Saturday, August 15, 2009

Another No Cookie For Half.com




Half, you've just gotta' start policing your listings.


Check out the listings for this title:
Materials Science And Engineering: An Introduction
(Hardcover, 2006)
Author: William D. Callister Jr.
0471736961

The below listings may be found:
BEGIN QUOTED INFO
Brand New About our quality ratings
Price Seller Feedback Comments Shipping From
$12.00 hitups
(4) 67% SELLING ONLY SOLUTION MANUAL. WILL SEND ELECTRONICALLY. Media Mail from CT More info
$19.99 mchandok
(1) 50% WARNING!!!!! This is the PDF version of this book & Lecture Notes for this... Media Mail from FL
Get it faster More info
$20.00 amrinder925
(56) 100% E-BOOK exactly like hard copy.. with all the diagrams and everything in... Media Mail from CA
Get it faster More info
$62.38 salambooks
(2499) 100% Brand New U.S Edition, Fast Shipping, Reliable Service Media Mail from CA
Get it faster More info
END QUOTED INFO

There we go. Half customers trying to find copies of this book to buy for school in Brand New condition are forced to wade through 3 bogus listings before actually managing to find a copy that is a lawful product with the right information.
Half already bans the phrase "international edition". They should probably do the same with PDF, as well as E-Book and ebook.

Let's compare and contrast with the Amazon listing page:


Note that the first 4 listings, including the one from Nebraska Books [NETTEXTSTORE] actually include the book.
Bully for you, Amazon!

Now, let's notice a little bit of irony in the Nebraska Books listing, graded Amazon "Good":
BEGIN QUOTED INFO
Seller: NETTEXTSTORE
Rating:95% positive over the past 12 months (9195 ratings.) 18910 lifetime ratings.
Shipping: In Stock. Ships from NE, United States. Expedited shipping available. See Shipping Rates. See return policy.
Comments: Books have varying amounts of wear and highlighting. Usually ships within 24 hours in quality packaging. Satisfaction guaranteed. Books have varying amounts of wear, highlighting and may not include CD. Usually ships within 24 hours in quality packaging. Satisfaction guaranteed.
END QUOTED INFO



There's a little bit of irony and hypocrisy here. Some of my readers in the used book trade will understand, while others among you probably don't get the significance.
If you Google "nebraska books scam" you'll get some background, but I'll probably be doing a blog entry discussing the Nebraska Books situation before too long.

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