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[larryc]

Go ahead and order it, but also put a copy on 2 hour reserve in the library. On the first day of class tell the students what you told us about the book, then point out that the reserve desk is 23 steps away from the nearest photocopier, and that you are not advising them to copy the book. Wink at them when you say the last part.

[history_grrrl]

Thanks, everyone, for the input. I'm in Canada, and it would be hard for my students to get used copies online without potentially having a long wait, paying border-crossing fees, etc. I've sent a message to the rep asking if they have the numbers I need, and I will make sure there's at least one copy in the library (I always do). I know textbooks are expensive generally, but I'm accustomed to more like $75 for a specialized topic area in history. So $110 seems really out of line, especially since for a paperback that isn't new.

To make this work, I've decided to scrap a monograph I had hoped to assign (the one I want won't be out in paperback in time, and the alternate option is too long). So the total -- textbook plus novel, play, memoir, and treatise -- will be something like $150. That seems manageable.

[biop_grad]

Have them check Amazon.co.uk as well.  Often (at least with the core texts I like ...) I have found that they would sell it for a LOT less (even if new).

The border crossing issues aren't ridiculous.  It usually takes me a week or so to get it from the UK (I'm in the US), so if they know about it in advance they should be able to get it.

[scienceguy]

The text for my Organic Chemistry course retails for $228.95. The solutions manual (optional) is another $129.95. Yes, they use the books for two semesters, but I would say your students are getting off cheap.

[dr_prephd]

I wouldn't call that insanely expensive, as long as you put a cap on the prices for the rest of the books. As an undergrad, I pretty much went into every semester expecting to pay about $200 per class for books, more for classes in my major (where I routinely had to buy a Norton anthology plus several paperbacks for each upper-division class). If these are students in the major, you could look at it as an investment.

And yes, Amazon is amazing. There is one book in my field that rarely sells for less than $100 used, and it doesn't look like much more than a thick paperback. But, copies of the previous edition go for less than $1 on Amazon. I figured I could do without the most recent introduction and the chapter on technology and save $99 in the process. You could do the same for your students.

[cranefly]

Thanks, everyone, for the input. I'm in Canada.

You can photocopy parts of the book as part of your coursepack. Your university pays a blanket license fee for this right. You just need to report what you're copying so that authors can get paid through Access Copyright.

http://www.accesscopyright.ca/

[magistra]

Just wanted to point out that there's an absolute price and relative price.  Just because the relative price isn't that bad, the absolute price is.  Should students really be paying an average of $200 per class per semester for books?  That's $2000 a semester.  It's these kinds of hidden costs (don't get me started on student fees) that take a huge toll, especially on first gen students who might not expect it.

I know everyone on this board is very aware of textbook costs and we have to use the best book, but it's worth really considering carefully whether the extra book is necessary.  Vive le coursepack!

Also, check out addall.com.  It comparison shops for you.

[blackbart]

Just wanted to point out that there's an absolute price and relative price.  Just because the relative price isn't that bad, the absolute price is.  Should students really be paying an average of $200 per class per semester for books?  That's $2000 a semester.  It's these kinds of hidden costs (don't get me started on student fees) that take a huge toll, especially on first gen students who might not expect it.

While agreeing wholeheartedly with your disgust at asking students to pay unreasonable amounts for textbooks, I'm a little puzzled by the implications of your math. Two thousand dollars a semester at $200 per class means the student is taking ten classes, each of which requires its own texts. If I'm taking that many classes at a time, then the least of my problems is the cost of the books.

[magistra]

No, I meant in a year.  Thanks for catching that.  I was thinking of parents doing a yearly budget for costs, and not thinking of this one.

[madhatter]

I have been really sheltered from textbook prices. Am I the only one appalled at the numbers being bandied about here? The courses I taught over the last several years either had textbooks bundled into the tuition or the course text was bundled with statistical software, so I never saw the plain book price.

I was naively thinking that $70 was still pretty high for a textbook...

[magistra]

My costs are much lower.  It's only $30 for the basic book, hardcover, and we'll use it for more than one semester.  There are other books too, but again, we'll use them for more than one semester.  Lots of Latin books come in small paperbacks that are still under $30.  I think it comes from the fact that many of the books come from small university presses; it's a niche market, so we're not targeted the way chemistry is.  But we see the price creep, too. 

[offthemarket]

I once knew someone who was so annoyed by the publisher pricing of his edited volume (at 120 bucks, I think, 10 years ago), that he made a jazillion copies of the whole thing on his own, and sold them to anybody who wanted it at cost.

[cc_alan]

I have been really sheltered from textbook prices. Am I the only one appalled at the numbers being bandied about here? The courses I taught over the last several years either had textbooks bundled into the tuition or the course text was bundled with statistical software, so I never saw the plain book price.

I was naively thinking that $70 was still pretty high for a textbook...

Come to the dark side and check out the prices for new general chemistry textbooks.

Alan