tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10666901.post8860453936285846104..comments2024-01-14T01:51:23.999-05:00Comments on DuckRabbit: Too rich for my bloodDuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11349267352262603510noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10666901.post-17432097874645336502007-03-02T20:28:00.000-05:002007-03-02T20:28:00.000-05:00Thanks for the link, DR.Here's what John says ther...Thanks for the <A HREF="http://crookedtimber.org/2006/11/12/things-change/" REL="nofollow">link</A>, DR.<BR/><BR/>Here's what John says there about this phenomenon: "I’m used to sort of seeing that stuff down the page on any given Amazon page, but in this case I am reasonably certain those copies don’t actually exist. A few could be author copies or sold copies that were promptly resold. But presumably for the most part these sellers have just generated these offers in some automated fashion and marked up the price more than %100. If someone orders it, then they’ll buy a copy from Parlor and simply resell it. It’s like the old Calvin & Hobbes strip where Calvin is sitting at his lemonade stand, suspended between grim and glum. The sign says: lemonade $20. And there are little unsold cups, waiting. “I’ve just got to sell one.” An interesting business model. Of course, in a sense it’s perfectly rational. Find the idiot who doesn’t comparison shop. (Is there a person who always buys from Best Dictionaries?)"<BR/><BR/>So, booksellers (or booksellers' bots) as Calvin. Interesting. Still, it's hard to imagine anyone bites. Here's comment 26, posted by fyreflye: "the kind of seller who waits for a sale and then orders the book from the publisher is common on Amazon; the technique called “dropshipping” and is righteously reviled by the mom and pop sellers who are hurt by it. Dropshipping violates two basic Amazon rules: that the seller must have the item in stock at the time of sale and that the order must ship within two working days. It just so happens that these often large sellers are Amazon’s bread and butter and so Amazon rarely enforces its own rules against them. In many cases the seller will not deliver the item on time or at all and if the customer complains Amazon, not the seller, will issue a refund and never penalize the guilty party. If you want to practice a little social justice never buy from sellers with 239858 feedbacks, sellers who offer no more than a very general description of the item, or those who fill their comment sections with self advertisements. They may offer the lowest prices due to volume but they’re crooks."<BR/><BR/>That makes two distinct phenomena, then: dropshipping (which may mean a long delay for a cheaper book) and the Calvin lemonade ploy, which is what I was really wondering about.Duckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11349267352262603510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10666901.post-71812176768251544492007-03-02T17:43:00.000-05:002007-03-02T17:43:00.000-05:00John Holbo talks about something similar (and othe...John Holbo talks about something similar (and other things) here: http://crookedtimber.org/2006/11/12/things-change/<BR/><BR/>Comment 26 is relevant. <BR/><BR/>DRAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com