Like the rest of you, I have now received my cancellation letter from Amazon, revealing that the entire Omnibus Gold Rush was just a big computer mistake:
Unfortunately, due to a pricing error, we sold many more than expected. In fact, we completely sold out — we don't have any in stock right now, and we're not even sure if we'll be able to get more.
As a result, we've had to cancel your order. I realize this is disappointing news, and I'm so sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
You may want to check our website from time to time to see if this item is available. If anyone is selling it, you'll see a "More Buying Choices" box on the product detail page; if it's not available from any sellers, you might see an "Order it used" or "Alert me" link. "Order it used" allows you to place a pre-order for the item in case another seller lists the item for sale later. "Alert me" allows you to sign up so we can e-mail you when Amazon has stock available for purchase.
I'm sorry I don't have better news. We hope to see you again soon.
For myself, I’ll live. I’d like to think that I’ll still get my hands on these volumes through means that are fair for all sides of the business transaction.
Sniff, sniff…
alas, I feel your pain. I just received mine as well.
This is why you never share deals like this.
I bought some and some movies and they didnt cancel it…yet.
Yup, just got mine this afternoon. Sigh….
You didn’t get the books you ordered.
I didn’t get the books I ordered -and- Amazon has stopped selling my product (and Marvel’s, and Images’s, and so many others), although they will still take third-party orders.
Presumably, this is all temporary.
Was there anybody that ordered during the weekend of the mighty glitch that did not get this letter?
Not that I’m saying Amazon is lying, per se, but I had items that I pre-ordered as part of the glitchfest that were cancelled because they were ’sold out”. I’m sure you can come up with an explanation of how a book that has not been released yet was sold out, and I would surely like to hear it.
The bigger story… Amazon drops Colorado affiliates as that state considers them local retailers for Amazon. As such the State of Colorado believes Amazon should pay sales taxes. Amazon does not agree.
So… You better hope that the sales tax your community isn’t getting from online retailers doesn’t affect those after-school programs which keep kids off the street and out of trouble. Or doesn’t affect the funding which puts cops on the street. Because sometimes, you get what you didn’t pay for.
(P.S. New York State residents… don’t forget to pay your online sales tax when you file your income tax return.)
Amazon adds on tax for NY residents. As a NY resident, I know.
I ordered two glitch books and one non-glitch tpb (in fact the price went down by $0.50 since I ordered it), but they cancelled my whole order. I think it shows you that their excuse is bogus (I don’t _entirely_ blame them) and that they are not even closely paying attention to your order when they went through the list cancelling stuff. I’ve demanded that I at least get my legitimate purchase, but we’ll see what happens.
Nat Gertler: “I didn’t get the books I ordered -and- Amazon has stopped selling my product (and Marvel’s, and Images’s, and so many others), although they will still take third-party orders. Presumably, this is all temporary.”
Now *that’s* a real interesting development. I just checked Amazon, and you’re right–they don’t seem to be listing ANY items as available from Amazon from ANY of the affected publishers. Which may just be a temporary thing as they fix the original glitch, or a second glitch, or something else. Many gremlins in this system, it seems…
amazon did not pull the buy buttons due to a glitch—anyone remeber the Macmillan kerfuffle from a couple weeks ago?
it’s a safe bet they pulled them until someone takes responsibility for this enormous error—and based on this action, it sure looks like Diamond is at fault…
The marvel omnibuses are still available on Amazon as far as I can tell.
TechCrunch is reporting that Amazon is giving out $25 gift certificates to some whose orders were canceled. So far, they’ve offered me nothin’. Anybody else?
James: notice on the site, they don’t show a list price and an Amazon price. On the page for each volume, they list only “Available from these sellers”… which means you’re buying from a third party, rather than from Amazon themselves.
It was worth me not getting my five Omnibi just to watch one indignant message-board poster, dead seriously, lead the charge for a class-action lawsuit. That guy stalks me like a crazy man, but he cracks me up.
Maybe it wasn’t a glitch.
Maybe it was a hack.
I got 2 of my books, but the 22 others I ordered weren’t with them sadly.
The Complete Bone and Frontline Combat #1 , $30 for the 2.
Yayy I win!
I’m naturally disappointed but it’s worth pointing out, at least for me, I was never planning on buying any of these items to begin with. I’m not out much as far as that goes, and I’ll probably be content to die without having a fat hardcover of Silver Age “Hulk” to rest my head on as I lay in my coffin.
That said, the sale actually did prompt me to order one of the books – for reals – after I got the cancellation order, simply because after thinking about it for two days I realized that there was one of them I really did want to own, but which I might otherwise never have taken the plunge on without the prodding. (I won’t say which one for fear of incriminating myself beyond redemption.)
I just called up Amazon, number here: http://bit.ly/AmazonCallMe (think u have to be signed in for link to work) , and politely demanded $ for my time spent ordering, which is worth money and they took from me, even if by accident, and I got $30 credit b/c misprice was their fault.
BUT if you don’t ask u don’t get.
Whatever happened to retailers abiding by their advertised prices? I think it’s actually a law in some states….wonder if those states are the ones where people are receiving their orders while everyone else’s gets cancelled.
Army of Darkness, actually Amazon did honor those prices.
But it went first come, first serve (cause I’m sure they could see exactly who’s orders came in first) until they ran out of the stock.
I’m sure you saw Rich Johnston’s post giving the numbers of books ordered. Over 1,100 copies alone of the Ultimates Omnibus? Neither Amazon, or Marvel has that many copies available.
Those first in line always get the stuff, and Amazon in no way has to hold the price for books they don’t have or expect to get.
I wouldn’t take Rich Johnston’s figures as gospel.
It also shows if things are priced a little bit better/cheaper…a lot of people want them. Thats a good thing.
“priced a little bit better”?
Dude, the difference between $100 (MSRP), ~$62 (Amazon’s normal discount), and $15/$8 (Free Omnibus Day prices) isn’t exactly “a little bit.”
This was more like a demonstration that if products are priced at a loss to the seller/manufacturer, people will want them like crazy. Which of course still demonstrates demand, but in a markedly different way than it sounds like you are suggesting.
I love that this objectively silly computer glitch sparked actual interesting debate about print book pricing. Working in publishing, you take for granted the eternal debates over how to price a book and what factors play into it, so it’s good to see everyone else take such an interest in a fairly mundane, mechanical side of the business.
I, for one, can’t decide if this demonstrates the market’s larger appetite for comics than we had thought, or the American zeal for paying less than wholesale, or just a depressing view of how people undervalue art and literature. Maybe I’ll just have more coffee instead of thinking about it.
Hmmm… Online retailers report to the New York Times bestseller list. If Amazon does, and the NY Times does not reflect these sales, then one smells Denmark.
If low prices are such a bargain, why are there so many books in those 3-for-2 bins at conventions? Even if a retailer blew out hardcovers at $10, trades at $5, there’s not going to be a feeding frenzy.
And geeze… I remember having to pay full price for books. Now people complain when a $9.99 ebook gets priced to $14.99 when the hardcover costs $30.
“Eh… 28% off? No, that’s not cheap enough.”
Man… I got that all the time working in the bookstore. “We don’t have that title in stock, but I can order it from our website. You’ll get the web price, and free shipping. I can process the entire order for you right now.”
“No. That’s okay. I’ll get it from Amazon.”
Yes, I have killed thousands of customers in my mind’s eye because of that. Usually with an infinite number of papercuts and an infinite supply of salted lemon juice. (The salt precipitates when the lemon juice dries.)
Diamond Book Distributors is at fault, most likely from a disgruntled employee sending out a file on Friday evening. (ICV2 reported on Saturday that three DBD positions had been transferred to Diamond Comics on Friday.)
Amazon is at fault for not reviewing the data, or having automatic failsafes in place which would notice a high percentage in the change of the retail price. ESPECIALLY if the ENTIRE file has price changes or the same price for all titles. (Diamond has a title list of about 12,000 titles. Here’s the client list:
http://www.diamondbookdistributors.com/default.asp?t=2&m=1&c=53&s=528) Why Amazon and not Target or Wal-Mart or Borders?
Amazon paid for the books when they were shipped to the warehouse. They receive credit when the books are returned to DBD. Can Amazon balance their loss by returning more books to DBD? They could make up the loss by reducing the discounts they offer on DBD titles, but then they must compete with other online retailers.
Will DBD persecute the disgruntled employee, if that is indeed the case? Or will DBD just sweep it under the rug in the attic?
Short term, the lack of Amazon buttons does not affect Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, or any of the other DBD clients. Yes, they do not earn any money from the secondary Marketplace sellers. However, those sellers bought the titles from somewhere, so Marvel etc. has already earned the money. If it is permanent, then that is more troublesome, as Amazon could return product, hurting publishers. Also, these publishers would not have a presence on Amazon, hurting sales. If that happens, then Diamond Books implodes, as DBD’s anchors would move to other distributors which could guarantee a presence on Amazon. Unlikely, as DBD would probably offer Amazon some sort of refund. (DBD cannot offer Amazon a better discount or terms than it does to other retailers.)
[Lest anyone at DBD misconstrue my conjecture, I have great respect for DBD. They provide bookstore distribution for a HUGE number of small presses which otherwise would not have a presence in the bookstore and library markets.]
The New York Times best sellers lists are edited, from what I’ve read. They leave titles off for whatever reason they want.
The popularity of this glorified glitch does not by any means indicate that these books would be any more popular if they were cheaper. Illogically priced below cost perhaps, but cheaper notsomuch.
I’d guarantee that probably a good half of the people that sprung for this pricing mirage were doing so because they had intentions of turning that book right around at a profit for themselves. Notsomuch because they actually had any use for 4 copies of the Fantastic 4 Omnibi
Comicsatemybrain,
Not all the books ordered were omnibuses, although since those had the greatest reductions from list price, they get the attention. I ordered several that were normally priced by Amazon at $32, and some that were normally priced at $19 or so. There were definitely some books on the cup that a $5 reduction pushed me into ordering.
Now if the books were routinely priced at that point, would they sell better? Not clear — the perception of saving more than usual was definitely a motivation. A $25 book marked down normally to $20, but reduced further to $15 may well sell better than the same book priced at $15 to begin with. There’s a lot of psychology involved.
This isn’t the first time there has been a pricing glitch at Amazon. Its not even the first comics related glitch. When the Absolute edition of Cooke’s New Frontier went on sale it was for something in the 10-15 dollar range (I don’t remember the price). We too got letters. Life went on. I bought my own copy locally and ordered a couple, through Amazon, for friends. No one died. No one sued.
Everyone who feels like they were screwed by Amazon should go to their LCS and spend the money on something that is full-price. And then e-mail a copy of the receipt to Amazon.
I just got the following email (and I didn’t even complain)…
Hello,
We wanted to follow up on a recent message we sent about the cancellation of your recent order.
To recap: Due to a pricing error, we sold many more graphic novels than expected. In fact, we completely sold out — we don’t have any in stock right now, and we’re not sure when we’ll be able to get more.
We’re sorry for any frustration the issue may have caused, and have applied a $25 promotional certificate to your account.
You can use it the next time you order an item shipped and sold by Amazon.com. You’ll see your available promotional balance at checkout–this amount will be applied to your next order automatically without entering a claim code.
I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/
Please note: this e-mail was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming e-mail. Please do not reply to this message.
To add to Adam’s experience, I announced upthread that I’d heard nothing from Amazon. A few minutes ago, I received the same letter Adam did.
100$ is a ludicrous amount to pay for any book currently in print. So is 70$. Comics in general tend to be overpriced, for better or for worse. Marvel is a worse offender when it comes to this stuff, but as Jimmy Palmiotti pointed out, people do want these books. Marvel/DC could move much more of them if they made them more affordable (including the floppies). (Oh yeah, compare the Hernandez Omnibuses, 40$ to these. Marvel knows it has an audience that could pay any amount, so it prices them as high as it wants. 40$ is a much more reasonable price. But whaddayeknow?)
“Army of Darkness, actually Amazon did honor those prices.”
For SOME people, yes.
“But it went first come, first serve (cause I’m sure they could see exactly who’s orders came in first) until they ran out of the stock.”
Sounds like it, yeah.
“I’m sure you saw Rich Johnston’s post giving the numbers of books ordered. ”
Must have missed it.
“Those first in line always get the stuff, and Amazon in no way has to hold the price for books they don’t have or expect to get.”
Yes, that’s usually how it goes. However, it looked like orders were still being placed and confirmed after the stock had been depleted or else everyone who placed an order would have had it honored. That’s what bothers me most. There’s apparently some lag time. I think they should honor all of the orders placed at the reduced price if they would be able to restock.
Would Amazon not honoring those sales change my opinion of Amazon or cause me to shop elsewhere? No, and I think they’re being very nice by sending out $25 credit vouchers.
“Now if the books were routinely priced at that point, would they sell better? Not clear — the perception of saving more than usual was definitely a motivation.”
Depends on what you mean by “routinely.” If every year around this time Amazon priced GNs and TPBs at incredibly low prices, they’d probably see a lot of sales. This was the comics version of Black Friday. $30 SRP dvds selling for $5, etc. Using that scale, a $100 Omnibus would be $15-18 which reflects this sale. However, just like with Black Friday, quantities are limited and it’s first come first served. I think DVDs have a higher initial mark-up than books and GNs, though, which allows retailers to have sales like that on Black Friday.
I didn’t place an order during this madness because I knew it was a glitch, and I figured it would be a waste of time. Turns out I might have gotten a $25 voucher for my time, but I don’t really regret not placing an order. I would have loved some Creepy/Eerie Archives for $15 each though.
“Amazon paid for the books when they were shipped to the warehouse.”
ummmm- no, they didn’t. Just like Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com brings in stock on a returnable basis. The distributor does not get paid the second books arrive at Amazon’s loading dock.
“Short term, the lack of Amazon buttons does not affect Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, or any of the other DBD clients.”
Doesn’t it? From what I understand all of these publishers had a number of books basically frozen until this issue was resolved. Amazon is one of the top 3 Mass Market accounts for book distributors, and to lose a few days sales can amount to losses of tens of thousands of dollars.
I am confident that this was indeed a glitch, and no hacking was involved. Especially from the 3 LAID OFF(not fired)employees at DBD. I personally know and have worked with all 3 of the people laid off, and for people to sling those types of theories around, while entertaining, does nothing to get to the core problem of how to prevent these issues before they occur.
Say what you will about Diamond, but Diamond employees are some of the hardest working comic-loving people I know. Employees do get disgruntled, but there is nobody I know working there that would maliciously corrupt data to “stick it to the man”.
Just got this email. $25 gift certificate given:
Hello,
We wanted to follow up on a recent message we sent about the cancellation of your recent order.
To recap: Due to a pricing error, we sold many more graphic novels than expected. In fact, we completely sold out — we don’t have any in stock right now, and we’re not sure when we’ll be able to get more.
We’re sorry for any frustration the issue may have caused, and have applied a $25 promotional certificate to your account.
You can use it the next time you order an item shipped and sold by Amazon.com. You’ll see your available promotional balance at checkout–this amount will be applied to your next order automatically without entering a claim code.
I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/
“Short term, the lack of Amazon buttons does not affect Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, or any of the other DBD clients.”
As the publisher of one of those DBD clients (About Comics), I’m going to have to disagree. Amazon is our biggest single outlet; on some of our backlist, their ongoing orders far outstrip the entire direct market. Even if the book is available from a third-party seller, that does not mean that someone who would’ve ordered through Amazon themselves will shift to ordering through a third-party seller. I myself am much more reluctant to order through a third-party seller, given Amazon’s own reliability and the free shipping that is available. Additionally, one cannot place preorders through third-party sellers.
Meanwhile, the customers who wanted these discount books get $25 credit -that cannot be currently used on the books that were discounted-, as the coupon is only allowed on items to be shipped by Amazon, not third parties. So the real winner is DC Comics, who didn’t have any of the misdiscounted product and whose works are now available to those comics fans for whom the $25 credit may be burning a whole in their virtual pocket.
By the way, I would like to nominate a new name for this whole affair: Amazomnibust!
Books are sent on a returnable basis. Most retailers with proper credit usually have a window for paying the cost of the product shipped, usually ninety days from the invoice date.
Companies can return product, but usually pay shipping (as well as payroll costs for the handling). Some publishers/distributors limit the amount of product which can be returned. Returns are credited to the retailer’s account, to be used on the next purchase.
I understand publisher’s concerns. However, those books have shipped to Amazon’s warehouses. They have been invoiced. Most likely paid for (ninety days). Until Amazon returns stock, Diamond and publishers keep the money. (Diamond still keeps the money, since returns are credited to the account. No money gets sent back to Amazon.) It’s like the Direct Market: publishers are selling books to Amazon, not to readers. Publishers hope that Amazon will sell the books to customers and thus not have to fret about returns. Amazon themselves hope to sell the book to a customer, and not have to return the book, which costs money.
Long term, yes, publishers should worry. I do not want to see another LPC-style bankruptcy, which could happen if Diamond loses clients to other distributors.
DBD staff does great work! John Shableski is a powerhouse of promotion, promoting graphic novels to librarians nationwide! As a Seducer of the Innocent, I want Diamond to succeed!
Jenny Christopher 10. Mar, 2010 at 4:12 pm said:
“I am confident that this was indeed a glitch, and no hacking was involved.”
And she said more.
Jenny, in no way did I want to indicate that I thought it was the Diamond employees who possibly could have hacked the Amazon site. I apologize to you and them if that’s how it read.
My thought was that with all the hacking that has been going on in the last couple years, it was possible someone hacked Amazon.
“They have been invoiced. Most likely paid for (ninety days).”
In my experience, Amazon doesn’t like to have ninety days of books on hand. They prefer to restock frequently, not buying more than a month out.
If it’s hacking, then it’s more likely that Diamond was hacked (whether by employees or outsiders) since BN.com had similar issues for several hours this evening.
BTW, that’s a kickin’ Fantastic Four Omnibus cover. Is that Ladronn’s handiwork?
Alan- we’re cool
It had been mentioned by numerous people on numerous sites. My comments concerning Diamond and DBD were not in response to any 1 person’s comments, just the broader conversation.
“Whatever happened to retailers abiding by their advertised prices? I think it’s actually a law in some states”
The law states that retailers do not have to honor typos. An error is not considered false advertising.
Torsten Adair wrote: Hmmm… Online retailers report to the New York Times bestseller list. If Amazon does, and the NY Times does not reflect these sales, then one smells Denmark.
It might affect their Internet-only Graphic Books list, but I wouldn’t expect this to move the needle on the real fiction bestseller list. Even the bottom slot of the main list requires a sales velocity of thousands of books a week, and I very much doubt Amazon had more than a couple of hundred copies in stock of any of these books. The Times also has a strong preference towards books that are selling well across all reporting outlets, so they might not even show up on the Graphic Books list.
Jenny Christopher wrote: “Amazon paid for the books when they were shipped to the warehouse.”
ummmm- no, they didn’t. Just like Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com brings in stock on a returnable basis.
Without giving away any trade secrets, this is not necessarily the case. Brick & mortar stores do generally buy returnable, but Amazon’s model is not the same, and they buy primarily or exclusively non-returnable from many publishers. And, either way, that side-steps the issue — Amazon was invoiced based on the retail price of the book, and whether they paid net 30, net 90, or whatever, they still will be paying for books that they’ve already shipped…since they clearly can’t return those to DBD.
“The law states that retailers do not have to honor typos. An error is not considered false advertising.”
The Amazon glitch wasn’t a “typo”. It was an error, sure, but “typo” is inaccurate I believe.
An error is still false advertising, but it may not be considered actionable which is fine. The problem is when people drive for hours or spend hours online to shop for these products and then get told it’s a mistake. It’s not fair to them, but a business needs to protect itself from huge losses as well.
Amazon handled this very well and I think they went above and beyond with the $25 credits.