stackyFACTS
Economy

The underground market for cheaper textbooks

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

A highly lucrative shadow market thrives purely by trafficking heavily discounted international editions of required academic reading material into strictly regulated domestic zones. It is essentially a sophisticated smuggling cartel built entirely around college syllabus requirements.

The underground market for cheaper textbooks
STACKY / Economy
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Economy →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Why hollowed-out books were perfect for smuggling
Economy

Why hollowed-out books were perfect for smuggling

Before digital scanners ruined all the fun, clever operators carved out thick novels to secretly transport illicit goods across harsh borders. A boring…

Discover more
Sneaking illicit goods across borders in hidden panels
Economy

Sneaking illicit goods across borders in hidden panels

Moving illicit goods across national borders often involves building incredibly elaborate hidden compartments in vehicles, proving that human ingenuity truly…

Discover more
College textbook prices have violently outpaced the rate of standard inflation by over eight hundred percent since the late 1970s, making them one of the most aggressively…
Economy

College textbook prices have violently outpaced the rate of standard inflation by over eight hundred percent since the late 1970s, making them one of the most aggressively…

College textbook prices have violently outpaced the rate of standard inflation by over eight hundred percent since the late 1970s, making them one of the most…

Discover more
On a grading curve, your classmates affect your grade
Economy

On a grading curve, your classmates affect your grade

When a professor forces the class onto a strict bell curve, they are creating a brutal zero-sum game. You can no longer succeed purely by knowing the…

Discover more
Why class rings disappear after graduation
Economy

Why class rings disappear after graduation

Celebrate your algebra grade with heavy metal. Ring companies set up shop in school cafeterias to aggressively sell massive, overpriced rings that students…

Discover more
US student debt is bigger than Australia's economy
Economy

US student debt is bigger than Australia's economy

Congratulations on your liberal arts degree, it now collectively outweighs the economic output of a major continent. The US student loan crisis sits at nearly…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store