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by neilv 1376 days ago
> My preferred explanation for bordeebook’s pricing is that they do not actually possess the book. Rather, they noticed that someone else listed a copy for sale, and so they put it up as well – relying on their better feedback record to attract buyers. But, of course, if someone actually orders the book, they have to get it – so they have to set their price significantly higher – say 1.27059 times higher – than the price they’d have to pay to get the book elsewhere.

I've also seen arbitrage where the seller will buy the collectible on one platform, then drag their feet on paying, while listing it for sale on a different platform.