Books across the pond

Each semester, students complain over the amount of money they shell out at the campus bookstore. But instead of complaining, some American students are starting to buy textbooks overseas because they can save as much as half of their book bill.

An informal survey of American and European online book retailers reveals that American students pay almost twice as much as their European counterparts for textbooks. The textbook for the popular introductory microeconomics course Principles of Microeconomics, costs $87.95 at Amazon.com, but only ?26.99 ($45.92), plus ?8.97 ($15.26) for delivery at amazon.co.uk -- even though the textbook is published by Ohio-based South-Western College Publishing.

Some students are buying their books from overseas websites to save money, while others have started businesses to profit from the price differences. According to a New York Times article, two Williams College graduates, Richard Sarkis and David Kinsley, set up BooksCentral.com, an online business that imports books from overseas and sells them to American students at discounted prices.

The higher prices charged in the US have angered some students.

"The fact that you can go online to Amazon's UK website and order a $110 textbook for ?35 [$55] astounds me," said senior Michael Krafft.

Senior Grace Gan, who has often spent between $400 and $500 per semester on books, said that while studying abroad in France, she paid no more than 60 euros on books. "I bought seven books, although I was taking all literature classes, but they were very cheap," she said. "In Europe, the system is different. They give you a list of recommended readings. Over here, we need to actually buy the books and do the reading, because we're tested on it."

Some students complained that textbooks are so expensive in the US that many students do not bother to buy them. "Here, a lot of people just don't buy the books," senior David Pistrang said. "It's frustrating because a lot of teachers tell you to buy books that you don't really need that much... and it's a lot of money."

Tom Soare is a Boston University sophomore who spends and average of $500 per semester on books. "In future semesters, I will look to purchase books from foreign vendors over the Internet in the interest of saving," he said.

But one student explained high prices in the US to the laws of supply and demand.

"It is the nature of economics and price discrimination," senior and economics major Nimish Dixit said. "We are a market that values the purchase of knowledge. If you don't want to pay for it, rent it for free at the library."

Publishers have tried to make it difficult for book buyers to take advantage of international price differences. Before 1998, legislation made it illegal to reimport certain American texts. The legislation was changed, but some publishers till prohibit their overseas vendors from selling books back to the US.

Although some students expressed concern that shipping charges would eliminate the cost savings of buying overseas, a comparison between Amazon.com and its British sister, Amazon.co.uk, revealed that students could still save money by buying books overseas.

While some students blamed the University bookstore for the high prices, managers said that it was not responsible. "We don't control the book prices; that's up to the publishers," Tufts bookstore manager Ron Gill said. "We agree 100 percent with you guys, that the publishers should make the price the same here as over there."

According to Judith Platt, a spokesperson for the Association of American Publishers, American textbooks are highly regarded abroad and are considered a "gold standard" for textbooks. As a result, the textbook publishing industry has a "very serious problem with piracy [in other countries] with people ripping off our books."

"US trade reps said that this is one of the best ways of fighting piracy is to sell books at a cost at that country to afford," she said.

Pratt added that although books sold abroad may contain a substantial amount of the same material, are not the same. "If a book is made for sale overseas, then they are made for overseas," she said.

However, many students who have bought books overseas report that there is usually no difference between the US and international versions of textbooks -- except that international versions include those words on their covers.

Pratt also said that foreign sales keep prices down domestically. "American publishers could stop selling textbooks abroad tomorrow and it would not reduce the price of one book in the US," she said. "Book are sold overseas for a couple of reasons," she said. "They are sold at a price that will sell in those places whether it's China or Jakarta."

Pratt said the high prices are necessary to subsidize costly production costs and the limited market for individual textbooks.

Pratt noted that other American products, including software and prescription drugs, are also sold for less abroad.

Pratt attributes the anger over textbook prices to the increasing cost of higher education in America. "The $800 or $900 [a year that students spend on books] is the straw that breaks the camel's back," she said.

Although buying books overseas through companies like BookCentral.com becomes more popular, textbook companies are fighting back. According to BookCentral.com's website, "a number of publishers have actually taken measures to prevent us from sourcing our books from overseas." As a result, the company has reduced the number of textbooks available on the site.

Amanda Mu?±oz contributed to this article.