On May 13, 2007, the World Journal (世界日報 www.worldjournal.com), a leading Chinese newspaper publishing in the United States (U.S.), reports that three Chinese people are being suited by four leading book publishers because of selling international edition’s U.S. books in the U.S. The four leading book publishers included Pearson Education, Inc., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Thomson Learning Inc., and The McGraw-Hill. The three people bought cheaper version of U.S. books from China then resell in U.S. through www.abebooks.com, an online marketplace for books. International edition’s books usually was stated that cannot be sold in U.S., and under the protection from Copyright Act, and Trademark Act, it is illegal to sell international edition of U.S. books in U.S. Companies, Inc.

Actually, this is not an isolated case that people selling international edition of U.S. books through the internet. It is not surprised to see some titles listed in online marketplace like www.ebay.com or http://www.amazon.com which are being sold much cheaper than their suggested price, and many of them are actually international edition.

How Cheap are international edition of U.S. books

Those sellers usually got the books in very low prices from foreign countries and resell them in the U.S. For example, a title called International Business: Environments and Operations (11th edition) (ISBN:0131869426) which suggested price is more than $150, its international editions are listed for about $57 to $90 through www.abebook.com by different sellers. While the retail price from www.books.com.tw, a Taiwan based online bookstore sales book in Taiwan, is only TWD 1,121(about US$33.6).

Why would the international edition be so cheap and are they any different from the U.S. edition

Cheaper to print: Some of the books selling in foreign countries are being print in local which sometime cost less than in U.S.

Different print material: most of the international editions are in paperback rather than hardcover compare to the U.S. edition. Some titles may be printed in black and white for their international editions and even in lower quality paper to save cost.

Different in content: some of the contents from the U.S. edition may be removed, altered, or addition contents would be added to suit the foreign readers.

Lack of addition supplement materials: learning CD and access code to the books’ online study site may be unavailable in international editions.

Although, these may be the reasons that publishers claim, there is another reason for the price discrimination. Sometime, you may find a book’s international edition printed in the U.S. indifferent from its U.S. edition. In that case, the international edition is cheaper not because of it cost to made, but the price that customers willing to pay. Compare to some other countries, the buying power of people in the U.S. is relatively high. Thus, a same book can be sold in the U.S. for a better price. While U.S. books have to adjust it price so people living in foreign countries can afford them. Also, U.S. books have to face competition from local publishers who are selling their book less expensive.

Click here if you want to use this Article!

Continue Reading This Post:12