international edition textbooks?

Linas · #1 01-21-2009, 01:45 AM

I have seen these around and they always sell for cheaper than the standard version textbooks. Is there any difference in them? Most sellers claim only the cover is different, but why is it cheaper? Anyone have experience with these, im looking to save some cash this semester.

Mark Latimour · #2 01-21-2009, 02:05 AM

Many may be copies. Textbook piracy is a big problem for academic publishers. You should really only buy the official edition for your class from a legitimate source. Textbook writers and publishes sell units sometimes in the 100's not 1000's and make very little money. Its one of the biggest issues with piracy yet it receives very little attention because its such a niche area, but basically, many publishers and writers cannot afford to write textbooks anymore because of the piracy issues. For that reason alone you should buy new from the right source, but if not, try and buy second hand legitimate copies not.

i_got_a_mohawk · #3 01-21-2009, 04:50 AM

I thought it was more to do with publishing rights?

I don't know about piracy, I have a few "International Editions" which were bought from university book shops and legitimate chains. I even have a book that has "Not for Sale in the US" written on it (with a no-smoking style cross with "Sale In U.S" written on the side. (Introduction to Solid State Physics by Kittel)

Tsal · #4 01-21-2009, 04:54 AM

Mark, you mean that pirates are putting big "NOT FOR SALE IN THE US"-warnings on their pirated books, that they try to sell to US students? Nah. They are cheaper editions, made for export, that usually are soft cover etc., to limit the production costs, so that they can be sold for less.

Many students outside US don't like to buy textbooks in English because of possible language difficulties, and in many European universities students have to buy very little material in form of textbooks, anyway. In these countries, the US textbooks are often used as a supplementary reading. Since there's a lesser demand, the prices have to be adjusted accordingly. By this the publishers hope that a student might afford to get one or two extra textbooks once in a while, and the lecturers might suggest their "cheap" book as a source of additional information.

In short, you US students are paying premium for the latest, high-quality books, while the publishers are selling the cheaper edition to us Europeans behind your back.

Mark Latimour · #5 01-21-2009, 05:21 AM

If they are genuine editions (as opposed to pirated copies made O/S) then that's probably okay. I was just flagging up the issue of text-book piracy (which is a big problem for authors and publishers).

Tsal · #6 01-21-2009, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

If they are genuine editions (as opposed to pirated copies made O/S) then that's probably okay. I was just flagging up the issue of text-book piracy (which is a big problem for authors and publishers).

Actually, technically, don't think it's okay, since they're export versions that aren't ment for US use. Hence the text "not for sale in the US".

It's the same if you go buy a official CD in Mexico or somewhere else where the CD prices are significantly lower than in the US; the record company still gets some profit, but it's a lot lower than what they'd get if you'd buy the CD in the States. Of course, it's up to your personal moral, how much you want to support the record company. I'm sure the author/artist himself isn't getting that much royalties out of the sales.

Mark Latimour · #7 01-21-2009, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsal

Actually, technically, don't think it's okay, since they're export versions that aren't ment for US use. Hence the text "not for sale in the US".

It's the same if you go buy a official CD in Mexico or somewhere else where the CD prices are significantly lower than in the US; the record company still gets some profit, but it's a lot lower than what they'd get if you'd buy the CD in the States. Of course, it's up to your personal moral, how much you want to support the record company. I'm sure the author/artist himself isn't getting that much royalties out of the sales.

Its a lot like purchasing a bass guitar from a foreign dealer. I think its more of an issue of the relationship between the dealer and the publisher than it is the retail customer and the dealer. If the dealer is willing to sell the copies into a market they are not supposed to, that's probably a breach of their dealer agreement. I agree, its ethically sketchy for the purchaser to knowingly do this, but at the same time, I am not sure that any laws are being broken (as in the case of pirated works). Either way, the publisher and the author probably get less money, but its better than the pirated works which they get no money for. I would recommend that the official editions be purchased otherwise, in the future, it may be that no one is willing to invest the time writing text books (or publishing them).

Tsal · #8 01-21-2009, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

If the dealer is willing to sell the copies into a market they are not supposed to, that's probably a breach of their dealer agreement. I agree, its ethically sketchy for the purchaser to knowingly do this, but at the same time, I am not sure that any laws are being broken (as in the case of pirated works).

Yep. I'd say that it's a breach of their agreement, and the publisher could sue the dealer for that. I'm sure the buyer himself won't have any problems if he happens to buy an international edition book.

However, if it's a second hand book, or any other 3rd company apart from the original dealer, I don't think there's any legal problem, since the publisher doesn't have any agreements with the 3rd party dealing the book. Of course the publisher might have an agreement with the dealer, that the books are not to be sold back to the US market, which the dealer might want to extend to the 2nd dealer, but anyways..

I have a course on business jurisdiction coming up, so I'm trying to get to the right mindset

Brad Barker · #9 01-22-2009, 09:37 AM

you're really not supposed to. the authors don't receive royalties from sales of international editions, so if you feel like doing the right thing and supporting the author, then buy the standard u.s. edition.

tplyons · #10 01-22-2009, 09:53 AM

Sometimes the numbering is different on problems and paging. I've had some professors specifically say to not buy the International Editions and others say it's okay. I've had one because I couldn't find anyone who stocked the American version.

However, the big caveat is they're a lot more difficult to offload when you're done.