Flying Butter

In my latest lot purchase, there were so many small, thin children’s books that it was just too impractical and time consuming to scan every one of them. After all, most Scholastic-type books, while certainly informative, rarely are worth more than a buck or two, usually a lot less.

My perception changed, though, when I grabbed me some “Flying Butter.”

No, I’m not talking about aerially mobile dairy product.  I’m referring to a 23-page children’s book that “uses wacky illustrations and simple text to introduce readers to the concept of compound words.”  I just happened to scan it, and was astounded by what it is selling for on Amazon:

Why anyone would pay that price for a children’s book is beyond me, especially since there is a library binding edition for considerably less (OK, $500 less).  However, it has an Amazon Best Sellers Rank of No. 1,829,845 in Books, which is not great, but does show that a copy has sold.

Now, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, so I know that this price is certainly an aberration, or a result of repricers gone mad.  There are buyers, however, with more money than brains who purchase things like gold-plated staples ($175) and luxury Frisbees ($305). Therefore, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, although it should be, that some rich parent will splurge on their little pampered Einstein, and if they are going to spend the money anyway, it might as well be on my copy.  So, I listed it at a competitive, yet still grossly expensive, price.

Will it sell?  Probably (or definitely) not, but it doesn’t matter. The cost of the book was nothing, it costs nothing to list it on Amazon, and I’ve got nothing but time to wait for just the right (i.e., “rich”) buyer.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.