Does Amazon pre-order books, or just order as needed?

[adettonvilleatyahoodotcom]

I've noticed that the Amazon listing for a Lulu book says "Only 4 left in stock, order soon!"   Does Amazon really keep books "in stock"?   (Since Lulu is a "print on demand" service, I was thinking Amazon would only order a book each time someone buys one.)

[Ken Anderson]

No.
Contrary to what some say.

[Peter May]

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Ken Anderson wrote:
No.
Contrary to what some say.

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Eh?

I am none the wiser.

[lotontech]

I doubt that anyone outside of Amazon can state for sure, not even Lulu. But it certainly looks like Amazon orders the first one 'on demand' but then stocks up a little to meet the next month's demand if the book seems like a reasonable seller.

Tony.

More tips and tricks in Book Publishing DIY at http://publishingdiy.blogspot.com/p/book.html

[kevinlomas]

Judging by what it says on Amazon at the side of even BOD books, such as "currently out of stock", Amazon do print some BOD books as stock. It keeps costs down and is no skin off the nose of a company who never made a profit for years while they spent money setting up a massive world-wide warehousing and distribution 'machine'. The wheels are already in place. I would imagine that their logistics and buying habits statistics are second to none too, and know exactly what to stock and what not to. But as Tony says, only they will know

[Bobbydarlo]

I'm a member of Author Central @ Amazon.com, and they've been very helpful in getting my book in stock. As was said previously, apparently they won't order the books unless interest is shown in them. Customer service have just emailed from Author Central confirming they will now be ordering some books. Can i recommend to anyone selling their books through amazon to join their Author Central?