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Experience with international edition textbooks


Pegasus
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Do any of your students have experience, good or bad, with using international editions of textbooks?

 

DD has a couple of very expensive computer science textbooks required for next semester. We can rent used texts from Amazon for about 30% of the new purchase price. . .or buy NEW international versions for less than 50% of the RENTAL cost.

 

Item descriptions state content is identical to U.S. editions.

 

I'm seriously considering giving these a try but thought I'd ask here for actual experiences.

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Often the international edition is the same.  Sometimes the international editions have cheaper binding and fall apart.  The international edition may be produced by the actual publisher, but many international editions are counterfeit copies; if it is a counterfeit copy, the author of the book is not receiving any royalties from the sell of the book.  

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DS' charter school used an international edition college text for AP Physics 1

(not sure where they purchased them but they did not seem counterfeit)

The local CC had the US edition of the text and they were very similar.

 

The international may not track edition-wise (first, second, etc) the same as the US version.

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As a college professor, I am unable to answer this type of question for students.  I do not have a copy of any international edition; so I cannot tell if it is the same or not.  I can tell students I have seen multiple students in the same class have an "international edition" for the same book in the same class and the editions have been different, some identical to the class text some that are not.  Often it is impossible to tell if the book is a counterfeit, just like a bootleg copy of computer software or a DVD.  So, it puts me in an awkward position as a professor; given that I know many of those are bootleg copies, do I ethically condone purchasing them so that the student can save money?  Then, do I turn around and teach a business ethics case about pirated materials?

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If the international editions are Asian editions, they are likely parallel imports if new or brought in by international students if used. A friend bought his textbooks in India when he went back to visit relatives and they were much cheaper and genuine. It is paperback and thinner paper and meant for the India market, the kind that says not to be sold overseas. It is not just to save cost of printing but also to save weight as carrying hardcover textbooks on public transport is a pain.

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the kind that says not to be sold overseas. 

 

 

Yeah, I think I had a couple of international editions in NL as well that said something along those lines that I brought to the US. They were not counterfeit, but selling them in the US would have been, I don't know... not sure that they legally can ban you from selling them in the US; maybe they can? I think one was a paperback copy of Biology of the Cell, and I think in the US they only sold those as hardcover. It's like 1000 pages or something, so not sure how many people want paperback, but it was a sturdy paperback and I don't think the paper quality was different, and realistically, I don't think the cost difference was huge (actually, not even sure if it was cheaper or more expensive in NL - probably depended on the exchange rate), but it is kind of ridiculous that you can get a paperback copy in other first world countries but not in the US. 

 

So, anyway... not sure if you'd be breaking the law by buying international editions, or if the seller is breaking the law, or both, or neither. 

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So, anyway... not sure if you'd be breaking the law by buying international editions, or if the seller is breaking the law, or both, or neither. 

 

Neither per a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kirtsaeng vs John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

 

Thanks, everyone.  I appreciate the input.

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http://stopcounterfeitbooks.com/best-practices/

 

Counterfeit books can be hard to recognize.  Earlier this year, several major publishers filed a lawsuit against Follett, one of the major university bookstores, for selling counterfeit books.  The suit was settled (without the details revealed), except for the fact that Follett has agreed to adopt practices to recognize counterfeit books.  

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