Where Can I Find and Purchase Cheap International Edition Textbooks Online?

[mathwurkz]

There are "Low Price" Editions and "International" Editions of textbooks that are equivalent to the editions printed in the US, except that they are much CHEAPER in every sense of the word. I would like to ask if anyone knows where I can find a listing of these books and possibly purchase them on the internet.

I live in Canada and I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars in textbooks for next year. If I can save money by buying a B&W, cheap paper, softcover international edition of the textbooks I need I can save tons of money but I don't know where I can find a store that sells them.

I have come across two international edition books I need on Ebay and I only payed $10 each compared to the $100+ i'd have to pay for a hardcover copy at my uni book store. But I'm looking for something less ebayish that has every book.

 

[inha]

amazon also offers international editions.

 

[neutrino]

There is one site I know that offers international shipping from India, but the reviews I've read are bad (even locally). Beware some publishers' low-priced editions should not be sold beyond a certain geographic regoin (Wiley and Pearson Education, for example). Of course, it can be done, but that would be illegal.

 

[LeonhardEuler]

There is one site I know that offers international shipping from India, but the reviews I've read are bad (even locally). Beware some publishers' low-priced editions should not be sold beyond a certain geographic regoin (Wiley and Pearson Education, for example). Of course, it can be done, but that would be illegal.

Actually it is not illegal. Publishers often put warnings on textbooks to discaourage people from buying international editions, but the http://www.uh.edu/ednews/2003/nytimes/200310/20031021books.html" that copyright law does not give publishers the right to determine where their books are resold.

 

[neutrino]

Actually it is not illegal. Publishers often put warnings on textbooks to discaourage people from buying international editions, but the http://www.uh.edu/ednews/2003/nytimes/200310/20031021books.html" that copyright law does not give publishers the right to determine where their books are resold.

I read only about three-fourths of that article, and I think the books being referred to are physically similar to the ones sold in America - Glossy pages, hardback, colour pictures etc.

To the despair of the textbook publishers who are still trying to block such sales, the reimporting of American texts from overseas has become far easier in recent years...

The ones I'm talking about are printed outside the US, without all those fancy things, and these books are faaar cheaper. To give you an example: My Griffiths' EM Text 3rd Ed.cost me INR 195 and the Original US price INR 3668 (as of 2004).

 

[LeonhardEuler]

If you read the rest of the article it talks about publishers putting stickers on the books that say "International Edition RESTRICTED Not for Sale in North America" and also about getting books from asia. I'm pretty sure that they can't restrict idividuals from selling any of there books to people in other countries. They restrict wholesalers from buying foriegn books through their contracts.

edit: oh, by the way I have the international edition of Griffiths. I think it costed something like $30.

 

[LeonhardEuler]

I just took out my copy of Giffiths' EM text. The warning message says "This edition is manufactured in India and is authorized for sale only in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Circulation of this edition outside these territories is UNAUTHORIZED." It never says you are breaking any law by purchasing it. Just that you are not specifically authorized to do so. It doesn't really mean anything.

 

[GregA]

Not sure about what's happening in the US but yesterday I was gutted to find that I had stumbled upon by accident the Manchester Students Union book sale with only 20 mins before they closed and only £10 cash on me (so many textbooks I wanted and could only afford 1)...everyones finishing uni round about now is there anyway of finding similar things in your area?

 

[mathwonk]

i recommend spending whatever you can afford to buy legitimate editions. maybe international editions are ok, but please avoid "pirated" editions from taiwan etc.

it is a long life and why start out by stealing royalties from scholars such as you wish to become yourself.

on the other hand many scholars today feel they are paid enough in their salaries and do not seek to become rich off students via selling textbooks.

such people including myself, offer free notes and books online. try those.

but if a guy is selling his book and charging a fee, and you want to read it, pay the fee.

 

[makethings]

What's this site that offers international shipping from India?

 

[neutrino]

What's this site that offers international shipping from India?

http://www.firstandsecond.com/

 

[cogito²]

I think the real question should be: Why are textbooks sold in the US so expensive? Here is a new version of Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis on Amazon and then the German translated version:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/007054235X/?tag=pfamazon01-20


Why the holy hell does the English version cost $146 while the German version only costs 35 Euro? Since there's a translation involved it should essentially be more expensive to produce the German version. The English version is hardback, while the German version is softcover, but I'd hardly accept that as the reason for it costing 4 times more. My question is really just: Why are textbooks in the US so much more expensive than in Germany (and other places)?


edit: I should have this article that LeonhardEuler posted. It pretty much answered my questions.

 

[makethings]

I believe that the publishers are gouging money from the US with their higher prices because they have essentially determined that the US market is willing to pay such high prices for textbooks. You've got a few big name publishers that have a monopoly on the textbook market.

When they want to sell overseas, they don't see other countries' markets willing to pay those prices for a textbook so they sell it for cheap to get sales. Could you really sell a book for $150 in India which converts to thousands of rupees per book? I doubt you'd get many sales. So there has to be some economics rules that govern how they price books. Then they get pissed when american students buy from overseas because they lose big profit.

Thank you for the link Neutrino

 

[NINHARDCOREFAN]

Jackpot

This is the only website you'll ever need: www.gettextbooks.com

 

[mathwonk]

people in the US are richer than people elsewhere. be honest. if a book is available for much less, it is often because the author gets nothing for his labor. chose rather a free edition like my notes on my website, which i freely give you, or many other free notes, but do not buy pirated editions which are equivalent to stealing.

i will make an attempt to post my notes on hiniors calc soon, whic are suimilar to many analysis notes. and i will look for some free ones for you.

honesty and non stealing is a good habit, and will give you many nights of peaceful sleep in later life.

 

[mathwonk]

this set looks good: www.math.unl.edu/~webnotes/home/home.htm - 3k

i just searched under "analysis notes". later under real analysis notes i found more.

fundamental academic advice: try not to lie, cheat, or steal.

it is not always so easy, as you are finding out now. It is always possible to justify stealing, the other guy is overcharging me, I am poor, etc...

 

[mathwonk]

i will tell you a secret: education is free - it is diplomas that cost money. I have not paid one cent for tuition since I learned this (in 1970).

real students are so precious that they are subsidized by most teachers and institutions.

"he/she who has ears to hear - let them hear."

 

[cogito²]

people in the US are richer than people elsewhere. be honest. if a book is available for much less, it is often because the author gets nothing for his labor. chose rather a free edition like my notes on my website, which i freely give you, or many other free notes, but do not buy pirated editions which are equivalent to stealing.

i will make an attempt to post my notes on hiniors calc soon, whic are suimilar to many analysis notes. and i will look for some free ones for you.

honesty and non stealing is a good habit, and will give you many nights of peaceful sleep in later life.

International editions are not pirated and buying them is not stealing in any sense of the word.

 

[cogito²]

What I find ridiculous is the claim that prices in the US represent what is necessary for the authors to be compensated. If that were the case, then original German works being sold in Germany, would cost as much as American textbooks, but they cost less than half as much on average. Do the authors there not get paid?

Besides the idea that it's okay to corner the American market to force the students here to subsidize others' education goes against any free market principles and is morally wrong in my opinion. If the publishing companies want to donate money to buying books, they should donate their own. I find it ridiculous that universities in the US go along with these practices.

I can only hope that as more and more people publish their lecture notes and entire books online (either for free or for payment), the increase in competition will force the publishing companies to drop their prices. Competition and freer market practices are the only real fair solutions to these monopolistic methods.

 

[mathwonk]

here are two apparently legitimate editions, which can be bought without violating any restrictions of the publisher, or kidding yourself, and quite cheap, easily found in a few minutes:

24. Principles of Mathematical Analysis 1ST Edition*(ISBN: 1114135615)
Rudin, Walter
Bookseller: Powell's Books
(Portland, OR, U.S.A.) Price: US$*15.00
[Convert Currency] Shipping within U.S.A.:
US$*3.75
[Rates & Speeds]
Book Description: MCGRAW HILL PUBLISHING COMPANY. HARDCOVER Mathematics-Real Analysis. USED, Less Than Standard. Bookseller Inventory # 04111413561502



45. PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS.
RUDIN, Walter.
Bookseller: Robert Campbell Bookseller
(Montreal, QC, Canada) Price: US$*25.00
[Convert Currency] Shipping within Canada:
US$*6.50
[Rates & Speeds]
Book Description: New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964., 1964. Second edition. Hardcover. Very good in very good dust jacket. 270pp. Bookseller Inventory # 26517

 

[mathwonk]

here is another tip: the expensive books are often not better but only more popular. Here is a book I recommend as more useful to learn from than (baby) Rudin:


42. Introduction to Topology and Modern Analysis (International Series in Pure and Applied Mathematics)
Simmons, George F.
Bookseller: Chamblin Bookmine
(Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.) Price: US$*20.00
[Convert Currency] Shipping within U.S.A.:
US$*5.00
[Rates & Speeds]
Book Description: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, New York, 1963. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Dark blue boards. 372 pages. Previous owner's name on inside front board. Bookseller Inventory # 12290

 

[neutrino]

here is another tip: the expensive books are often not better but only more popular. Here is a book I recommend as more useful to learn from than (baby) Rudin:


42. Introduction to Topology and Modern Analysis (International Series in Pure and Applied Mathematics)
Simmons, George F.
Bookseller: Chamblin Bookmine
(Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.) Price: US$*20.00
[Convert Currency] Shipping within U.S.A.:
US$*5.00
[Rates & Speeds]
Book Description: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, New York, 1963. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Dark blue boards. 372 pages. Previous owner's name on inside front board. Bookseller Inventory # 12290

I think I came across that book at a bookstore today; the author's name seems familiar. I guess that would've been around $5.

 

[mathwonk]

simmons explains things clearly and well. rudin on the other hand makes a fetish out of making everything as short and hard to understand as possible. this to me is the opposite of what a text should be.

 

[makethings]

All these alternative books that teach the same subject are nice but don't forget one simple fact. There are many universities and colleges in which professors assign a required textbook to use for the course. Students have no choice but to buy the textbook because they are used for problem set assignments, labs, open-book exams etc. You can't blame them for trying to hunt for the lowest possible price they can get on the textbook they need.

 

[inha]

All these alternative books that teach the same subject are nice but don't forget one simple fact. There are many universities and colleges in which professors assign a required textbook to use for the course. Students have no choice but to buy the textbook because they are used for problem set assignments, labs, open-book exams etc. You can't blame them for trying to hunt for the lowest possible price they can get on the textbook they need.

This is true. And incredibly stupid.

 

[mathwonk]

don't be an imbecile. you can get a copy of the problem sets for nothing from the library copy. there is no requirement to buy a copy of an expensive text for that purpose only.

Can anyone get on the train here ? or are you all hooked by the hype? get this - if you are a good student, education is free!

 

[cogito²]

I'm not saying that Rudin's book is good. I've seen many better analysis books. I only took that as an example. It all comes down to the fact that the major US college book publishers will release a cheaply produced version of books in some countries and then expensive versions in the US. Just because those publishers sign contracts with others restricting the way the books are sold, doesn't mean we have to agree to their arbitrary partitions of the world market. As mentioned in the link posted earlier in the thread, the supreme court agreed that reimporting those books back to the US is not illegal. That is what this thread is about. There is nothing morally wrong with buying the cheaper versions of books, just because the publishing companies want to manipulate the markets. They want to restrict the market, because in this case, the free market is worse for them. If there's anyone acting immorally it's them.

(And even your linked book isn't that cheap. The Simmons list price is $55. I just bought a new complex analysis book here published by Springer in Germany for 15 Euro list price and most are under 25 Euro.)

 

[mathwonk]

forgive me cogito for bugging you. technically perhaps you are right. as i get older i get more and more careful about, doing what i think is fair.

but i could be wrong. i frequently am. but i will not buy them. and i did not buy them when i was poor either. just a fetish i guess.

i also do not take money from the defense department to do research. maybe because i remember when it was called the war department.

 

[JasonRox]

people in the US are richer than people elsewhere. be honest. if a book is available for much less, it is often because the author gets nothing for his labor. chose rather a free edition like my notes on my website, which i freely give you, or many other free notes, but do not buy pirated editions which are equivalent to stealing.

i will make an attempt to post my notes on hiniors calc soon, whic are suimilar to many analysis notes. and i will look for some free ones for you.

honesty and non stealing is a good habit, and will give you many nights of peaceful sleep in later life.

Yes, but taking advantage of students is a bad habit.

I personally think you should do whatever you want. If you think you need to rip off the publisher, do so. Why? Because if you don't, they will rip you off. Someone is going to lose.

I don't think either side is right so who cares.

 

[mathwonk]

you are sick mr rox. why lose your soul because other people are evil.

 

[JasonRox]

you are sick mr rox. why lose your soul because other people are evil.

I buy my books from a second hand store, but usually always at the University Bookstore itself.

Lose my soul?

Note: Just because I'm not against theft of textbooks does not mean I steal them myself.

 

[mathwonk]

i apologize for judging you. sometimes (often?) I go off half cocked, or half crocked.

ironically, after this discussion, the morning paper had a cartoon, "non sequitur" by wiley that i think is relevant, a guy out on a lonely road that ended in a crossing "one of the inevitable intersections on the road of life":

the sign to the right read "morally right", the sign to the left read "legally right".

 

[JasonRox]

i apologize for judging you. sometimes (often?) I go off half cocked, or half crocked.

ironically, after this discussion, the morning paper had a cartoon, "non sequitur" by wiley that i think is relevant, a guy out on a lonely road that ended in a crossing "one of the inevitable intersections on the road of life":

the sign to the right read "morally right", the sign to the left read "legally right".

It's alright.

I just hope you understand my point.

I know there are some hard working authors and some that aren't (James E. Stewart).

We need to pay them, but publishers get much more money than they do. Students get shafted to the point that people ask, is this even legal?

Stealing a textbook in my opinion is not entirely morally wrong. If I was living many years ago, and saw Galois stealing a book because he couldn't afford one, I would have let him go. I'm also assuming that I didn't know he was a great mathematician. The whole point is that some people flat out can't afford the books, but have the ability to read them, understand them, and make more out of the book than those who buy them.

But the whole process relies on the rational decision by the one stealing. If the person is intending to make the most out of the textbook, I say it's morally right.

If it's because they want to make some money by selling it back, or to save money on course (if you are taking a course, you should be able to afford the book) textbook, then I'd say they are both morally wrong.

So, basically if it's purely for knowledge sake, then it is morally right.

 

[mathwonk]

I sympathize, but disagree. Because I have lived a long time, done many wrong things, and regret all of them. I oppose stealing in almost any circumstance, but in this particular circumstance I am also trying to make a point that it is unnnecessary and even counterproductive (as it always is ultimately).

I.e. these people are stealing books not because those books are the ones they would learn more from, as Galois might do, but because those are the books that are "required" for their degrees, which is a stupid immoral and unwise thing to do.

really, the best books are not always the most costly ones. i am confident I am not wrong here, and I am trying to teach something to young people. I have lived a long time and gone to many schools and paid huge tuition to ripoff places like harvard, etc,...

then at last I met an interesting man, who taught me more than i had learned anywhere else, and among other things he said something very simple: "attention will get you teachers".

i.e. the real price of tuition is merely to listen to the wisdom of a teacher. students with the intelligence to actually pay attention to the wisdom being offered for free are so rare that those teachers will in turn teach them for free.

since that day (35 years ago) i have never paid one cent of tuition and i have been a postdoc at harvard, been welcomed by some of the worlds finest mathematicians, a paid participant at IAS sponsored summer meetings, an invitee and beneficiary of international meetings, etc, etc. I have received hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant money to pursue my work.

this is hard to believe for someone raised in our society of "ripoff before you get ripped off", but it is true.

he who has ears,... you know the rest.


I realize extremely few people will learn this lesson so easily. wisdom is not really expensive, that is not why it is rare, rather there are so few people willing to listen to it. read proverbs: wisdom is crying in the street and no one answers.


there was a scene in a stupid buffoonery filled movie called "bedazzled" where the devil tries to tell dudley moore some advice and dudley ignores him. the devil remarks, oh yes, you are poor, frustrated in your ambition, besieged by tigers, and your girl friend loves another man, why should you pay attention to the advice of the ancients?

pay heed: if you are successful in your academic careeer you will become a teacher, and the frustration of the teacher is that the teacher offers so much, but the stduents accept so little from it.


peace

 

[blueskies]

I am also one of those students who have sought to save some dough by purchasing paperback editions online. It backfired on me in one instance though. In the last semester (Spring 06), I bought a book on Half.com, only to get a call from my advisor an hour later than I didn't need to take that class that I bought the book for. The seller wouldn't let me cancel my order, so I got stuck with the book. Worse still, the book took 3 weeks to arrive so it was too late to try to sell to a classmate. I relisted the book on Half.com in FEB, no takers for 4 months. And now I just got a notice from Half.com that my listing has been terminated because it does not permit sale of international editions anymore. I am not aware of any classes that will require this book in the near future (i.e. Summer or fall semesters) so it looks like I am stuck.

So... does anyone know of any textbook sites that buy back international editions from students?

Thanks.