years ago, I reviewed a couple of texts sent to me, and 2/3's of the text was the same data sheet. The texts were both over $180 each. So basically they're selling what's available for free, and to add insult to injury, the data sheet they've printed in the text is already out of date, as these are revised all the time. What a crock.

awesome. My linear systems class was taught by a guy who made his own pdfs. It was 100x times better than the $120 book the other class was using.

 

[darkxshade]

Textbook prices is such extortion, I'm so glad I'm done with college. Some were so blatant that they were just printed, bound and only sold at the school library... about a a couple dozen pages held together by binding springs, had to pay $50 for it. Such bullshit!

 

[BoomerD]

Since when have professors assigned book problems as part of a test? It's too easy to get the answers to those.

No, the prof was just being an asshole. What you do outside of class is up to you. I don't see the issue with getting a "study buddy" who has the US version of the book and using the same problems. Or hell, going into the student book store and copying down the problems from the back of the book so you don't have to buy the book.

A tenured professor makes roughly $100k a year and has excellent job security. Some try to empathize with their students. Others are just jerks about it. The worst is when they assign a book that they themselves wrote and never let you hear the end of it.

The problems were essay questions, and we never knew what set would be assigned on the day...so it's kind of tough to come up with the answers in advance...

I also had a couple of classes where the textbook cost $5.00, one was "written" by one of the accounting professors, the other was a photocopy of the actual text used at Cal Poly...(with their permission...of course)

I don't see why folks seem to think that it's the professors' job to "empathize with their students" over the cost of textbooks. No one is forcing you to be there...

YES, I think the cost of textbooks is outrageous...and borders on rape, but that doesn't mean the professor needs to consider those costs when choosing a textbook for his/her class.

 

[Ballatician]

I am with the students on the textbook thing. Textbook companies are constantly putting out unnecessary new editions of textbooks to nullify the used market of essentially the same text. What burns me, is that I receive for free the new edition, and I thumb through it to find that all the mistakes I tell the students about are still in there!

This semester, I am teaching an advanced electronics class targeted at energy conversion, and I have decided to use no dedicated text, but to supply PDF data sheets and application notes that more than cover the theory I need. I create my own homework assignments, so that is covered, and I write my own labs. More work for me, but from experience, I think the students will appreciate it. There is no one text that covers what I want anyway, and the ones that do, are the very expensive ones. Ultimately, I may put together a course-pack from our university print shop for students that want a hard copy, and provide pdfs of everything for those that want electronic copies. I don't think I would do this for a sophomore or freshman level course, but juniors and seniors should be good with it.

In the spring semester, I teach a 400 level embedded systems class that uses only the manufacturer's data sheet, no text. What's funny is that when I began teaching that class four years ago, I reviewed a couple of texts sent to me, and 2/3's of the text was the same data sheet. The texts were both over $180 each. So basically they're selling what's available for free, and to add insult to injury, the data sheet they've printed in the text is already out of date, as these are revised all the time. What a crock.

kudos to you

charging for freely available information, wow that is despicable

The unnecessary new editions really get to me too.

I've been part of classes in which the professor was writing a textbook and we essentially were the guinea pigs testing out the course packs for free. I hope it wasn't too expensive at the end.

 

[PingSpike]

I saw this happen twice. Professor assigned "Problems 1-15 on page 145 and problems 20-50 on page 163," in tests. He told everyone at the start of the class, "You are welcome to use international editions, BUT, if I assign specific problems from the book...and your book doesn't have problems on those pages...or they're different problems, that's YOUR problem. You will NOT be allowed to get the problems from another student, nor will I assign you other problems."

95% of the time, the textbooks are page-for-page identical...but not always.

Sounds like a grade A beautiful being of a professor. Did he write the textbook?

 

[SP33Demon]

I am with the students on the textbook thing. Textbook companies are constantly putting out unnecessary new editions of textbooks to nullify the used market of essentially the same text. What burns me, is that I receive for free the new edition, and I thumb through it to find that all the mistakes I tell the students about are still in there!

This semester, I am teaching an advanced electronics class targeted at energy conversion, and I have decided to use no dedicated text, but to supply PDF data sheets and application notes that more than cover the theory I need. I create my own homework assignments, so that is covered, and I write my own labs. More work for me, but from experience, I think the students will appreciate it. There is no one text that covers what I want anyway, and the ones that do, are the very expensive ones. Ultimately, I may put together a course-pack from our university print shop for students that want a hard copy, and provide pdfs of everything for those that want electronic copies. I don't think I would do this for a sophomore or freshman level course, but juniors and seniors should be good with it.

In the spring semester, I teach a 400 level embedded systems class that uses only the manufacturer's data sheet, no text. What's funny is that when I began teaching that class four years ago, I reviewed a couple of texts sent to me, and 2/3's of the text was the same data sheet. The texts were both over $180 each. So basically they're selling what's available for free, and to add insult to injury, the data sheet they've printed in the text is already out of date, as these are revised all the time. What a crock.

We need more profs like you. /beer