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The joys of parallel importation
Dec. 21st, 2004 05:02 pmI'm looking into purchasing my textbook for next semester, Data and Computer Communications 7ed by William Stallings. I figured that amazon.co.uk might have it cheaper, as they sometimes do for textbooks, and they did indeed offer it to me for £42.74 (USD 82.37).
isbn.nu lists some ridiculously cheap copies that turn out to be international editions—black and white interior, paperback rather than hardcover, but otherwise exactly the same. For a book that costs USD 100 in the US and USD 80 in the UK, I wouldn't have be surprised to see USD 60 elsewhere, but the USD 30-USD 40 on isbn.nu seemed a little odd. A scan of the Alibris matches showed one with the actual subsidiary of Prentice-Hall that did the publishing. Turns out that Prentice Hall India is offering the book for a whopping INR 295, which works out to USD 6.75.
Wow.
isbn.nu lists some ridiculously cheap copies that turn out to be international editions—black and white interior, paperback rather than hardcover, but otherwise exactly the same. For a book that costs USD 100 in the US and USD 80 in the UK, I wouldn't have be surprised to see USD 60 elsewhere, but the USD 30-USD 40 on isbn.nu seemed a little odd. A scan of the Alibris matches showed one with the actual subsidiary of Prentice-Hall that did the publishing. Turns out that Prentice Hall India is offering the book for a whopping INR 295, which works out to USD 6.75.
Wow.
