[WaitWaitWha]

The author's hypothesis sounds reasonable, but it is most likely not arbitrage as @neilv mentioned it. It is money laundering.[0]

[0] https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/02/money-laundering-via-aut...

(edit: spelligating correctivization)

[metabagel]

I thought so at first too, but that doesn’t explain the steady price increases. Two algorithms competing against each other does.

[WaitWaitWha]

The article I referenced is old, so it is possible that Amzn (and the criminals) have evolved. It used to be randomly generated e-books, now it is a real book. Maybe Amzn checks to see if the uploaded material is legit, and rejects the old-style random text. By latching onto a real book, this becomes less of an issue.

As for the pricing, I am guessing it is just a side effect of the normal behavior. It would make sense for the criminal to not change from default settings when setting up the account, ergo include it in these algos.

[thayne]

And it really doesn't explain the price going back down to a more competitive price.

[dwroberts]

Would you be able to pay for something in the millions via normal payment methods though? The laundering makes sense for the smaller numbers like in the link (~$500) but these huge values make it seem unlikely to me (and would surely draw attention?)

I don't know about elsewhere in the world but I don't think I could spend >50k on a card in the UK without some kind of prior authorisation.