Want to buy a finance textbook: is AbeBooks legit?

Water Cooler
#1

I saw this finance textbook (hardback version) for 100 bucks on Amazon.com. Normal price considering this won’t sell as many copies as Harry Potter

Then I found this online book thing called AbeBooks and someone is selling a new copy for 16 bucks plus shipping.

Is this some kind of scam where they’re

  1. not gonna send me squat

  2. gonna send me an out of date version printed in a foreign language

  3. send me a counterfeit copy of the English version

Or is this legitimate and some poor sap is trying to unload excess inventory?

For those curious, the book I have in mind is Kolb’s “Futures, Options, and Swaps” and the most recent edition is the 5th edition. I don’t know if any of you have used that or at least heard of it

#2

Most likely 3.

They have something called the ‘Indian Edition’, same book, just printed on shitty paper and costs 25% the US price.

#3

international version, was my secret in college lol

#4

Softcover. Book Condition: New. [Please Read Carefully Before Buying] New, This Is An International Edition. Print In Gray Scale. Book Cover And ISBN No May Be Different From Usa Edition. Restricted Sales Disclaimer Wordings Not For Sales In Usa And Canada May Be Printed On The Cover Of The Book. Standard Shipping 7-14 Business Days. Expedited Shiping 4-8 Business Days. The Books May Be Ship From Overseas For Inventory Purpose. Book. Bookseller Inventory # 9788126523665_US_1405150491

WTF lol - that sounds sketchy as hell

A family member explained what “international version” means. I dunno - I guess I can suffer the black and white if it’s a book on derivatives.

#5

The US Supreme Court says grey-market textbook imports are legal. Seems good enough for me. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-19/-gray-market-backed-by-high-court-in-win-for-discounters.html

#6

So CFAI publishes it?

#7

i did research into this. basically intl edition is the same exact book as the US editiion except:

1)its not in color (thus gray scale)

2)its not hardback

the reason its cheaper is because ppl in 3rd world countries cant afford textbooks that are $$$$, so the same publishers make 2 versions of the same book.