Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas

Hi All,

From the NY Times we learn that college textbook publishers have been
overcharging American students on their textbooks.

Like prescription drugs for the elderly, there is a much lower price for
comparable textbooks purchased overseas than domestically.

Follow the link to learn how enterprising students are taking advantage of price
arbitrage to undermine the corporate publishing conglomerates.

Don't you just love it when the little guy beats the behemoth.

Enjoy
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/education/21BOOK.html?hp

October 21, 2003
Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas
By TAMAR LEWIN

Richard Sarkis and David Kinsley were juniors at Williams College,
surfing the net for a cheap source for their economics textbook, when
they 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.

"We think it's frightening, and it's wrong, that the same American
textbooks our stores buy here for $100 can be shipped in from some other
country for $50," said Laura Nakoneczny, a spokeswoman for the
association. "It represents price-gouging of the American public
generally and college students in particular."

Snip ......

Everything on campus is big business. From the franchised food sellers to the cost of books. They gouge students who have no other place to shop.

You see, the reason for this is that it takes years of research & development to write a textbook. Without the profit motive, nobody would ever write textbooks, and there are lots of textbooks that just don't work out or that don't get FDA approval. So the high prices are necessary.

Yeah...yeah, that must be it...

I don't know how the textbook publishing world works...
ask Lynne Cheney.

I've talked with a number of college professors, and for them there is little or no money in writing textbooks. It's lots of work, and takes forever to get one published. For many it's just not worth it...

There's no money for the authors, but that's the norm for publishing. The real question is how much money the publishers are making.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I'm curious how well known this is on college campuses. Have professors started indicating the textbooks for the classes earlier so students can find the books at a cheaper price?