Avotaynu Books “Temporarily Out of Stock” at Amazon.com
Amazon.com has changed virtually all books published by Avotaynu to read at their site:
“Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we’ll deliver when available. We’ll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information.”

These books are all in stock at Avotaynu. Amazon.com has not ordered a book from us in about two months despite known orders made by Amazon customers.

In the previous issue of Nu? What’s New? (http://www.avotaynu.com/nu/V09N16.htm) I noted that, as a test, I ordered A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia from Amazon. In reply to a subsequent inquiry, Amazon informed me that “Sometimes, unexpected fluctuations in supply can add time to our original availability estimate. We have learned that the item ‘A Dictionary Of Jewish Surnames from Galicia’ is now back-ordered, and our supplier does not know when they will have more in stock…”

I now have received another form e-mail from Amazon asking if I still want to keep the book on back order. Their message stated:
“Still want it? We’ll keep on trying. To keep your order for this item open, please click the link below. Otherwise, we’ll cancel your order on August 10 2008, if we haven’t located it by then… While we do our best to adhere to our delivery estimates, our inventory is constantly changing based on information we receive directly from our suppliers. Occasionally, unexpected fluctuations in supply, delays during shipping, or changes in release dates for new products will add time to our original delivery estimate.”

Amazon had requested Avotaynu to bill them for orders terms: Net 90 days. Previously our terms were cash in advance. We refused.

Meanwhile, this past week we received an order for a book we published and have in stock called Jews-Officers in the Polish Armed Forces, 1939-–1945. We recognized the company placing the order as an Amazon reseller. They sold it to their customer for $80.00. The retail price from Avotaynu is $30.00.