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[Michael Watson]

It's the megalisters who aggregate other folks' 
listings, generally. Some have actual physical 
inventory, many (if not most) simply use 'bots' 
that traverse the big listing sites and slurp up 
book listings. They are then posted as seemingly 
legitimate listings even though the lister 
doesn't own the books. The pricing is usually 
done automatically as a percentage of the price 
of other copies, thus the wacky increments. Often 
the same copy will get two or three listings at 
different price points. It may be offered at 
$8.00, 80.00, and 800.00, the latter two for the 
potential buyers who equate price with value. 
Occasionally the megalister gets lucky. Several 
good articles about this in a previous IOBA Standard...

http://www.ioba.org/newsletter/archive/7(2)/

-Michael

At 11:16 PM 3/8/2008, you wrote:
>I must confess that i have stopped using ABE for 
>most of my price comparison (speaking as a book 
>seller) due to this flooding with crazy 
>prices.  Looks like ebay is the next target for 
>these scammers/spammers.   I buy several books a 
>week off ebay, and the postage gouging is becoming rampant, too.
>
>My chief concern is not to let greed or loose 
>grading infect my listings.  It is hard enough 
>to be fair in pricing and diligent in grading 
>(especially late at night) without these crazy 
>competing listings popping up everywhere.
>
>Oh well, back to turbolister.....
>
>Brian
>
>
>On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 8:20 PM, TheBookScene.com 
><<mailto:bookscene at gmail.com>bookscene at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>'This morning I started a letter to the list 
>about a book store on ABE listing a dozen or so 
>ML's, mostly 90's for $199.44 each.  I thought 
>better of it, but now I am sharing.  My thought 
>was the same 
 Who are these people?  Are they hoping to land a few suckers?
>
>John Wolansky'
>
>
>That was their bargain section. For $5467.35 you 
>can get the top-top. All expertly graded as 'Dust Jacket Condition: Unknown'.
>
>Neal Fenty
>
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================================================
  Michael Watson, bookman                           Indianapolis IN USA
  archetype at 20ants.com       www.20ants.com        (317)514-3829
  20th Century & Antiquarian Books for the Reader & Collector
  Fine press, limiteds & unusual non-fiction. Appraisal & cataloging
  Traditional courtesies to the trade. Always seeking better books.
  Member IOBA: Independent Online Booksellers Association
  www.ioba.org
  Offering a safe, secure bookbuying experience at
  www.iobabooks.com/browse_books.php?id=47132
================================================
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