# Genties & Ladelmen--Amazon Brings You--a comedy of error. Not Shakespeare. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 11, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421 "2012-04-11T00:45:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/1 "2012-04-11T00:45:49Z")
Not spam! Check this goofy item: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MJ91RA/ref=olp\_product\_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MJ91RA/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=) > [@](#): > > Cheap Contracted Retro Auto Flip Clock - Assorted Colors > > Easy to read display > Every 60 seconds the time will flip down automatically > Flip down minute and hour display > Free standing or wall mountable design > Assorted colors > In Stock. Ships from China > \*\*$10,043.99 > > - $7.99shipping\*\* 😃 You’d think the little {EXPLETIVE DELETED} would spring for shipping… ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/2 "2012-04-11T00:54:19Z")
I’d buy one, but there aren’t any reviews. And sadly, there’s no feedback for the seller. BTW, the [seller](http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=AM0XCMOG7MZLQ)has lots of other bargains. Lots of clocks - not surprising since they’re called TimeOnline. All over $10k. I normally expect these to come from automatic pricing wars…but it doesn’t seem like it here! ETA: I just noticed the one you quoted is called “Cheap”. Nice. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/3 "2012-04-11T00:57:12Z")
Where is he coming up with the prices for these??? They are so weird. I’d be willing to pay maybe 10,042.99… but 10,043.99! Insanity. Also, should come with free shippin’ ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/4 "2012-04-11T01:11:10Z")
Could they have been hacked? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/5 "2012-04-11T01:45:06Z")
Could be a wholesale lot, and they just forgot to mention how many you get for that price? ETA: Then again, the shipping cost doesn’t seem to reflect that. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/6 "2012-04-11T02:00:05Z")
[Amazon’s $23,698,655.93 book about flies, by Michael Eisen](http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358): > [@](#): > > A few weeks ago a postdoc in my lab logged on to Amazon to buy the lab an extra copy of Peter Lawrence’s The Making of a Fly – a classic work in developmental biology that we – and most other Drosophila developmental biologists – consult regularly. The book, published in 1992, is out of print. But Amazon listed 17 copies for sale: 15 used from $35.54, and 2 new from $1,730,045.91 ( **+$3.99 shipping** ). Those cheap bastards. It’s a feedback loop without proper regulation: > [@](#): > > On the day we discovered the million dollar prices, the copy offered by bordeebook was 1.270589 times the price of the copy offered by profnath. And now the bordeebook copy was 1.270589 times profnath again. So clearly at least one of the sellers was setting their price algorithmically in response to changes in the other’s price. I continued to watch carefully and the full pattern emerged. > > Once a day profnathset their price to be 0.9983 times bordeebook’s price. The prices would remain close for several hours, until bordeebook “noticed” profnath’s change and elevated their price to 1.270589 times profnath’s higher price. The pattern continued perfectly for the next week. bordeebook and profnath are both sellers that use automated pricing, driving each other up into the stratosphere in a price war no human would engage in. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/7 "2012-04-11T02:38:28Z")
“Assorted colors (white and black)” Great assortment :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/8 "2012-04-11T03:53:53Z")
This sort of thing happens when you have a piece of software that automatically calculates the price of an item based on how much others sell it for. If you have two of these, and they aren’t well designed, they can get caught in a loop. One of the reasons to use such software is if you don’t actually own the item. You can claim you do, and then if someone buys it, you go out and buy it from a competitor, and then ship it to the buyer. Thus the software is set to offer a slightly higher price than the lowest alternative–enough to recoup your costs as well as make a profit. If the item were important, someone probably would have fixed it by now, but, since it isn’t, there’s no real incentive to do so. Heck, there could even possibly be a benefit in the form of advertising your company–although I’m not sure people would feel comfortable buying something from a company they knew made such an error. But who know? ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/9 "2012-04-11T20:53:52Z")
Hey, time is money after all. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/10 "2012-04-11T21:50:16Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [Amazon’s $23,698,655.93 book about flies, by Michael Eisen](http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358):Those cheap bastards. > > It’s a feedback loop without proper regulation:bordeebook and profnath are both sellers that use automated pricing, driving each other up into the stratosphere in a price war no human would engage in. Or, could somebody have miscalculated the Yuan to Dollars conversion? Multiplied instead of dividing? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genties-ladelmen-amazon-brings-you-a-comedy-of-error-not-shakespeare/618421/11 "2012-04-19T21:44:57Z")
Check out my review, & post! We could turn this thing into the next “howling wolf t-shirt”. [http://www.amazon.com/Cheap-Contracted-Retro-Auto-Clock/dp/B007MJ91RA/ref=cm\_rdp\_product](http://www.amazon.com/Cheap-Contracted-Retro-Auto-Clock/dp/B007MJ91RA/ref=cm_rdp_product) 😃