# What give with strange anomalous high prices on ebay **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617 "2018-10-28T03:43:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/21 "2018-10-31T15:11:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Also, a guy who used to do programming work for Amazon once explained that the process for completely deleting/adding a book from your inventory is more involved than the process for adjusting the price, so some sellers when they are out of a book just set the price to something nobody would pay, then lower it again if they get another copy. That happens with a health product I buy on Amazon regularly. Every once in a while it will be out of stock and at an absurd price, then a week or two later in stock at $59.95. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/22 "2018-10-31T17:07:39Z")
I’ve seen so many in the last week I’m beginning to thnk there is a strategy to it, having to do with being seen as the top result on a search for “Highest price.” Also there is a thing I notice in myself where I get a notion to buy something and the whole sample I use to figure out what a good price is is just what’s on ebay that moment. It’s skewed. I wonder if this is another human hack that we are subject to. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/23 "2018-11-01T23:01:09Z")
Then there’s “my wife told me I had to sell one of my guitars” so I’m offering a Vintage Piece o’ Crap® for the low low price of $5,000… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/24 "2018-11-02T02:22:06Z")
I think it’s often just sucker fishing. Amazon.ca’s marketplace is full of vendors selling things for outrageous prices. Not just books, but all kinds of products. A projector bulb that is $289 retail might be in the marketplace for $800. I recently saw an older ATI graphics card (not rare, just a couple of years out of date) listed for $4300. I was going to buy a watch that was $89 on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), and some joker on Amazon.ca was selling them for around $500. I think MSRP on them was around $150. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/25 "2018-11-03T13:40:00Z")
I have certainly seen examples of canned food items – sometimes coffee – being priced way above normal. I have wondered if some sellers think that a foreign prince will think that price = quality. Why sell hundreds of bags of coffee for a 10% profit when once a quarter or so, you can sell one bag for a 10000% profit? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/26 "2018-11-03T15:48:28Z")
I just got a Facebook notification about someone selling Brugmansia cuttings (stems you can use to raise new plants): "(…) added 15 photos in Brugmansia Marketplace: “Cuttings $123,456,789 - Dallas, Texas” That seems a bit pricey, even if they drive a tractor-trailer full of cuttings to your house… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/27 "2018-11-03T19:06:52Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Money laundering. No. Highly unlikely. Unless of course these high prices are _sold,_ in which case, more using stolen cards, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617/28 "2018-11-03T19:08:32Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Here’s an article about fake books on Amazon being used to cash out stolen credit cards. The “seller” offers something of little to no real value for a crazy price. The buyer uses a stolen card to buy it. [Money Laundering Via Author Impersonation on Amazon? – Krebs on Security](https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/02/money-laundering-via-author-impersonation-on-amazon/) > > You might be seeing something like that. Yes, that’s a good article. However, it really isn’t money laundering, _per se_. It just using stolen cards. It’s fraud more than money laundering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-give-with-strange-anomalous-high-prices-on-ebay/823617.md?page=1)