Textbook Publishers: Gouging American Students?
Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas (NY Times)
[J]uniors at Williams College, surfing the net for a cheap source for their economics textbook... discovered a little known economic fact: the very same college textbooks used in the United States sell for half price -- or less -- in England.
Just like prescription drugs, textbooks cost far less overseas than they do in the United States. The publishing industry defends its pricing policies, saying that foreign sales would be impossible if book prices were not pegged to local market conditions.
But many Americans do not see it that way. The National Association of College Stores has written to all the leading publishers asking them to end a practice they see as an unfair to American students.
You'll have to register for a free account to read the article, if you haven't done so. By the way, I've heard that many sites that ask you to register have been hacked (if you can call it that) by somebody who registers with the username "username" and the password "password". Maybe that's just an urban legend... but I set my computer to remember my login and password for this site long ago, so it never asks me to register. Thus, I can't check my "username/password" advice right now.
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Recently, I had a big problem when buying textbooks online to save cash -- my book was nearly 2 months late. This post helped me realize why - my book was a European import. So, I blogged about my experience. To read it, click my name, or copy/paste http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JulieYoung/000837.html into your window.
wow. I paid... -too- much for my books, and I know it. Some of my textbooks came with handy little CDs to go along with the books, which would be nice to use if I ever found the time to use them. I think I paid for the packaging the books came in, and the postage it would take to send 80 of the same book overseas. When I stood in line at the bookstore the first day of classes, I kept wondering if the pages were golden, or if there was a rebate somewhere... the pages are plain paper, and there's not a rebate to be had. I'm looking online before I give my life-savings to the bookstore. *steps down from the dais* Thank you.
One very useful link: http://isbn.nu/
Another: http://bookfinder.com/
Not a cure-all, but they can be helpful.
This reminds me of how prescription drugs are so much more expensive in the U.S. than they are in, say, Canada. We do seem to pay a price for our relative prosperity, sometimes.
Textbook prices are horrible especially for a student (like myself) who pays for books each semester using cash. At the beginning of each semester,I just cringe at the thought of writing out that check to the bookstore for the books one is required to have for every class.
I'm entering my last semester of college and thus far my most expensive semester was $463 for books while my least expensive was $285 worth of books. I know many college students spend well over $500 each semester for books but my $463 was a back-breaking cost so I can't even imagine spending more!
It is nice when professors admit they know how expensive books are and actually tell you the text is "opitional". Music to my ears!! In most classes though, the text books are necessary.
I too have tried to shop on the Internet for books but have had no luck because either I cannot find the correct edition or the prices is not that much cheaper than that of the book store. College=Money!
When I bought my used textbook offline, I went to www.half.com, its one of my favorite websites. Plus www.amazon.com was a big help too. I believe the whole cheaper textbooks in England thing, but isn't it funny that when you travel to England and purchase items, they are usually expensive?? I'll make sure to look forward to purchasing more textbooks for next semester on the internet again. Thank heaven for England and its cheaper textbooks!