On 25 Sep 2005 20:53:52 -0700, "The Historian"
wrote:

Mike Murray wrote:
I realize that Chess Cafe probably has
titles not available at Amazon.

For example, the Quarterly for Chess History and other publications by
Moravian.

Yup.

And if both stores were brick-and-mortar, folks browsing in ChessCafe
for the more esoteric and specialized stuff would be tempted to pick
up the more mainstream titles while they were in the store.

But, with a couple of mouse clicks, one can be in both Internet stores
simultaneously and it's minimal work to comparison shop for any given
title. So Amazon (or Barnes and Noble) can skim the cream.

Factoring in E-bay, and it's even tougher. I was on a nostalgia trip
not long ago and wanted to pick up one of the Windsor Castle chess
sets (a wood reproduction of a popular 1950s plastic set). Chess Cafe
had 'em on sale for $130 versus a "list price" of $160. I picked one
up on E-bay (new, from House of Staunton) for about $50, including
shipping and handling. A friend of mine got a new chess clock at
similar savings.