College text book question

[britfish]

When purchasing college text books, what is the international edition? Is it ok to use that or will it be a different text?

 

[mistysue]

Without knowing the exact book, publisher and what editions are available, nobody can answer that. Most likely you need to ask the author, the professor of the course or the publisher.

 

[dsanner106]

It is normally the same book as far as text is concerned, but not always. The materials used are normally inferior, typically soft back rather than hardback. Some countries will not allow certain material to be covered in books in politics, history and even science so that is a possible concern. Generally though, the content is the same.

Drew

 

[Shleedogg]

My DH is CTO for an online textbook marketplace. They actually had a lawsuit brought against them from publishers because they allowed the sale of international editions on their site. They won.

It is a paperback, most of the time black and white version of the same book. It's issued by the publisher for sale outside of the US. My DH just said that they are really difficult to sell back. But the content is the same.

 

[gokenin]

the text may be the same but it is more than likely that any sort of problems will be geared towards the country that the book is supposed to be sold in i.e. the problems will be in metric measurement and diffrent currency if using accounting books so you would have to get the problems from the US edition in order to do homework in some cases. They are illegal to sell or resell inside the US and the book will have this statement on the inside of the book as well so you would not be able to resell it at the end of the semester to the bookstore on campus.

 

[LilyWDW]

Technically these editions are not to be sold in the US.

Sometimes the content is different and could cause confusion for the student. The professor may or may not allow the use of a different "edition" of the book. If they don't support it, then it would up to the student to be sure the homework assignments or information in the chapter is the same.

My background comes from working in a college bookstore in the textbook departments. This included speaking to publishers and learning about all the different "editions" of the book out there.

 

[ajk912]

I agree with what's mentioned above, but also what's been my experience is if you don't buy the negotiated bundle at the college, you may be missing out on REQUIRED materials. For my 3 classes I had this semester:

Required Computer bundle- I could have bought the books separately at other websites, but I needed a code for Sam 2007 and just the code is about $40 I think? There was a "free" (ha) code included in the bundle. Without Sam 2007, I wouldn't be able to do some of my homework that had to be submitted online.

Chemistry- same deal. The bookstore bundle had a "free" again, lol- copy of Webassign. If I didn't buy their pack, I would have to pay full price for Webassign. I needed it to turn in homework! Also, I REALLY liked the study guide that came in the bundle. I at first thought it was a waste, but it walked you through the problems so it ended up being a valuable resource.

Math- sure, I could have gotten the book on amazon or chegg, but what about MyMathLab? Luckily, my class doesn't require it, but some do. You'd have to pay retail to get a copy of that, if required.

I feel bad for those who thought they were saving by renting, and then had to piece together the rest of the stuff they needed later. I love how the college bookstore bundles seem to include everything you need for the semester. I know the initial price can make you go , but it's been worth it in my case.

 

[LilyWDW]

I agree with what's mentioned above, but also what's been my experience is if you don't buy the negotiated bundle at the college, you may be missing out on REQUIRED materials. For my 3 classes I had this semester:

Required Computer bundle- I could have bought the books separately at other websites, but I needed a code for Sam 2007 and just the code is about $40 I think? There was a "free" (ha) code included in the bundle. Without Sam 2007, I wouldn't be able to do some of my homework that had to be submitted online.

Chemistry- same deal. The bookstore bundle had a "free" again, lol- copy of Webassign. If I didn't buy their pack, I would have to pay full price for Webassign. I needed it to turn in homework! Also, I REALLY liked the study guide that came in the bundle. I at first thought it was a waste, but it walked you through the problems so it ended up being a valuable resource.

Math- sure, I could have gotten the book on amazon or chegg, but what about MyMathLab? Luckily, my class doesn't require it, but some do. You'd have to pay retail to get a copy of that, if required.

I feel bad for those who thought they were saving by renting, and then had to piece together the rest of the stuff they needed later. I love how the college bookstore bundles seem to include everything you need for the semester. I know the initial price can make you go , but it's been worth it in my case.

Just a note...

It is NOT the bookstore that does the bundles. It is the package that the professor requires and that the publisher packages. The bookstore actually has very little say in this situation. There are even times where the prof doesn't want the bundle, but the publisher sells it no other way.

The set up I hate the most are "custom" editions. These are additions of textbooks that are the parts of the book that the department has decided on. The publisher will then print these custom books for the department. What this means for the student is that they can not buy their books anywhere but the store and they won't get as much money back (once the store buys enough for their use, it goes wholesale. Since no other schools will use this custom book, then there is no wholesale price.).

 

[TLuvsD]

Be careful with international editions, the problems sets will likely be very different. If nothing else, the problems are in a different order, so the answer key will not "line up" with your answers. Big problem.

Some states are passing prohibitions to the "bundling" and requiring all texts to avaliable as individual items. Additionally, the bookstores will be required to list ISBN for texts before the semester starts, which will allow students to shop online for texts.

 

[vanyel]

Just a note...

It is NOT the bookstore that does the bundles. It is the package that the professor requires and that the publisher packages. The bookstore actually has very little say in this situation. There are even times where the prof doesn't want the bundle, but the publisher sells it no other way.

The set up I hate the most are "custom" editions. These are additions of textbooks that are the parts of the book that the department has decided on. The publisher will then print these custom books for the department. What this means for the student is that they can not buy their books anywhere but the store and they won't get as much money back (once the store buys enough for their use, it goes wholesale. Since no other schools will use this custom book, then there is no wholesale price.).

A lot of times the custom edition saves the student quite a bit of money - for example, the custom text my department is requiring, is only $19 vs $65 for the full edition. The buyback for the $65 text is about $15 so the student is better off with the custom text. And creating a custom text stops an ongoing problem of students buying instructor editions on-line with the answers, defeating the purpose of much of the course work.

 

[LilyWDW]

A lot of times the custom edition saves the student quite a bit of money - for example, the custom text my department is requiring, is only $19 vs $65 for the full edition. The buyback for the $65 text is about $15 so the student is better off with the custom text. And creating a custom text stops an ongoing problem of students buying instructor editions on-line with the answers, defeating the purpose of much of the course work.

Not so much at the schools I have worked at. The original text would be $65 and the custom edition will be just about the same (maybe a $5 difference). And, if the text is being used the next semester, then the buy back would start at 1/2 the purchase price and drop from there when it goes wholesale. With the custom edition they would get 1/2 the purchase price as well, but would get $0 at the wholesale point.

 

[britfish]

Thank you for the information. The class is a Human Biology class so I think I will stay away from the international version. Thanks for saving me the headache (and expense) of getting the wrong textbook.

 

[daughtersrus]

The only thing that I would add is that if you're buying the book online, be sure to check the description listed for the book. Many sellers will try to sell an International Edition under the ISBN code for the US edition. Somewhere in the description, they will add something along the lines of "Int'l Ed". I think that they're just hoping that the person buying it won't notice.

Although Amazon, Ebay, Half.com...say that they don't allow the sale of International Editions, people continue to sell them there. Complaints to them usually don't help and the illegal books continue to be sold.

Also watch for Instructor Editions that are listed under the ISBN# for the Student Edition.