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‘The $700 Used Book’: Yet one more argument for ‘E’?
October 15, 2006 | 4:50 am
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By David Rothman
Investors are paying $700 and up for a used book written by Seth Klarman, a hedge fund manager. Reports BizWeek: “His 1991 work, Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor, came and went without much notice at the time and is long out of print. Klarman holds the copyright but has never revised or even reprinted it.” I’d love to have some ESP right now to figure out the man and his motives. What we know, objectively, is that from February 1983 through the end of June 2006, Klarman’s fund achieved a cumulative return of 6,133 percent after fees.
So would this be cheaper as an e-book? Who knows? As rights owner, Klarman perhaps could withhold authorized e-copies from the market. Enter another factor, however. I wonder if even now some pirates aren’t eagerly scanning the paper edition to bring the price to $0. All the DRM in the world couldn’t prevent that from happening. In fact, now that BizWeek has publicized the title, I’d be shocked if pirates did not reproduce the $700+ book. Meanwhile Klarman fans can always check the local library.
(Found via LISNews.)
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Comments:
Klarman’s used book is a fine example of the exorbitant costs of some textual items. But it is atypical because contending buyers probably believe that the book contains quasi-magical insights into investing. There are other items that are inordinately expensive and that do not implicitly promise untold riches. I am not referring to first-edition volumes prized by collectors. I am referring to audiobooks that have been abandoned by publishers.
Suppose you would like to listen to “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut. This audiobook is no longer available from its original purveyor Books-on-Tape. When searching for this title a few months ago the only deal I could find was at a Half.com Ebay store charging $197.50. Yet, an MP3 version of the work is available through pirate channels at no cost except perhaps scruples for some. Avoiding the pirate realm I have been able to obtain audiobooks via interlibrary loan that were listed at premium prices on internet websites.