How to get editions with different cover and same ISBN

I quite often want to get older editions of paperbacks -e.g. that I had when I was younger or which people I knew had. Several times this year I've run into problems when finding that these covers have the same ISBN as an edition with a different cover that is more numerous. Most of the big second hand book companies online won't check covers. So is there any easy way to find these editions without buying multiple copies and hoping one comes up?

Any 'real' book dealer will make the effort and find out for you. We are booksellers on Amazon and have done this many times for customers, as will other proper booksellers. As a buyer I have asked other dealers to do the same for me, and the answer has always been yes, many will also supply a digital photo of the book if required, they do after all want your business.

If they won't go the extra mile to get you that information, you will probably find that other elements of their business, like shipping/packaging are not up to a high standard either.

You can contact the sellers on both Amazon and ABE pretty easily.

Richard

Thanks. It is various Amazon & EBay sellers, people like World of Books who do usually deliver quickly but are no good for this situation.

@cosmicdolphin It's nice to know that some sellers do still do this. It's probably the smaller ones so it may take a while for them to get the right editions. The duplicate ISBNs make it hard work, having to ask everyone, rather than just setting up an alert.