Counterfeit Calculator launched by BooksRun!

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BooksRun Info & Tips
legit and counterfeit textbooks

You’ve been waiting for it, and we’ve launched it—a Counterfeit Calculator! With this tool, you can finally check the likelihood of any textbook being a counterfeit. We hope that the counterfeit calculator will let you buy or sell textbooks without being afraid of encountering fraud. 

What Is a Counterfeit Textbook? 

A counterfeit is an illegally produced and distributed book that should be avoided at all costs. The production and selling of such editions are always subject to a lawsuit, not to tell about societal costs and ethical concerns of piracy and fraud-making. Counterfeits are especially common in the textbook market due to the high costs of textbooks and the stable demand for them. Such counterfeit textbooks are marked by low-quality produce and multiple mistakes that make them unsuitable for the educational process. 

Publishers and booksellers take action to prevent the distribution of counterfeit textbooks. With the BooksRun calculator, you can also check if a specific textbook is likely to be a counterfeit or not and make a secure purchase!

Why Should You Be Concerned with Counterfeit Textbooks?

As noticed above, counterfeit textbooks are inferior in their quality; therefore, you don’t want to end up using them at college. They are often printed with a bunch of mistakes, missing or mixed up pages, and do not have access codes to online materials. However, they are sold obviously for a price much below the usual market value, which makes it tempting for college students. It is not recommendable to buy textbooks from third-party sellers if you are not 100% sure that the book is not a fraud.

And it goes without saying that counterfeit editions are not eligible for buybacks, even if you did not know that the book is a fraud. BooksRun is buying, renting, and selling only legal editions: we won’t accept counterfeit textbooks for buybacks for apparent reasons. It is really disappointing to learn that you will not get buybacks for your books, especially when you hoped to buy textbooks for the next semester with this earned money. 

Therefore, to help our customers avoid the pitfalls of counterfeit editions, we have created this calculator. We encourage you to check with the counterfeit calculator whenever you scout for used textbooks or want to buy or sell college books. By doing so, you will raise the chances of getting a proper edition and receiving a valuable buyback from BooksRun at the end of the semester.

How to Use the Counterfeit Calculator?

Simply type in the ISBN in the field and get the result! You can find the ISBN on the back cover of the book. This number defines the exact edition of a textbook—use exactly these digits and not ones you found on the internet.

detecting a counterfeit textbook with the BooksRun counterfeit calculator

If the likelihood of your textbook being a counterfeit is low, you are good to go! Most probably, you can buy or sell this textbook without giving an extra thought. Don’t leave the webpage right away — check the buyback deals on BooksRun since the link to the item is right there.

If the probability of the edition being a fraud is high, we suggest you inspect the textbook for signs of counterfeit. Usually, those are possible to detect: the glue might be unevenly distributed over the binding, the quality of the paper is low (it’s not glossy), and the text is full of OCR typos. We cover all the differences in this article, so check it out if your edition is questionable. We also want to highlight that the result given by the calculator is only an estimate that should be used as a guideline. It does not determine the authenticity of exactly your copy! 

BooksRun strives to ensure the quality of education and help our customers to avoid fraud and all the disappointments that come with them. Enjoy this handy counterfeit calculator, and we hope that your experiences with BooksRun become even better!

Iliana K