Like many online retailers, PoolDawg sells on Amazon.  The way that Amazon seems to work creates an interesting dilemma.  In order to sell more on Amazon, you have to get your listing in the so called “buy box”.  If there are 10 stores selling the same product, the store who’s listed in the buy box with their one click checkout will get the lion’s share of the sales.  The problem though is that the buy box seems to be controlled by the store who offers the lowest price.  So, in order to get the buy box, you need to continually lower your price and stay ahead of the competition.

The question though is whether or not its worth it.  In the billiards business, margins are already thin.  When you get into a price war and then work in Amazon’s commission, you have to wonder at what point you should just give up the sale to your competitor.

On the 2009 Bowl front, I ran my record to 5-6 with two of my three picks from yesterday covering the spread.  In today’s coin flip game, I’ll go with Louisiana Tech -2 over Northern Illinois and see if I can get back to .500.