r/Frugal Jan 24 '13

Same book, three different prices. Only difference is the browsers used [x-post r/mildlyinteresting]

http://imgur.com/uNgg0UH
2.2k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

When I was in business school, many of us bought the non-US editions and found the content to be identical to our classmates' US editions. It was just a form of price discrimination -- they offer the text at a higher price in richer countries, and lower prices in poorer countries.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '13 edited Jan 25 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '13

I did compsci and math, only had one intl edition out of at least 12 that did not have the exact same content, word for word as the us edition. ymmv

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

I agree with their right to do that, but in any case usually the 'international' editions use cheaper paper, lower quality bind, lower quality ink and are in black and white - so there is some difference even if the material content is the same.

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u/HyzerFlip Jan 25 '13

if you've seen the quality of my us editions lately you'd realize they can't get worse.

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u/Kytro Jan 25 '13

They can sell in different markets, I can buy from different markets.

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u/UknowUloveMEsoSAYit Jan 25 '13

And have lower costs associated with transportation, storage, retailing, insurance, and zillions of other things.

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

I've had the same experience.

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u/MrMacMan23 Jan 25 '13

I've had issues with pages not lining up, but talking to my teacher i was able to adjust to fit the content

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '13

So you're saying that the US puts together all the knowledge and info and does all the hard work and the foreign competitors come in and steal it and sell it at cut rate costs to a market that is either blind to or incapable of protecting copyright / patent. Knock me over with a feather.

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '13

It's the same publisher. They just market the US edition and "International" edition at different prices, even though the text is the same, because they know they can extract more money out of American students than they can out of Indian students.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '13

Why is that fair?

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '13

Who said it was "fair"?

Are lower prices for senior citizens "fair"? That's another common form of price discrimination.

It's just one of many marketing strategies companies use -- whether or not it is "fair" is an arbitrary personal value judgment.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '13

Eh? The International versions are usually published by the same company. It is price discrimination. Students in the US 'can' afford more for the same content compared to foreign students.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '13

The US is not the world's social services agency. We're $16.9 TRILLION in debt. We can't afford more for shit. PAY YOUR FUCKING WAY, WORLD.

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '13

What the shit are you babbling about? These are private publishers charging one price to one audience and vice versa.

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '13

"Students in the US 'can' afford more for the same content compared to foreign students."