4 ms·

$150 for an ISBN? Really? I'm pretty sure you can get them for free or less from government (or at least could 20 years ago. More recently my friend got an IS

$150 for an ISBN? Really? I'm pretty sure you can get them for free or less from government (or at least could 20 years ago. More recently my friend got an ISSN (magazine version of ISBN) for cost of filling out form.

kn0thing 17y ago
Please share the link and I'll gladly update the entry (with citation)! I wish I'd known.
pmichaud 17y ago
Yes, if you buy one they are about the price. However, if you buy 10, they are about $250, so buying in bulk makes a lot of sense if you're planning to publish more than one book.
jvdh 17y ago
This really surprised me too. I just got one in the Netherlands, and it only cost me €10.
- Luc 17y ago
  Out of curiosity, where did you get it?
  - jvdh 17y ago
    directly from isbn.nl
njharman 17y ago
I might be totally misremembering, but I sure thought it was from government and not Bowker. Seems like something that has been privatized and of course prices jacked up tremendously. IRRC I wasn't getting an individual ISBN either I was getting a publisher code, and could issue thousands of ISBNs under it. What a scam/racket, esp the barcodes. (like https certs, domain registration and other government mandated monopolies) It doesn't flippin cost $150 to track a number in a database.
- kn0thing 17y ago
  Yes, Bowker is definitely baking a lot of unnecessary 'features' and thus justifying extra costs. Looking for better options and will definitely update.
  - tylerritchie 17y ago
    Find any better options?
jeremytliles 17y ago
Bowker is the official issuer in the US. Different countries have different issuers. The cost-per-ISBN goes down as you buy larger blocks.
pbhjpbhj 17y ago
Also Adobe's InDesign is £699.12 (as of 2010-02-24 in UK), $1080 USD. I'm sure you could use Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/ http://www.scribus.net/; http://www.scribus.net/?q=node/186 http://www.scribus.net/?q=node/186).

kn0thing 17y ago

Please share the link and I'll gladly update the entry (with citation)! I wish I'd known.

pmichaud 17y ago

Yes, if you buy one they are about the price. However, if you buy 10, they are about $250, so buying in bulk makes a lot of sense if you're planning to publish more than one book.

jvdh 17y ago

This really surprised me too. I just got one in the Netherlands, and it only cost me €10.

Luc 17y ago
Out of curiosity, where did you get it?
- jvdh 17y ago
  directly from isbn.nl

njharman 17y ago

I might be totally misremembering, but I sure thought it was from government and not Bowker. Seems like something that has been privatized and of course prices jacked up tremendously. IRRC I wasn't getting an individual ISBN either I was getting a publisher code, and could issue thousands of ISBNs under it. What a scam/racket, esp the barcodes. (like https certs, domain registration and other government mandated monopolies) It doesn't flippin cost $150 to track a number in a database.

kn0thing 17y ago
Yes, Bowker is definitely baking a lot of unnecessary 'features' and thus justifying extra costs. Looking for better options and will definitely update.
- tylerritchie 17y ago
  Find any better options?

jeremytliles 17y ago

Bowker is the official issuer in the US. Different countries have different issuers. The cost-per-ISBN goes down as you buy larger blocks.

pbhjpbhj 17y ago

Also Adobe's InDesign is £699.12 (as of 2010-02-24 in UK), $1080 USD. I'm sure you could use Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/ http://www.scribus.net/; http://www.scribus.net/?q=node/186 http://www.scribus.net/?q=node/186).