tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719250598855732403.post-51551547564566432762007-08-13T18:58:00.000-07:002007-08-13T18:58:00.000-07:002007-08-13T18:58:00.000-07:00While the ABE star system is unsatisfactory as it relates to but a single criterion for its listers, we might do well to reflect on how it might be if it was otherwise. Remember that, until he was forced from Paradise, Mr. Flatsigned was touted by Ebay as an expert - his feedback was impressively positive, and a stranger to our world would easily have concluded that he was a god to us. What ABE is doing is doubtlessly and probably admittedly to them, self-serving. I pointed out to them (and I don't know as they addressed this) that these reprint services that list could only have a 5 star rating. <BR/><BR/>Who would we want to vett our listings and rate us as booksellers? Those of us in the "know" know, as it were, but we have our own biases and prejudices. I would rate booksellers whose knowledge derives entirely from what they find listed by others on the internet very low. However, they might defend themselves and say, fine, but mine is cheaper so it's better for the customer, comparing themselves to an online retailer who prices a piece of equipment more cheaply than the merchant with a shop and a knowledgeable staff. <BR/><BR/>I must say that from my own meager experience ordering books online (just books, that is, not rare ones), the most frustrating part has been waiting a day or two to find that the item was not in stock. For ABE's business model this is very harmful, and truth is, the large number of customers ordering modest books are probably the ones that matter most to them.Peter L. Sternnoreply@blogger.com