SC - Humor

[Kay Loidolt]

Amanda said:
> I'm sure some listmates 
> will email to tell you where their copy was purchased, and trying addall, 
> bookfinder, and even meta search engines like dogpile and mamma will 
> illustrate there are many alternatives to buying from amazon.
> 
> Amanda
> Acanthus Books
> http://www.acanthus-books.com
> http://www.bookfinder.com       Bookfinder - 15,000+ Online Booksellers
> http://www.addall.com           Book Search and Price Comparison
> http://www.noamazon.com Say NO to Amazon's bogus web patents
> http://www.ioba.org             Independent Online Booksellers Association

After hearing this mentioned here I decided to try this a few days ago.
The book I looked for was not a cookbook, but rather a book published
in 1946, "Under the Red Sea Sun" about salvaging a port on the Red
Sea. Anyway, I found a surprizing number of copies from $10 to $75.
However a large number of the entries said the book had already been
sold when I checked out the sites. After ruling out a few that I
ruled out because they were in New Zealand, and I figured the shipping
would be atrocious, I placed an order. That order required a check.
Luckily before I got the check in the mail I recieved a message from
the vender saying the book had been sold.

So, my questions are:
1) How often are these databases updated? I checked again several
days later and no entries seemed to have changed. I was using only
the www.bookfinder.com address.

2) Is there a glossery somewhere for all these terms on the condition
a book is in?

3) I just did another order for "To the King's Taste" and the merchant
said he still had the book and would hold it. Even offered to send the
book before the check got there. Is this what I should do, wait for a
confirmation before sending a check, even if the merchants website
says it is in stock?

4) Even if I get a email reply that says the book is in stock, will
it likely be held for me or will I find that the book has been sold
while my check was in the mail?

Thanks.
  Stefan

- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****