Recently, a friend told me she had seen my newest book, "CROSLEY: Two Brothers and a Business Empire that Transformed the Nation," offered for sale as a used book at Amazon.com before it was available in stores. (Actually, it was a couple of weeks before the book was printed.)

"How can they do that?" she asked in an indignant tone. "How can someone offer a used copy of a book that hasn't even been published yet?"

There are several answers to that question, answers that also address the question of why new books and other brand-new products - such as DVDs and CDs - are offered as "used" on eBay.

The first answer is that bannering the book with "used" is a marketing ploy. Potential buyers browsing eBay, Amazon, or just about any online merchant usually equate "used" with "lower price." And where books and other media products are concerned, being used doesn't necessarily mean of lesser value.

(This also answers the question, "Why on Earth would someone offer new merchandise as "used?" and will give you sellers an idea or two.)

Perhaps more frequently, being able to buy an item online before it appears in stores has to do with its release date. Products are usually shipped well in advance of their release date - as soon as possible after they are printed, assembled, or otherwise created - and there are both online and offline sellers who don't wait for the release date to start selling.

Then there are review copies - copies of products sent out by publishers to potential reviewers anywhere from a few weeks to several months before they are available in stores. Having been a software and book reviewer back in the 1980s, I can tell you that it is possible to amass review copies by the score, or even hundreds. Review copies are provided with the tacit understanding that they will not be sold, but many reviewers sell them anyway. If the reviewer is one who gets swamped by review copies, some of the copies for sale are unread. Not every review copy sold online comes direct from the reviewer; some are offered by sellers who know reviewers and buy in bulk or receive review copies as gifts. (Buyers take note: where books are involved, what you get may well be the same as if you bought the book new.)

As for how someone got a copy of my CROSLEY book (http://digbig.com/4qnfc) before it was printed ... they didn't. The sellers in question were offering the book in anticipation of receiving new copies from a wholesaler (or a reviewer). They figured on buyers not noticing the extra shipping and handling time. There's obvious benefit in offering a product before anyone else. And of course the sellers in question were goosing the market with the "used" banner.