Someone showed up at the blog
with the search criteria “why is Merchants of Deception so expensive”.
Hunh? Free is expensive?
I wondered where this guy was looking. I’m aware
that Eric Scheibeler did put his book into print and sell it for a few months.
Then for reasons I’m unaware of though I suspect Scheibeler decided it was time
to finally put the Amway horror behind him, he announced he was
closing his website and the book would only be available for a couple more
days.
I don’t recall what he was selling the print
version for $15 or $20 perhaps.
I didn’t buy a copy of Merchants of Deception
seeing as how I already had the free ebook version. Apparently the print
version had some updated information in there.
So where is this guy looking that the book is so
expensive? I checked ebay. Nope. Nothing there. I went to Amazon. Ah ha! Got
it! There are 7 copies available ranging in price from $95.00 to $175.58 (those
prices when this post first appeared on this blog). Yikes! What the fuck!
Years ago I read an article that when
Amazon only has one or two copies of a new book available and that’s it its no
longer being printed there are some book buyers who keep an eye out
and buy these books hoping that there will be a demand for them later on when
they’re out of print. When the book is out of print and no longer available new
the sellers who have used copies think they are rare collectibles and list them
with outrageously high prices. Kind of like what Amway does with its products!
They can ask any price they want. Doesn’t mean they’re going to get it unless
there is some cult leader putting pressure on the downline to buy.
Crazy about the high prices on the used books! Especially
since most books being sold on Amazon’s used book section are books published
within the last 20 years and sold for $20 or less and there is really nothing
special about them to command that kind of high price. The seller can always
hope that someone is desperately searching for a used copy and willing to pay
any price to get it. I can’t imagine paying $100 (or more!) for a paperback
book especially when its available for free as an ebook.
Click here for the website where you can download a free copyof Merchants of Deception.
I have some information as to why Scheibeler's book is so expensive.
ReplyDeleteAmway did everything in its power, legally, to stop the publication (and later on, the distribution) of the book. When those efforts failed, Amway did the next best thing: it attempted to buy up every available print copy of Scheibeler's book and destroy them. Amway succeeded in making it very difficult for people to find a hard copy. Scores of copies were trashed by Amway freaks.
Naturally, the law of supply and demand kicked in. People who were curious to read the book checked the on-line bookstores and found very few copies available, and the price of every copy was high because the text was rare. Many people like me HATE reading long texts on-line, and prefer a hard copy.
The other thing is this: people who buy books at Alibris or Amazon are paying not just for the book itself, but for the sheer convenience of getting it without any trouble. It's much easier than searching in book stores. If you combine these two things (the comparative rarity of Scheibeler's book in hard copy, and the price you pay for convenience), it means that a hard copy of Merchants of Deception will inevitably be expensive.
There's a certain book that I have been wanting for over ten years now. It was withdrawn from the bookstores soon after publication because the author changed his mind about revealing some private information in it. He went around buying up every copy he could find, and destroying them.
A few copies managed to escape, either because they were bought before he changed his mind, or because he didn't get to some bookstores to buy them.
The last time I saw a copy at Alibris was three years ago. The asking price was $5000.
Anonymous - I'm guessing Scheibeler and his publisher probably didn't care who was buying the book. Money coming in from whatever source is still income!
DeleteAmway and their flock of Ambots hate it when the truth gets out there about what it's really like inside the Amway cult. I can see why they'd want to buy every copy and then hold a book burning. Bunch of fucking Amway losers!
Wow! $5000 is a lot of money for a book! Just about everything has a price. Maybe you'll find that book in a thrift shop or yard sale one day!