I'll never understand this - Half.com

[disneysteve]

I think I've posted about this in the past but it still baffles me.

I just looked up a book on half.com. The book is still currently available and has a cover price of $8.99. The best price on half.com for a slightly used copy was $2.90, perfectly reasonable. However, there were two new copies listed for $118.41! Both sellers with the sky high prices have excellent feedback ratings. I've seen this time and time again and simply don't understand it. Why would anyone pay $118 for a book that they can get on Amazon for a tenth of that or less? What scam are these folks running and how do they accomplish it - and how can I do it too?

[lorraineb]

typo when inputting price?

[disneysteve]

typo when inputting price?

Nope. Browse around on half.com. It is very common. And if you pull up the active inventory of these sellers, all of their offerings are priced that way.

[lorraineb]

Although I don't use half.com, it would seem that sellers could "corner the market" for some popular books with limited runs. They could simply buy any of the cheap copies that came on market and jack their price way high, then they are the only game in town when most people come looking for the book. The risk is that more books flood the market, but it only takes one or two sales at a really high price to make it profitable.

There are also always people that think paying more gives them something special, even when it's not true.

[disneysteve]

Although I don't use half.com, it would seem that sellers could "corner the market" for some popular books with limited runs. They could simply buy any of the cheap copies that came on market and jack their price way high, then they are the only game in town when most people come looking for the book.

I could see that for something with high demand, but the listings I've seen don't fit that description. They are common books, still in print, and the listing might have 15 for sale from different buyers with prices ranging from $3 to $10 and then one or two people charging $80 or $100 or more.

[hamchan]

Weird. Are they signed? That is the only thing I can think of.

[Redraidernurse]

I see this all the time as well, even on used items on amazon. I have never been able to figure it out. I would think someone would accidentally click the wrong button and purchase that item?

[kork13]

I've actually read about this practice... It's normally a front for low-scale money laundering, or for paying what we'll call "independent contractors". Very common with resale sites like craigslist, ebay, and half. Fairly simple, really... "Crook A" has some dirty money that needs some "washing", or a debt that is owed. "Crook B" lists a cheap item for an outrageous sum of money, knowing that nobody in their right mind (except "Crook A") would pay that. "Crook A" buys it, remits payment, and voila -- a totally legitimate "sale" for the books, or "Crook B" has received payment for "services rendered".

21st century crime.....

[shaggy]

I've actually read about this practice... It's normally a front for low-scale money laundering, or for paying what we'll call "independent contractors". Very common with resale sites like craigslist, ebay, and half. Fairly simple, really... "Crook A" has some dirty money that needs some "washing", or a debt that is owed. "Crook B" lists a cheap item for an outrageous sum of money, knowing that nobody in their right mind (except "Crook A") would pay that. "Crook A" buys it, remits payment, and voila -- a totally legitimate "sale" for the books, or "Crook B" has received payment for "services rendered".

21st century crime.....

Yep, that's it in a nutshell.

[disneysteve]

I've actually read about this practice... It's normally a front for low-scale money laundering, or for paying what we'll call "independent contractors". Very common with resale sites like craigslist, ebay, and half. Fairly simple, really... "Crook A" has some dirty money that needs some "washing", or a debt that is owed. "Crook B" lists a cheap item for an outrageous sum of money, knowing that nobody in their right mind (except "Crook A") would pay that. "Crook A" buys it, remits payment, and voila -- a totally legitimate "sale" for the books, or "Crook B" has received payment for "services rendered".

21st century crime.....

Now that makes sense.

[lorraineb]

Interesting. I could see in the same way the book could be a front for something illegal as well. Buy the $100 book and receive some drugs -- while it doesn't protect the seller from the illegal drug charges if they are ever caught, it does protect them from tax evasion charges since they are paying taxes on all the sales. it also seems that it would be more difficult to be caught this way.