I ordered a book from Amazon yesterday morning. A few hours later I’m sitting at my computer and there is a knock at the door. I open the door and this girl is standing there and she says "Are you Alex Tabarrok?" I say yes and she hands me the book. My jaw just about hits the floor. I’m totally confused. The girl runs away laughing. Only later do I figure it out. I ordered from Amazon Marketplace. The seller just happened to live nearby and she brought the book over. Pretty cool.
She handed you the book and ran away laughing?
That’s AMAZING!
The outrage is that it isn’t always like this.
I’m still trying to figure out whether the “girl” is an eight-year-old girl or an adult woman.
“Are you Alex Tabarrok?”
So the good news is that you don’t look old enough to get the “Mr. Tabarrok” treatment.
While running away laughing did she forget to collect money?
It took three months untill I am finally forced to cancel my order of a Book from Amazon. On the other hand, it took the published one week to deliver it to me. Good that they are quick at least in the US!
True story along a similar vein:
I was sixteen years old and cleaning out a closet full of “Reader’s Digests” in my home when I paused to read a “Drama in True Life” story in one of them. It was about two girls who were in a subway wreck, one of whom was injured so that her feet were twisted around pointing backwards.
THE VERY NEXT DAY in English class the teacher announced, “we’re going to have a speed and comprehension reading test.” Since my last name starts with “A” I was sitting right in front when she handed me a handout… with a photocopy of THE EXACT SAME ARTICLE.
The comprehension test was ten questions on a page stapled on the end of the handout. I had it filled out correctly and back on her desk before she finished distributing the papers.
Fifteen years later I ran into her in a shopping mall and told her how I had been able to read and comprehend with such blinding speed!
“She handed you the book and ran away laughing? ”
The book was cursed, obviously. In a few weeks, we’ll see Alex asking us the total surplus of demon summoning.
That happened to me once when I ordered on Half.com. Left for lunch, came back and there was the book. Pretty amazing that you scour then net for something and it pops up around the corner. I must confess that after a bit I felt cheated on the postage price but then again the fact I got the book fast was compensation enough
I’ve done that before. Sold a book on Amazon Marketplace, saw the address was only a couple miles away, and dropped it off for the person same day. Easier on both of us!
Warning – If you’re an Internet bookseller, this is a bad idea if it’s an expensive book. If you get a dishonest buyer who claims he didn’t receive it, you will not have proof of mailing or delivery. Therefore, Amazon or Half.com, or wherever you sell will have to refund them & it will come out of your pocket.
In the basic concept of supply and demand and online book shopping, usually the supply can be limited depending on where you order from and what you are ordering, and in this case the supply was not only better than the demand, but the supply was found locally, allowing it to be delievered before the purchaser could apparently think too fast.
I have done this (or something similar). I sell my old textbooks on amazon.com and half.com. Of course they are more likely to get ordered by people who want them the next semester at the same university I go to than elsewhere in the country, so with certain books, this is not very uncommon. It means you get to keep the shipping charge, and the customer gets their book faster–what could be better?
I had a similar experience to Tom while working at a sandwich shop. I was making a delivery order, and had just finished the #9, no mayo I was working on, when a customer ordered a #9, no mayo. I handed her the sandwich before the cashier had a chance to enter it into the register. The sandwich shop in question has the motto “Subs so fast you’ll freak.” She said “Oh my god–that was so fast I’m freaking out.”
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Thanks.
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