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.
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.
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.
Yes, Bowker is definitely baking a lot of unnecessary 'features' and thus justifying extra costs. Looking for better options and will definitely update.
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.