QUESTION: While I was listing a chemistry textbook for sale on Amazon Marketplace, I noticed that new copies were available for $20.22, while a used copy in "good" condition was listed at $1,346.00! Why would a seller list their book at such an exorbitant price?

ANSWER: My hunch is this seller is trying to make a fast buck without really doing anything. This has been going on at Amazon ever since I started selling there in 2001, although it's a lot less common now.

It's possible this seller made a typo when they listed their book for sale, or while editing their listing. Maybe they meant to enter a price of $13.46 instead of $1,346.00. I've made mistakes like this a few times, so I don't want to convict anyone without a hearing.

But, there have always been several sellers on Amazon who price books at 10 to 20 times their market price. They do this on all their listings, so it's no accident. They're counting on one dopey buyer out of a million who figures the highest-priced book must be best. Or maybe the seller is hoping Amazon will accidentally cycle off the lower-priced listings, so they get the sale.

These "highball" sellers probably don't have any books in inventory, they just have a file of ISBNs they upload to Amazon Marketplace after jacking up the prices. When they get a sale, they probably drop-ship through another bookseller.

I guess this is technically legal, you can sell a used book for whatever the buyer pays for it. But it's sleazy, and makes all of us honest sellers look less credible. These scammers degrade the marketplace, just like spammers ruin the e-mail system for everyone else.