Purchasing MGMAT Books on Amazon vs Manhattan Website

Question

Hi all - long time follower of the forum here. I'm looking to get more active as I begin my journey to study for the GMAT and look forward to interacting more with you all!

To that end, can someone help me understand the ~80% price difference in price of the MGMAT book bundle between Amazon and the Manhattan Prep website? Do the books purchased from Manhattan Prep come with something extra that I'm overlooking? As far as I can tell, the books on Amazon come with access to the online question bank as well as the CATs, so what else could be driving the price difference - is it simply a Manhattan Prep markup?

I'm not able to post links yet, but the sets I'm looking at are:
- (Amazon): Complete GMAT Strategy Guide Set (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) Sixth Edition
- (Manhattan Prep): Complete Strategy Guide Set, 6th Edition

Apologies in advanced for the potentially novice question - something just isn't adding up here and I don't want to waste money buying straight from Manhattan Prep!

Thanks again!

EDIT: Separately, does anyone have any insight into when the 7th edition may be released? I've been doing some research and it appears folks were expecting it last year, but it never came. Seems that not much has changed so a new book may not be warranted, but want to make sure I'm not buying just before a new release!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Maybe one of the Manhattan instructors can help you here, but I think you're looking at the same product, with the same online features.

l1ll1ll1ll1ll1l · Answer

They are exactly the same.

Price can differ in retail vs discount channels. It's very common.

akela · Answer

Hi  PrivateEquiteer ,

I'm not sure about 6th edition, but the 5th edition from Amazon had the scratch codes on the back page. And the books from official site did not, the activation was made by receipt. Otherwise, no difference at all.

Hope this helps!

CupOfWater · Answer

Very helpful - thank you! I will buy on Amazon and save ~$100!

bb · Answer

I have the 6th Edition and it pretty much worked the same way for me too. Activation codes on the back of the books. 
The MGMAT books always were more on their site - since the first time they started offering them. No idea why.

CupOfWater · Answer

Excellent - thanks for the confirmation.

Separately, does anyone have any insight into when the 7th edition may be released? I've been doing some research and it appears folks were expecting it last year, but it never came. Seems that not much has changed so a new book may not be warranted, but want to make sure I'm not buying just before a new release!

bb · Answer

April of 20XX

Though they did release one of the editions in Nov/Dec of a year, it is pretty unusual to release them that late in the year, and most of the time, the books are released in Apr, May, and June for the new season.

CupOfWater · Answer

Understood and very helpful! I won't sit on my hands then!

sandman13 · Answer

So can we still get access to mgmat cats by buying just a single book?

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Not any more. There was a change in policy. You have to buy a whole bundle to activate all the CAT's.
When I was activating my 6th edition a year or two ago, it gave me a CAT with every book i activated so I had to activate 5 books to get 5 extra CAT's (6 total with 1 free).

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Purchasing MGMAT Books on Amazon vs Manhattan Website

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