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by bmitc 1397 days ago
I was just told by Amazon that I can't sell a used book there because the publisher, Morgan Kaufmann, is currently not accepting applications to sell and denied my request to sell.

I was pretty stupefied. Amazon and the publisher have colluded, for whatever reason, to police how used books are sold.
2 comments
Gh0stRAT 1397 days ago
Perhaps Amazon is FINALLY starting to do something about their rampant book piracy problem?

[0]https://mobile.twitter.com/martinkl/status/15511491594026680...

[1]https://nypost.com/2022/07/31/pirated-books-thrive-on-amazon...

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bmitc 1397 days ago
Who knows? Although, I actually bought this particular book off of Amazon.

In this case, after some research, I actually think this is related to the book sometimes being used as a textbook. I wouldn't really call it a textbook, as in the normal 30 editions type of textbooks, as it's just a really good book on its topic (and only the second edition, which is the latest). Apparently publishers want to funnel the used sale of such books through certain approved sellers? I imagine it's to keep the price artificially high and for the publisher to recover some of the money back themselves. Seems ridiculous, and it would be surprising if it's legal. It's basically a racket.

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ddalex 1397 days ago
What do you mean, it's your book. Why would even ask Amazon if you can sell it?
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bmitc 1397 days ago
You have to to sell in their platform. When I tried to add it to my Amazon Seller inventory, it required approval. Selling on Abebooks (owned by Amazon) requires a subscription now.
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