Why do the lead times for book availability vary at online booksellers?
Most online retailers calculate availability messages based on the physical inventory of a book, either in their own warehouses or at the warehouse of a distributor or wholesaler. All iUniverse books are printed on demand. Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.com do not maintain an inventory of our titles. The availability message that online retailers display for a title is based upon information automatically fed from book wholesalers. If there is stock in a wholesale warehouse, online retailers will show a short delivery time, usually two to three days. When there isn’t a physical copy of a book on the shelf at a wholesaler, the delivery time will be longer, or may show as being unavailable. This will happen infrequently and generally changes within a few days. As inventory at book wholesalers change based on sales, availability messages may change. Keep in mind that availability messages at online retailers indicate “worst case scenarios.” In order to ensure these businesses meet customer
