BookBaby POD (Print on Demand) services allow authors the opportunity to sell their books through major retailers, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, while avoiding the large upfront investment, and risks of printing and warehousing large quantities of books. This means that BookBaby prints to the demand of the retailers. Typically, retailers try to store a small number of books -- about 2 weeks worth of inventory -- in their warehouses so they can show a stocking status of “In Stock Ships Today.”
The retailers use complex algorithms to forecast their 2-week inventory requirements. Sometimes, the retailers will sell out of this inventory quicker than expected. Though the retailers continue to order from us regularly and we fulfill those orders promptly, there may be a short period where your books are out of stock. During this time, the retailer's websites will display a stocking status of “temporarily out of stock.” This message means just what it says, “temporary.”
Once a stocking status flips to “temporarily out of stock,” it usually takes 2-3 weeks for the stocking status to revert back to “In Stock Ships Today.” However, while the stocking status is set to “temporarily out of stock,” the Buy button is still present on your book listing page and buyers can still purchase your books. This process is not unique to BookBaby and is typical for retail sales. Even top sellers will sometimes show as “temporarily out of stock.”