SC - Sallets, Humbles, and Shrewsbury Cakes

[Acanthusbk at aol.com]

I have to put in my .02 about Amazon. Amazon searches for out of print books
online, from the same sources that anyone online has access to. Amazon buys
from the dealers, just like everyone else, and does not receive any favorable
treatment or special discounts. If you search at www.bookfinder.com or
www.bibliofind.com you'll find the databases that Amazon searches against for
customer wants.

Based on my experience selling books to Amazon, for a book like Sallets,
Humbles... that's in demand, 9 times out of 10 a reasonably priced copy is
already sold before Amazon gets around to contacting the offering dealer. The
copy priced by Amazon at $89.95 is apparently the same one listed for $39.95
at www.bibliofind.com with the author name mispelled "Beebee", which is
probably why Amazon was able to put a hold on it. I usually search for books
using the author's name because it's much less likely than the title to be
mispelled, if your spelling isn't exactly the same as the database spelling
the title won't come up as a match. So Amazon obviously searched by title for
this one. By the way, there is also a signed copy on bibliofind listed at $60.

If you're looking for a book on one of these databases either register your
wants (some of the databases will let you do this) or check back periodically,
because the stock is constantly changing. When inquiring about a book, email
the dealer directly rather than using the database email address; if the book
is newly listed then you're more likely to reach the dealer before anyone else
does. If you have wants registered with a database and receive an email want
match, telephone the dealer immediately if it's something you really want. You
have to be aggressive if you're looking for a book that's really in demand.

Amanda
Acanthus Books


In a message dated 1/21/99 1:22:34 PM Central Standard Time,
oftraquair at hotmail.com writes:

> Those interested in pristine copies and original editions should call.  
>  I had a friend who put in a request to Amazon for a copy of a mystery 
>  he'd read in his childhood. It was written by an author who had not 
>  enjoyed continued popularity, by some small press, in paperback, on bad 
>  paper and he couldn't find a library copy or a complete used copy to 
>  re-read. Amazon finally contacted him with minimal information such as 
>  they gave you, the price was in the thousands of dollars.  Turns out 
>  they'd found the original hand-written manuscript. . . 
>  
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================