Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Publication Date, and a Mystery

Today is the official publication date of Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (And How to Take Advantage of It). That means Amazon has it in stock, and so should most bookstores. It also means, as with most books nowadays, that someone is already selling used copies on Amazon. No mystery there: Review copies are sent out early, and (underpaid) reviewers often sell their books. The mystery is that one of the used books is selling for $39.99. The brand-new book has a list price of $26.99 and Amazon is currently selling it for $17.81. What would motivate someone to click past the Amazon price to pay more than twice that for a used book? (It's not autographed because, uh, I haven't autographed any copies yet.) I half-wondered whether some robo-resale outfit was confused by the cover, which has a fake price tag with multiple prices — but none of them is $39.99.

5 comments:

  1. what does it take to get my copy signed?

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  2. I wish I had better answers for both comments. Sorry, no Kindle version for the time being. As to signing dead-tree copies, I'll gladly do it, but the logistics are difficult. If you're willing to send your copy to me with return postage (& preferably an envelope/container), I'll sign and send back ASAP. I will be doing some book signings at stores, but that helps only if you're in the area.

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  3. I came across your blog via a link from Guy Kawasaki's Holy Kaw blog and I dig your writing. I was bummed when the pre-order $14.98 Amazon price bumped up to $17.81 on release day. I suppose that's what I get for waiting (haven't bought yet and likely will eventually) and I'd be curious to know what you feel the economics are of this particular price situation.

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  4. Most likely the review copies were posted for sale before the new books were available.

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