posted on December 8, 2004 06:26:22 PM new
OK, on Amazon you can buy the used book Michelangelo the Painter by Mariani for $1.51. THIS BOOK WEIGHS ALMOST 9 POUNDS. So the money looks like this for the seller:
1.51 sales price
2.26 postage from Amazon
- .99 to Amazon
- .22 to Amazon
- 4.54 media mail postage
------
- 1.98 net loss to seller
I know the question of cheap books on Amazon has come up before, but no good answer appeared. Once and for all, why are books like this listed?
posted on December 8, 2004 07:02:49 PM new
One possible answer...book is shipped from seller's place of employment, so there is no cost to the seller for shipping.
posted on December 8, 2004 08:07:57 PM new
99 cents only goes to Amazon if you don't have a pro seller account. However, someone with that type of account wouldn't list this. There are several reasons why people do this.
1) They are really bad at business! Yes, there are some really stupid people out there.
2) They are doing online sales for extra income and want to brag about how well they are doing. They add up all the revenue, but somehow forget to factor in all of the expenses. That way, they can say they made $10,000 this past year, but in reality they may have lost $10,000
3) Lonely people looking to make contact with anyone, and maybe this is cheaper than buying something. I don't know. I have some customers who like to chat, people buy and sell perhaps to make connections with people.
4) They made a simple miscalculation. Not terribly believable, but then again there are times where I have miscalculated postage costs (though I would think someone selling on amazon would realize a 9 pound book will NOT be covered by Amazon's shipping reimbursement!
posted on December 8, 2004 08:26:16 PM new
Although the $1.98 loss may look bad on the surface, they probably have a well thought out business stragety. They plan to make it up on volume
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on December 9, 2004 08:22:56 AM newthey plan to make it up on volume.
LOL sparkz
Look who is selling that particular copy. It is in stock at their warehouse.
They could potentially benefit in three ways:
1) It's a business loss (bought too many & need to liquidate)
2) A loss leader to attract people to their site away from amazon. (Just three short clicks away
to the page that names their website)
3) It's an advertising expense as noted in number 2.
Here are some reasons an individual seller would do this:
1) The book (not neccesarily this book) is so badly written and full of misinformation that they
would feel badly about making money off of it; however, they can't bring themselves to trash it
because it was printed on such nice paper.
2) Divorce liquidation and the ex-spouse is getting half the profit.
3) They made too much money this year, and need to record some losses.
4) Bidding mentality while selling. "You can't sell it for less than I can."
pelorus, thanks for bringing that particular book up. Considering who is selling the lowest priced book, it creates a clearer picture of what might be going on with those super cheap listings on amazon. I'd say the buyer is still winning -- so hey, more power to them!
posted on December 10, 2004 08:34:06 AM new
Good idea. Let us know if you order it, and what happens.
Another reason to list so books for so little: The book is first on the list. <snicker> That might be very useful if people ever "searched for seller's other books." But does anyone do that?
posted on December 10, 2004 06:54:20 PM new
The same exact book is listed by 2 other sellers at the same exact price. My guess is that they relize that the book won't sell at a higher price in its condition. By selling near breakeven, or at a loss, they may gain a customer, and free up space in their wherehouse.
