Helping Publishers Sell More Books in More Ways
Amazon Marketplace: Myths and Making Money With It
Thank you to Creative Minds Press for providing the content for this FAQ
I see these questions a lot:
"Why is Amazon allowing people to sell used books on my
selling site?"
"How did these people get my books when they've just been released?"
"One of my review copies (galley or finished
copy) is being sold on Amazon--what can I do about it?"
Well, I think I can answer those, and a couple more.
First, let's define terms. A "Marketplace" seller is someone
who is selling just a few items on Amazon. They don't do a
lot of business. A "Z-Shop" is a dedicated on-line and/or
brick and mortar store with an Amazon presence (and probably
Half.com and eBay as well). For ease of use, we'll refer to all of
these sellers as "Marketplace sellers."
Now, say you sell some books to a bookstore that retails used and
new books. You drop by one day and discover they have a worn copy
of your book at a discounted price shelved right next to a shiny
new one being sold at full price. That doesn't bother you, does it?
You know that people who like new books are going to buy the new
one. Folks who like a deal will buy the slightly scuffed one. At
one point or another, the scuffed one got paid for, so you aren't
out any money. You could wish everyone bought new, but they
don't.
Same thing with the Marketplace system. Yes, we'd all prefer
that Amazon hadn't done this, but there's a brisk business
in used books--always has been, always will be. This is a situation
where they are fulfilling a market demand. This works out even
better for you than the bookstore example above: you get paid twice
for every used book sold. Somewhere along the line you sold the
book--perhaps directly to that Marketplace seller. If the
buyer goes through your website link to buy your book from them
(you have to be an Amazon Associate to do this) you'll get
2.5% of the sale of that book.
Now, how did those little devils get your book new? It is with 98%
surety that I tell you they got the book through Baker
& Taylor or Ingram. Some
booksellers specialize in new release books on the internet. They
subscribe to one or both wholesalers' new releases program; when a
new book comes out, they buy it or simply list it, opting to
purchase the book only when they have an order. They can sell for
lower because they aren't paying the 55% you are. BUT, they paid
for the book. It's sold and you got the money! Don't worry about
it. And, as I said, you often get a percentage of their sale. You
really do get the last laugh.
What about those galleys, advanced reading
copies and review
copies that show up on the Marketplace? Well
friends, those are flat illegal in the Amazon scheme of
things. When Marketplace vendors sign the contract to sell
on Amazon, one of the things they promise is never to sell galleys
or review copies of books. You have every right to zip off an
e-mail demanding that the book is withdrawn or you will report the
violation to Amazon (perfect security is not an Amazon hallmark).
Don't write an angry righteous letter—they probably don't even know
what they're doing is wrong. Compose a businesslike e-mail calmly
explaining the consequences of their actions. Nine times out of
ten, the offending book will disappear from your Amazon page
within a day, sometimes sooner. (See this part of the
website for what to quote in your letter.)
Now, let's make some money! I don't know about you, but I end up
with a small percentage of my books getting dinged in transit,
sometimes I get returns that are scuffed and once I had a fair
amount of books left over from a previous edition. Shazam! I became
an Amazon Marketplace seller! Instead of filling up a
landfill with unwanted books, I turned my trash books into
cash!
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Thank you to Creative Minds Press for providing the content for this FAQ
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