
Ask HN: Why is this C Programming Book Worth $674.99 - the1iplay
https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Development-Program-Design-Using/dp/0314069879/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
======
Someone
That’s not what it’s worth, it’s what some seller asks for it.

It could be a scammer trying to make the book look rare
([https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/technology/amazon-used-
pa...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/technology/amazon-used-paperback-
book-pricing.html)), or it could be price-setting bots derailing each other
([http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358](http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358))

~~~
the1iplay
These are legit sellers. And different ones too. Doesn't make sense.

~~~
Someone
What makes you think they are? I, for example, find it weird that both “From
My Family To Yours” and “Chris's Bargains” have over 100,000 items on sale.
That, at least, seems like misrepresentation of a business as an individual
seller.

 _”And different ones, too”_

How do you know they are? 2 of the 3 ship from Florida; the third doesn’t
mention where it ships from. Could be chance, could be a sign that some of
them are the same seller.

(And no, I have no idea how common it is for a merchant to have multiple
stores on Amazon. It is fairly common on other stores on the internet, though,
as it doesn’t cost much to create another web store, and it allows you to
target different market segments)

------
the1iplay
This is an old C programming book. I'd like to know what's so special about
this book?.

It's not just 1 seller that has high prices, there are different sellers,
selling it for $600-$700 and on abebooks I've seen a $1000.

Am I missing something here?

~~~
mindcrime
_Am I missing something here?_

When I see weird situations like this, I usually assume it's a consequence of
algorithmic pricing driven by bots, and that there's a bug, or the bots got
caught up in some weird feedback loop or something, and the prices got set to
some goofy value.

It could also be that demand for the book did temporarily spike for some
reason (maybe somebody famous mentioned it in a popular Youtube video or
something) and the pricing algorithms were reacting, but just overshot the
mark.

I _think_ something like that happened with _Human Universals_
([https://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-
Brown/dp/0070...](https://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-
Brown/dp/007008209X/)) a while back... it's not really all that notable a book
in general, and there are plenty of used copies available. But Alan Kay
recommended it in his Startup School videos and when I went to look for a
copy, the prices were all totally outrageous. Like, on the order of several
hundred dollars for even the paperback edition. But it eventually settled back
down... but even now, the cheapest used paperback copy is around $65.00. Maybe
it was a coincidence, but I suspect it was related.

------
billsimms
I have seen two different ideas about this in the past. One: money laundering.
Anyone can say they are a book seller and sell to themselves or an accomplice,
pay the fees and taxes and the rest is then legitimate income. Two: warring
bots. One bot keeps raising their price slightly above the most expensive
other copy for sale. And when there are two such bots there may be no upper
limit. In the past I've seen books priced for $1000 U.S. or more when
identical copies were for sale for a few dollars.

------
stochastimus
Price discovery is not rational, it's sociological. I still remember the "I Am
Rich" iPhone app.

------
watergatorman
Try this, it is highly recommended: "C Programming: A Modern Approach," 2nd
Edition by K. N. King is selling for 111 USD, covering C89/C99 but the First
Edition, covering C89 is only 60 USD

But if you want his "Modula-2: A Complete Guide", its only $300 new!

------
ksaj
A lot of people think this is an Amazon thing. But every bookstore that lists
this book have it for similarly high prices. Even used copies are a couple
hundred bucks.

~~~
mindcrime
_But every bookstore that lists this book have it for similarly high prices._

It's the same batch of sellers, selling across most all of those sites. Or to
the extent that there are sellers who are, say, on Ebay but not Amazon, or
vice versa, they have bots tracking the prices across all the sites. In either
case, I find that you just don't get much price variance across book selling
sites these days. I mean, sure, there are occasional exceptions, but by and
large, prices tend to converge to a common value, or at least to a small range
around that.

