Allan Adler wrote:
[snip]
> I agree that a bookseller has an interest in avoiding bad ratings.
However,
> there is a statistical rate at which the books tend to disappear and a
> statistical rate at which they tend to be ordered. I expect that both
are low.
> If the bookseller checks his/her "inventories" much more frequently than
that,
> the likelihood of having an unavailable book ordered would also be low.
> Even airlines over-"book", based on their statistical likelihood of
having
> too many passengers show up for a given flight.
While there are theoretical models in which such a strategy could work,
most of them are so unlikely to follow real-world trends as to make
playing the lottery a better choice.
You'd have to have a library with a hefty collection of valuable books
that keep being put out for sale at low rates, where almost no one
except this bookseller comes and buys them, and the book sale is one
that allows the bookseller access within the time frame required by the
listing services for ****pping, which I believe is either 2 days or 3
days for Amazon.
Valuable books tend to disappear from library sales much faster than
they are ordered online, but the returns from the eventual sale nearly
always makes it worthwhile to snap it up right away for the astute
seller. It's just too darn risky to do otherwise.
[snip]
> Assuming there are some booksellers operating as I have described, it
> is quite possible that they are not very successful. It is also possible
> that they are making enough money to make it worth their while.
The latter case probably happens about as often as winged monkeys make
their exit from one's nether regions. Having assisted a bookseller who
was hunting for inventory at library sales in the face of other
booksellers doing the same thing, I know that such a possibility is not
worth considering for someone who's planning on eating based on the
results.
>One would
> really have to study the number of books available, their prices, the
rates
> at which they get sold by branch libraries, they rates at which they
tend to
> be ordered on Amazon, the savings on storage, the necessary number of
visits
> to the library to update the data and do the math before drawing any
reliable
> conclusions about the relevant stochastic processes. We haven't done
that, so
> it is better to keep an open mind about it.
Or one could go to a library sale after finding out who are the local
booksellers and seeing what is left over after they've picked the place
clean.
> Next time I see this person, I'll ask them about it. He/she was
perfectly
> normally dressed, didn't smell bad and probably would have given me a
civil
> and articulate answer.
And probably was doing what Frances and I have said.
|
