Divide By Zero - a blog by Kamran Ayub

A portion of the books I sold today on Amazon were bought by a customer named, "Tyson Motsinger." Since I didn't believe someone could have a name that stupid, I looked up the specified address on Google Maps. Strange, doesn't exist. Not only that but the names of the shipee was different on each order.

A quick Google search of the name turns up this thread. Lo and behold, my instincts proved correct. It's a company, Nebraska Book Company. They apparently have a phone number you can call to opt out of their bot-using tactics. Tomorrow I will give them a call.

From reading the various comments in-between the flaming, I think that if you sell them your book exactly as you described it and with the exact ISBN, you should be okay. One of the books I bought would have probably made them scam me because it's the International Edition but I listed it under the US edition's ISBN. A regular person might not have a problem because they read the comments, but a bot doesn't so the company would assume it's the exact copy that's listed.

Anyway, once I opt-out, I'll relist my books. These kinds of tactics are really annoying and should not be allowed.

There seems to be an opt out page,

http://www.selleroptout.com/optout.aspx?id=

The ID value seems to be the order ID (xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx) and then a 'pxxxxxx' but I can't figure out what the x numbers are for after the 'p.'

What's weird is that the shipping address is Athens, Ohio, but the company is located here:

Nebraska Book Company, Inc.
4700 South 19th Street
Lincoln, NE 68512
US

It doesn't make much sense.

For people who've been scammed by this company, here's a great way to get back at them. They are a part of the Better Business Bureau. Send a complaint their way, they are required to respond. If enough of you guys complain, I'm sure some action will be taken.

File a complaint here

When it asks you to search for the company, use this phone number. It's the Administrative Contact phone on their WHOIS domain record:

402-421-7300

I can't contact them because I didn't technically do business with them. But some of you have been scammed, insofar as they didn't return the book but made you refund them. You should file a complaint. That will get their attention. Apparently this company does a lot of business.