Bookstores are a ripoff! whoever told you about the ISBN thing was full of crap.

I work at my University bookstore and like most other bookstores we aren’t allowed to give out the ISBN to people. We’re allowed to give out the title of the book, Author, Publisher, and Edition. A lot of schools don’t have pictures of the books on their websites (think how long that would take) so if you want to triple check go to the bookstore and look for yourself. I understand not wanting to pay more than you have to for a book but I also understand that the bookstore is a business which is why they don’t give out the ISBN number. They don’t just make up the prices by themselves, it’s the publisher that determines how much a book is worth so I’ve gotten over blaming my bookstore for the cost.

I’ve done the same thing and had the same thing happen to me. What makes my situation even worse right now though, is that my student loan money doesn’t come in until the first or 2nd day of class, so I can’t even buy my books online in time for them to get here. That sucks.

As far as them giving you the ISBN’s over the phone..I’ve had the same problem. Also, they wouldnt give me the prices of the books over the phone. So, I just went to the bookstore and copied the ISBN’s myself. As long as you can search for your books independently (wihout one of those clerks holding your hand and doing it for you) you shouldn’t have a problem. I’ve done it before with no one harassing me about it. I always compare prices before I buy. Once a clerk asked me what I was doing because I had a notebook and pen with me and was writing down stuff out of the book. I flat out told him I was copying prices and copying the ISBN’s to take to another store, and whichever one was better is where I would buy my books.