We’ve done threads about weirdly super-high pricing for used books on Amazon.
But what about weirdly super-high pricing for a new book on Amazon. OK, Amazon.ca. OK, for a new book from a French reseller. But still.
The book is the French language version of Ideal Cities, by Ruth Eaton. It’s a large, coffee-table type book, which cost a small fortune at publication. Still, copies of it in several languages - including French - can be found for around $100, or even less.
Ron Hubbard, back in the early 1950s, advertised a copy of his book Excalibur, individually typed and locked. You had to sign an agreement that you wouldn’t let anyone else read it. He was charging $1,500 at the time, which in 2011 dollars translates to a lot more than the price the OP gives.
Of course, as far as I know he didn’t sell any copies. But it’s like the old joke about the kid selling lemonad at $100 a glass goes – “We only have to sell one glass!”
That is a record high. But I’ve seen other inexplicable prices for books that are supposedly for sale. There was a paperback SF novel I owned. I had misplaced my copy and figured I might buy a replacement. I checked on Amazon. Somebody was selling a copy for around $1500 (US). This was not some unusual cult item. It was a fairly obscure novel that had been published about ten years earlier. The kind of thing you’d see on sale at a half-price bookstore. I can’t imagine why anyone would think anyone would pay $150 for it much less $1500. Even $15 would be highly improbable.
It’s not just book sellers. There is weird stuff all over.
Recently I was Googling for a tiller part. The official price from the maker is $157. You can get if from an Amazon reseller for $1000, and it’s $50 off list price. What a bargain. Let me check that. 157 minus 50 is 1000. Yep, checks out.
There is a remote possibilty these people are trying to sell something else. I once ordered the full series of Lexx for an oddly low price. What I got was the Farscape movie.
When I complained to the seller, they claimed that they used some kind of semi-automated system to enter inventory. Sometimes there was a conflict between their item numbers and Amazon’s item numbers, and things got listed wrong.
That could explain the tiller part. The seller may have been trying to list a more expensive machine part. It doesn’t explain everything, though. I think someone is going to have to be brave/nosy enough to email some sellers.
What I think is most amazing about this ad is that the $50,000 price does not include shipping. (I am reminded of a charity luncheon I went to several years ago where the tickets were $100, but if you wanted Blue Cheese dressing on your salad there was an extra charge of 25 cents!)
In the category of “stuff we might actually buy,” I nominate my Accounting 201 textbook, about $60. The bastard professor released a new edition for the next semester, so I couldn’t even sell mine back to the school bookstore. That taught me a sharp accounting lesson indeed.
It would be even more shocking if this were a price spotted in a store (as opposed to an online listing that was probably generated using an overly conservative algorithm).
I once saw that the CIA World Factbook was something like $350 off the government site (Gov. Publishing Office?). I remarked to the wife that it was kind of a shame since I would have liked to own a paper copy. She found it that Christmas for $20 on the remainders rack at Barnes & Noble. I don’t know if it was because of the December date and it was going to go “obsolete” in a few weeks or if the GPO purchased one is just insanely overpriced for the hell of it or both.
They’ve stopped publishing hard copies of it anyway now and only maintain the website, much the pity.