Q –
Someone recently brought to my attention that on Amazon, there is a listing for people to buy a “new” or “used” copy of a book (that’s from a P.O.D. source) for a reduced fee or sometimes an extraordinarily high fee. Do you know where these books come from or where I can learn more about this?
Thank you for your quality newsletter. I’ve enjoyed it very much over the years.
A –
Amazon and many other online retailers allow “resellers” to list/sell “new and used” copies of books on their sites. These are people/firms who have an account with Ingram. If someone happens to purchase a copy from them, only then will they place an order at Ingram. Yes, there are some used copies for some of those books but most of these resellers are trying to take advantage of Amazon’s listings and are primarily selling books that have not yet been printed.
Also, many of these listings are database driven, meaning no human has looked at them. That’s why you’ll occasionally find books listed for WAY too much – some even over $100. These are database errors and, of course, nobody is going to pay that much for a book that they can buy from Amazon at the regular price.
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