Bookstore or Internet?

The bookstore has to charge you tax, whereas (for a few more months perhaps) the internet seller does not.
The bookstore has to charge you for a nice bricks and mortar store, whereas the books on the internet are languishing in a trashy warehouse outside of Detroit.
The bookstore has to staff the place for rush hour at a living wage, even if no one is there much of the time, whereas the internet uses monkeys and robots to go get and pack the books.
The bookstore is ready to take your book back if it’s wrong, no questions asked. The internet may/may not be as helpful, but in general are very helpful with return books, but still take longer than the bookstore.
The bookstore may well have made a deal with the publisher to bundle other helpful aids at no extra cost above list price, such as access to web problem solutions, disks, etc. You would have to call the internet vendor and ask if all you get is the book.
All that all being said, the internet is usually far less expensive, by quite a bit.
The book is the same and usually gets delivered quickly, even from India.
However, know this about International versions.
- Although the cover may say Not Legal For Use It is absolutely legal for you to purchase and use an international edition, already decided by the courts.
- They often have only SI examples and homework problems, whereas the U.S. version may have a mixture of SI and US Customary. I just ordered one from India and although they swore it was the same, it uses SI units throughout. I’ll keep it anyway, since it only cost me $20, including shipping.
- The book companies are getting creative about international editions. Although in general they aren’t changing the words, they are starting to change the problem numbers which makes it difficult for you to work problem 15.6, which has been renumbered 15.23. Then may also reformat the text such that “To determine the left reaction of the beam …” now appears on page 260 rather than 236.