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Not really sure where to post this (and probably it's a bit out of place on this forum), but I've recently noticed that some of the classic textbooks for undergraduate math courses (in particular, Herstein's Topics in Algebra and Artin's Algebra) are no longer offered by their respective publishers (Wiley and Pearson) as hardcover books, and instead they only offer softcover print-on-demand copies for roughly the same price. Even Baby Rudin is now listed as "either hardcover or softcover" on the publisher's website when you purchase... not at all clear they won't just send a softcover copy.

I noticed this when looking to upgrade my copy of Artin from the 1st edition to the 2nd (looks like some better organization and many changes in the exercises) and to replace a lost copy of Herstein (a personal favorite).

And yet the books are still being sold for astronomically high prices (upwards of $200 for a soft-cover, print-on-demand book!)

Granted I haven't purchased these books new in a number of years, but this seems like an absolutely outrageous rip-off. How are professors/lecturers dealing with this? These books are absolute treasures, and every undergrad should be allowed to enjoy them and learn from them. I should note that I currently work in industry (math grad school in a former life, but I still enjoy reading and studying mathematics), so I'm a bit out of the loop.

JeffW89
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    It's the same business model as with journals, not to sell one book to an individual, but to sell bundles to a library, so they print only that number of copies that a library negotiates. With digital editions the publishers have also moved to selling e-books over printing. Professors/lecturers get their copies from the university library. – Randy Marsh Oct 13 '20 at 19:54
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    I personally buy used; with publishers liker Springer one can wait for the Yellow Sale which reduces certain titles up to 40%. Also, people who've published with Springer have a 50% lifetime discount which gets added on to the Yellow Sale - this is the only way in which I buy +$100 books, by waiting until I can get them for 30% of the original price. – Randy Marsh Oct 13 '20 at 20:01
  • @JeffW89 I agree your post is somewhat out of place here. In the future, I suggest considering for posts like this either the Math Educators or, for post-graduate related books, Academia SE sites. – John Omielan Oct 13 '20 at 20:33

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