What are counterfeit textbooks?

Counterfeit textbooks are books that are produced illegally and sold on third-party websites as cheaper options. They cannot be resold to buy-back websites.

What are the differences between counterfeit textbooks and original textbooks?

  • 1. The binding of a counterfeit textbook is often poorly made. This can be noticeable if the glue is unevenly distributed, is a different color, or has a different smell. You can also recognize a counterfeit textbook by the spine, which may be too flat or too bent.
  • 2. Counterfeit textbooks tend to use cheaper, plain paper with text bleeding through from one page to the next, while original textbooks use glossy, high quality paper. Counterfeit textbooks can have thicker or thinner pages due to the poor quality of paper.
  • 3. Counterfeit producers tend to use narrower widths of text to save money by using less paper.
  • 4. The low quality of the graphics may be a telltale sign of counterfeit textbooks. For example, the images and/or writing may be blurry and pixelated, the cover art may be lower quality, and the title and author may not be centered on the cover.
  • 5. The letters of a counterfeit textbook may look like it is written in a cheaper font. For example, text may be thicker instead of in a fine print.
  • 6. If the textbooks seem to be very different but the ISBNs match with no labels indicating that it is a teacher’s or international edition, it may be a counterfeit textbook.
    If you don’t have an original textbook to compare the counterfeit textbook to, these are some additional signs of a counterfeit textbook.
  • 7. The barcode, which is supposed to be clear-cut and black-and-white, may look fuzzy or colored like a photocopy.
  • 8. The blank pages at the beginning and/or end in original textbooks and the copyright page may be absent.
  • 9. The endband may be frayed or have a different color pattern.