Q&A: Should I buy from a seller who accidentally priced too low?
QUESTION: I listed a rare cookbook for sale on Amazon at the lowest price, $35. A competing seller matched my price almost instantly. Every time I lowered the price, he kept matching it. Eventually I got mad, and dropped my price to $1.79. To my surprise, the competing seller matched my price again. So I bought the book from him for $1.79.I know what I did was unethical. But was it illegal? I'm not proud of doing it, but I don't want to break the law.
ANSWER: I don't think what you did is illegal -- or even unethical. You didn't change the other seller's price -- he or she did. If the other seller doesn't want to sell at $1.79, then it's their responsibility to prevent their software from going that low.
Of course this bargain could still generate problems. What if you don't get the advertised book? What if the other seller cancels the sale? Sure, you could leave negative feedback (or at least threaten to do so) and teach the seller a lesson. But your time spent feuding with the other seller would be better used finding inventory the old-fashioned way -- going to book sales, etc. The potential headaches aren't worth $20 or $30, if you ask me.
I've sold too low myself a few times. I remember the first month I was selling, I accidentally priced a book at 9 cents, while it was worth $9. Of course it sold immediately. I was tempted to back out of the sale, but I shipped it anyway.
It makes you wonder though -- could a seller earn good money if they were really skilled at finding underpriced items from other Amazon or eBay sellers? You'd need a separate buying account. Sellers who realize they've sold too low are double irritated when they realize the buyer is going to profit at their expense.
posted by Steve Weber at 10/17/2007
8 Comments:
Interesting that you raise this topic today. I just sold $76 book for $7.60 because I accidentally mispriced it. Looks like the buyer does not sell himself on Amazon, so at least it is going to end user, not a reseller. I will definitely honor the sale.
Underselling really depends upon your business ideology. I recently sold a book for $850.00 that would garner $50.00-$75.00 per plate (it was filled with art reproductions that are now collectible as rare art prints). It contained 22 prints, so obviously, that is a lot more than $850.00.
I sold it to a consumer who told me that she was keeping the book intact (obviously I didn't mention that it would be a LOT more broken up). My copy was mint, and there were only 600 to begin with, how many LEFT in the world. Still my book will almost certainly appreciate in value intact as the years go on, so I DID tell her the investment potential, which pleased her, but wasn't her motivation in purchasing it.
So here is my business ideology at work. "I" could be the investor, and keep it myself and wait decades for it to appreciate (and trust me I have thought of that), but also risking it dropping altogether, which happened to me when I was a non-bookseller myself on a $350.00 book that tanked after a poor movie of it came out.
Second, IF she were to break it up, SHE will have to invest substantial time (and money to frame, probably) in order to get those bigger bucks, and that's another reseller's business, not mine.
Third, when do we decide that money is more important than selling books? I am a booklover, often a unique breed in the online reseller market. I sell books, and not silverware, or jewelry, because I am not a merchant first, but a booklover first. BOOKS going to the right buyer is my goal. In the case of this expensive and RARE book, it was important to me that it DID go to someone who would almost certainly keep it intact. And her $850.00 investment to a civilian (and I wrote a few emails to find out who she was before I shipped, and yes, I could be wrong...)indicates she will enjoy and be the caretaker of this item for at least for the immediate future.
Debbie K.
Nothing unethical of taking advantage of the fool who kept lowering his price in response to yours. When you list a book for sale at a certain price, you can't complain if somebody buys it.
Everybody makes honest errors, but this seller obviously had no idea of the value of the book. I have probably sold good stuff at a bargain price myself, NOBODY knows the value of every rare book in the world.
The seller was probably using one of those programs that automatically lowers the bid price to beat the current low bid. If so, he was hoist by his own petard.
Dick (NWBookman)
There was no seller consciousness involved. There was AI: Artifical Intelligence, Machine/Virtual Intelligence.
It is up to every user to think about the ramification of using a technology or tool no matter what the career, profession or craft.
The competing seller in question set his baselines or trigger points to that extreame. IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT OR ERROR [not shouting - empasis {I'm tired of typing this but some people think it's always shouting - they ahve to adjust their baseline)]
Like a child behind the wheel they careen out of control and blame the world when they crash.
My run in with a "price-bot" was an experiment vs. an AZ seller. 1.His bot repriced multiple tmies daily
2. This must tax his services server
3. This must tax AZ' servers
4. I kept going by pennies then dimes then dollars.
4. I reached a tipping point when I was at lets say $10 and his price instead of dropping to $9.99 shot back up to his original $18.50
So he had a line of demarkation, a barrier that he wouldn't go below.
5. My even knowing this "safety-zone" is dangerous to him as I could use it aginst him if the author died or became more newsworthy; before he had a chance to fix his codes.
Bookateria
I understand the romance of selling used and rare books to people, but to me "money" and "selling books" are one in the same. I could care less if the buyer of an $850 book were going to re-sell it or use it for toilet paper.
A book is only worth what someone will pay for it. If a book starts out at $24.99 but repricing wars force it down to $3.99, regardless of whether humans or robots repriced it, that book is now worth four dollars. Especially if the sales rank is high, if someone doesn't snatch it up at $14, 12, even 8 dollars, it's not worth that much.
The goal here is not the honor of supplying musty customers with even mustier old tomes, but to generate TURNOVER. Reprice, undercut and sell. I'm sorry, but I'm not in this for the romance.
You should always buy that book, and enjoy the profits. Their business model is just different than yours.
My company has a computer that spends 5 hours per day pricing our inventory. It tries to price the books so that they are always in the top 5 sellers. We used to always match the lowest seller but we soon learned that this was a mistake because others could take advantage of it.
There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of somebody else's crappy computer program. It's their fault for not thinking through the problem.
Ryan Shillington
http://www.usedisbetter.com
I have to admit I have purchased low priced books from other Amazon sellers to resell. Mostly I purchase to keep the book or as a gift. I would hate for another seller to deny me an old pattern book because the seller thinks I plan to make my fortune on it. I have had a few sellers not have the item I purchased, but that happens to everybody - even me. You think you have it, but it's not there or in much worse shape than you realized.
If a person buys a book from me and gives it to her bunny, that's her perogative - whether she spent $5 or $50. If she finds somebody who will pay more than what I sold it for, well,again, that's her perogative. If I screw up (and I have) on the pricing, I will send it. Even if it is another bookseller, that's what I signed up to do.
I have to agree with the person that talked about the "romance" aspect of it. I'm not into that. But your mileage may vary.
I thought you couldn't have two amazon accounts, other wise you run the risk of suspension.
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