Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Another No Cookie For Half

Okay, not only do you let flawed listings through, Half, but you refuse to remove them even when I report them. Twice.

Notice this listing:

0721602401
9780721602400
Textbook of Medical Physiology: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access
$23.00
punktux
EBOOK/ELECTRONIC version of Textbook Of Medical Physiology

Come on guys, it's not like it's a wrong version, this is an actual illegal electronic copy.
Anyone want to contact Saunders, the publisher?

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

On Amazon, You Seem To Be Able To Get Away With Listing The Illegal Import Of The Old Edition On The New Edition's Product Page!

The Bad Bookseller of the day is Amazon's 'turkishboy'.
Not him listing not only an older edition of the book, but also an edition that's not actually permitted for sale in the US.
Sometimes I wonder if these folks don't do this to mess with the automatic repricers that some larger dealers use.
Some nefarious types use unattractive copies of books to "bait" down the prices of legitimate booksellers.

0324422695 9780324422696
Financial Management: Theory & Practice (with Thomson ONE - Business School Edition 1-Year Printed Access Card)
VG
$56.01
turkishboy
11th Edition International Softcover. Content 90\% similar to 12th Edition Hardcover. Differences: Some End of Chapter Problems. Mini-Cases are exactly identical. Text in pristine condition. Cover only slightly worn. With CD and Subscription.

Definitions:
For what an "International Student Edition" is, go here:

For what an "automatic repricer" is, go here:

Finally, if you're a seller and thinking about using a repricing service, I reccomend "Repriceit". Their "smart repricing" isn't perfect, but it's the best option available to someone who doesn't want to move to a fancy listing service or write custom perl scripts to do it.
Their site is here:

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Alibris Coupon: $3 off on $30

I've decided to broaden my focus and include shopping tips for the savvy book consumer.

Folks, if you buy books online you owe it to yourself to check out the Alibris website.

Alibris is a bookselling/media venue with a large number of third-party sellers listing their stock on it, much like you might see on Amazon's Marketplace. Alibris itself is a bookseller, and sells some books from its own stock.

The following coupon is good through September 30, 2009:
LAPPE - $3 off $30+

If you need 3 $30 items, slap 'em in your cart and enter this coupon at checkout. You'll get the items in my example for $27 plus shipping.
If the items are from the same seller, you get a discount on shipping, which is better than what Amazon does, where you can order 10 books from the same seller and wind up paying $39.90 in shipping.

Another trick I suggest is to sign up with "Ebates". This site will give you 3% cashback on each purchase you make through them with Alibris, so in my above example you'd get back 90 cents.
This knocks your product cost on your $30 purchase down to $26.10, at which point you just got 13% off on your purchase.
That's a good deal in anyone's book!