It was thus said that the Great Rich Alderson once stated: > > For most hobbyists, even $100 is too much. I was simply astounded at the > chutzpah of the seller--right there on the Amazon list--who was asking > nearly $1500 for a copy.
I think that comes from an unchecked computer algorithm, not simple greed. I think what's happening here is someone (some Amazon third party) offered the book for, say, $5. Another third party scans Amazon for such books, and offers it for say, $6, with the hope that you (the potential buyer) will only see their their offer for $6 and buy from them, at which point they will buy it for $5 from the original seller, sell it to you for $6 and pocket the $1 profit. The problem comes when a third third-party seller sees the offer for $6 and does the same thing as the second one, only now they're offering it for $7, will pay $6 for it and pocket $1 profit. Keep repeating that process and you end up with books selling for $1500. -spc (Who knows? If you keep searching, you might find the original seller selling it for $5 ... )