R. Alan Lewis
President, Ground Zero Books, Ltd.

No, cloning is not involved!  We have received inquiries from time to time from customers who tried to order a book that was shown as available and we then had to tell them that the item has been sold.  Typically these are signed books whose author or subject has died or otherwise become newsworthy, or books that somehow have gotten media attention.   The collectible book business model has a lot in common with the real estate business—especially in terms of multiple listings.  On any given day, we have the same item available via direct purchase from our website, via Alibris.com, Advanced Book Exchange, and Biblio.com.  Through these venues, the same book then also becomes available via Barnes and Noble, Chapters, and a host of other outlets around the globe.  When a book is sold from our website, it does not automatically disappear from the other venues.  We try to update frequently, especially to remove sold items, but occasionally orders for a single book come in almost simultaneously—we fill orders based upon when received—and there has not been time to update the other listing services.

As many of you know from personal experience, we seek to avoid disappointing customers.  In some cases, we have multiple signed and inscribed copies of works, such a Tim Russert’s Big Russ and Me.  Unless the inscription or the recipients are particularly noteworthy, we offer the comparable copy at the same price.  In some cases we may have a non-identical copy, paperback instead of hardcover, later printing, without dust jacket.  Here again, in those circumstances, we try to offer our customers an alternative at an appropriate price reflecting the difference between the two versions.  Sadly, it is not always possible for Ground Zero Books, Ltd., to meet our customers’ desires when the initial book has been sold.  While market conditions and availability of items can vary considerably, we also try, if our client so desires, to see if we can locate another, comparable copy.  In many cases it is not possible to provide a comparable copy at the price of our previously sold item.

There have been days when we have updated our listings half a dozen times to reflect multiple sales.  The week of President Reagan’s final illness and death we sold about a dozen copies of his An American Life.  When NBC’s Tim Russert died of a sudden heart attack we sold signed hardback and softcover copies of his books, and because of the depth of our stock, listed and promptly sold about another half dozen copies over the next two days.  Yet, despite our prompt attention to updating our databases, we still had multiple orders on several occasions.  When the identity of Deep Throat was revealed, we had about a dozen orders for the two copies we had—and this title has proven quite elusive to restock.   This spiking of interest occurs not just with deaths and signed items; we find that often what is in the news drives sales.  The earthquake in Haiti spurred interest  in our holdings on both Haiti and earthquakes.  We expect a surge in interest in Ronald Reagan next February, when his centennial is celebrated.  We expect 2011 to have a sustained interest in items on terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the 9/11 attacks and aftermath.  Having 50,000+ items available online and an equal or greater number of items pending entry into our database makes tracking duplicates and restocks both necessary and a challenge.  We spend a significant amount of our data entry resources tracking additional copies of items in our database—capturing the shelf location so that we can re-list promptly.  As you all understand, to be successful in the out-of-print and collectible online book business—we cannot be LISTLESS!

Our goal is always to delight, and we strive never to disappoint.  While it is possible for one of our books to be in two places at the same time, we can and will only sell it once.  We are committed wherever possible to offer a comparable copy at a consistent price.  We take MasterCard, but while our books can be of great value, nothing we offer for sale is price-less.

So, for those of you who have asked about books that vanished when ordered, and for those of you who never gave this phenomenon a thought, we hope the above discussion has been of interest.  Some times our columns are more humorous, but we hope the always entertain and inform.  At a benefit to those of you who have slogged through to the end of this column, we thank you and offer, upon request, a discount of ten per cent on any item currently in stock, and a commitment not to charge you if you order any item previously sold.