If you think college textbooks are high priced check out today's (March 13) B.C. cartoon: http://comics.com/bc/
Funny! Excelsior tries to sell its students World Population Bulletin brochures... which are available free in .pdf form from the publisher
You can often beat the bookstore prices by going straight to the publisher, even with shipping. And skip taxes.
It's more lucrative than prostitution or loansharking, but not more reputable. A fine scholar once said that the key to keeping a university running smoothly was football for the alumni, sex for the students, and parking for the faculty. Hmmm, no textbooks.....
In California you are required to add sales tax for out-of-state purchasessuch as books on your state income tax return.
I lived in California for 10 years and never heard of that. I'm sure that maybe 10% (or less) of Californians actually do that. I had my taxes professionally done when I lived there and that topic never came up. Interesting.
I always bought outdated editions It's amazing how much you can save by avoiding the latest edition. For most undergraduate subjects the core material changes very little. Sometimes the extra material in the boxes and captions changes to be current, but it's mostly the same old textbook. Some outdated textbooks are under $4 with shipping and will get you through a course. The big exception is when the professor is also the author...then he/she will often demand the newest edition!
There is an article today in the CSM on the cost of textbooks: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100315/cm_csm/286748