Lately we’ve been hearing from customers who are having problems ordering Mercury Retrograde Press books on Amazon. There are a couple of variations on the story: either the system says the book is NO LONGER AVAILABLE, or the customer places an order and pays for it–only to be notified by Amazon, sometime later, that the book they bought is gone. Frustrating? Disappointing? You betcha.
Here’s why that happens and what to do about it:
Why it happens:
Amazon practices “just in time” supply, which means that they buy only as many {books, CDs, coffee makers, etc.} as they’re sure they’ll sell within a certain window of time. That window of time is proprietary information, of course. No doubt you’ve looked at items on Amazon and seen notations on pages that say something like “Only two left in stock! Order now!” They’re not making that up. There really are only two left in stock. That’s a way of keeping costs down, which allows them to give you the price you want.
Here’s where that system falls apart:
The system fails to cope with “Temporarily out of stock” situations. In the human world, when local-on-the-shelf stocks have been depleted, a person can recognize this fact. Humans can say to one another, “Oh, I see we need to order more.” Amazon’s computers, apparently, are not intelligent enough to recognize this. Like a newborn playing Peek-a-Boo, the system concludes the item is GONE FOREVER. Oh no…
The system fails to cope with overselling existing stock. Because Amazon runs on online orders, it can–and, evidently, frequently does–happen that any number of people can place orders against those two (or whatever small number fits) remaining units in stock. The system can take orders for far more copies of a book than they actually have. Even this situation could be handled with a reasonable amount of grace: when, evidently at the order-filling stage, some human finally figured out what the system had done, emails could be dispatched to the people whose orders were fulfilled after the oversold item was no longer on the shelf, informing them that there would be a small wait while stock was replenished. That’s not hard, after all: it only requires Amazon’s computers to request more copies from the book wholesaler’s computers. More would be on their shelves in a few days, and could then be passed on to the people who ordered them.
But that’s not what Amazon does. Instead, when Amazon accidentally oversells its stock, it just tells the disappointed consumer, “Sorry, we don’t have this any more. Here’s your money back.”
Sad, sad Amazon.
What you can do if this happens to you:
First of all, Don’t Despair.
When the thing you’re trying to order is a Mercury Retrograde Press book, a note from Amazon saying “Sorry, we don’t have this anymore” definitely does not mean the book is GONE, no matter how things look on Amazon. Mercury Retrograde books don’t go out of print; when readers buy up all the copies printed, our suppliers print more.
Look for it elsewhere.
Mercury Retrograde Press books are easy to buy on Amazon.com. But they’re also available on BN.com, and can be purchased from any bookseller in the US, Canada, UK, or European Union. Did you forget how much fun it is to go to a real bookstore? Now’s your chance to refresh your memory. If by chance your local bookseller doesn’t have the book you want in stock, they can order it for you. You’ll probably have it in your hands in a few days…which, coincidentally, is about how long it takes that online bookseller to get it to you. If they have it in stock, you’ll have it–mirabile dictu!–THAT DAY.
If you’re that committed to Amazon, wait a few days and try again.
Once a stock position in Amazon’s Great Warehouse empties, computer minions are dispatched to restock that place. Assuming it’s a Mercury Retrograde Press book, the book you want will be back in stock in a matter of days.
We absolutely share your frustration with Amazon’s silly order management practices. If you get caught in the gaps in their system, we hope you’ll take it as a reminder to experience other methods of acquiring books. There really are some wonderful bookstores out there. Maybe you should check one out.
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