I had this problem one semester due to the book seller and one
semester due to the book buyer.  The solution was different for opposite
sides of the transaction.

      Sellers promise, quite often promising in good faith, delivery dates
that are not kept, especially for new editions.  UNO CBA now will not adopt
a new text during its first semester.  Our fall starts in August, and too
often the books do not exist when UNO classes started.  Now UNO CBA saves
the seller from the seller by refusing to believe a promised delivery of a
new edition by August 15.

      Buyers are risk adverse.  Since buyers can end up loosing on a class
that suffers substantial arbitrage.  I made it clear to the bookstore that
I could reduce that risk to zero by not sending any information about books
to the bookstore because I would send 100% of the students to other
sources.  I noted that this approach, however, was likely to generate
costs for the bookstore with no corresponding revenue opportunity.  I asked
which the bookstore preferred:  cost with revenue or cost without revenue?
The bookstore choose cost with revenue, and for my classes stocks as many
books as the forecasted enrollment.

      I do try to help the bookstore forecast sales so as to minimize the
risk of overstock.  (As an aside, today I visited the bookstore to check on
the quality of your joint forecast and found that we were off by 3 new
texts on an order that covered fall, spring, and summer.)  But, now, the
bookstore sees the largest risk as the risk of a customer (i.e., student)
who is very dissatisfied with the bookstore as a prime supplier in a
competitive market.

      In class I use the example of such arbitrage as an example of lawful
but not necessarily ethical behavior in the form of free riding.

Michael

Professor Michael J. O'Hara, J.D., Ph.D.  Editor, Journal of Legal
Economics
Finance, Banking, & Law Department        [log in to unmask]
College of Business Administration        (402) 554 - 2014 voice fax (402)
554 - 3825
Roskens Hall 502                    www.AAEFE.org
University of Nebraska at Omaha           www.JournalOfLegalEconomics.com
Omaha  NE  68182
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(402) 554 - 2823 voice  fax (402) 554 - 2680
http://cba.unomaha.edu/faculty/mohara/web/ohara.htm