I haven’t bought a textbook in a century (or at least it feels that way), nor have I ever bought one online. I am looking for ‘A First Course in Probability’ specifically, and see it for sale in several places. The catch is that the book runs $110ish for the US hardcover version and $40ish for the softcover international version.
All of the sellers state that other than that and color vs. b&w graphics, the books are identical. Does anyone know in general if this is the case? Also, is there some sort of moral or legal reason why I should not buy the international version assuming they are the same? I know buying mp3s is a grey/illegal area, but does that apply to these textbooks? I will cough up the extra dough if I need to, but if I can avoid it, so much the better.
Thanks!
This is a case of what in economics is called differential pricing where you attempt to charge each person up to the limits of what they’re willing to pay but no more. In general, American students, being more affluent are willing to pay more for textbooks (and have less access to textbook piracy). Other examples would include charging more for technology products early in the cycle for those willing to pay more to have the latest thing and giving senior citizen and student discounts (which are really premiums for working adults).
With regards to the legal issue, technically, the international edition has stamped on it that it’s not for sale within the US but it’s pretty much toothless and you as a consumer won’t be prosecuted. As a moral issue, taking advantage of price differentials make it less possible for companies to offer them which means lowered revenue for textbook companies and less affordable textbooks for poor countries.
The decision is up to you, I guess if you wanted to feel somewhat better about it, split the difference by buying the international version and then donate half of what you saved to a charity.
I buy the international edition with pride whenever it’s available. It’s not that I don’t pity the poorer countries, but it’s that purposely overprice American college students and put us into more debt and other countries into less. Besides, any college student shouldn’t have to pay $130-160+ for each college book! If I had bougth all my books new (they usually have to be since a new edition is “necessary” every 2-3 years) it’d have been over $700. And that’s for 1 semester. I saved around $200 by buying them off Half, but still, a ridiculous price. Phew.
/end textbook rant
Just to second what BrandonR said, I have no qualms paying $150+ for a book titled “Structural Impact”, for example. However, there is no reason introductory physics, calculus, or chemistry books should cost more than $50! For a book where a lot of very specific research was gathered and organized, the price certainly reflects the effort it took to make. However, I don’t understand why my “Mechanical Engineering Design” book should still cost as much as it does, when Joseph Shigley passed away 14 years ago. Instead of having “price differentials”, why can’t the publishers offer them at a reasonable price to everybody? Especially* for topics that have remained essentially unchanged in the last 50 years!
The UK seems to get the worst of both worlds - paperback “international editions” priced nearly the same as a hardback edition.
AI: A Modern Approach (international edition) - £49.99 ($100) at blackwells.co.uk, AI: A Modern Approach (hardback) - $91 at amazon.com. Thank God for Amazon.