First Kyu by Sung-Hwa Hong down to reasonable price

Joaz Banbeck · #1

Earlier today, someone listed a copy on Amazon for 25 USD.

EDIT(12-22-16): It is gone. I hope it was purchased by someone here.

DrStraw · #2

That sounds expensive to me. Amazon lists it for $12.95, although they do say temporarily out of stock.

Joaz Banbeck · #3

DrStraw wrote:

... they do say temporarily out of stock.

Amazon lies frequently about this. They often have no clue if they will get it again. What "temporarily out of stock" really means is "We made money on this book last time, so will buy it from the publisher again if we can."
The alternative is "This book was too much trouble to stock, so we will never carry it again even if it is available." When that is the case, they just say nothing at all.

In the first case, they tell you that they can get it, collect your money, and wait. If they never get it, eventually they return your money with neither interest nor explanation.

Joaz Banbeck · #4

Another copy appeared at $15.46 today.

EDIT(1-7-2017): It is gone.

RobertJasiek · #5

Joaz Banbeck wrote:

they tell you that they can get it, collect your money, and wait. If they never get it, eventually they return your money with neither interest nor explanation.

Amazon can also seriously try to serve customers hard-to-get products. I ordered an item from continent A, which Amazon had to import via continent B and deliver to continent C (transport distance ca. 30.000km). Altogether, I waited half a year but got my item for the initially agreed postage. Every 2 or 3 months, Amazon asked whether I was still interested in maintaining my order, which I confirmed.

apetresc · #6

I didn't grab the copy on Amazon on time, but your post prompted me to check for the book on AbeBooks (which actually has also been owned by Amazon since 2008), and one of the copies was listed at $12.61 from a used book store in Oregon :tmbup:

The next-cheapest copy listed there? $389.56.

Jhyn · #7

apetresc wrote:

The next-cheapest copy listed there? $389.56.

Lol.
Are they going to make a one-run print specially for you, or (more reasonably) send a high-priced hitman disguised as an old Korean to rob it from a go club's library?

EdLee · #8

Anyone knows how Mr. Hong passed away in 2001 ?
No entries about the book or him in Wikipedia...

vash3g · #9

For those who want to read it and not necessarily buy it, there is a much easier option: your local library! How you say? Most public libraries are connected to the WorldCat system, there are three available copies and you can borrow for a few weeks to read it at your lesure: http://www.worldcat.org/title/first-kyu ... ef_results

First Kyu by Sung-Hwa Hong down to reasonable price

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