posted on November 30, 2001 03:55:32 PM new
2 days ago Amazon increased the shipping charges for buyers of books in the Amazon Marketplace for $2.25 per book to $3 something. Yet I've had 3 sales there yeaterday and today and I've been credited with the old rate.
What's up with that? Don't tell me they are pocketing the difference.
posted on November 30, 2001 04:03:04 PM new
i have not heard such increase in shipping credit,in fact i relisted an item today and it said 2.23.
but amzn has more options for buyers now,buyer can specify faster shipping by paying more and if so,the seller gets more,i think like 4.00 ???go thru the motion of listing an item and you will see it
posted on November 30, 2001 04:18:14 PM new
Stop Whining and click on YOUR ACCOUNT button. On the right hand side of the page is NEW SHIPPING RATES. Click on that and you'll see the new charges are $3.49 media Mail, and $4.99 for Priority per item.:
posted on November 30, 2001 05:23:56 PM new
I just got an answer back from Amazon. I've been ignorant all along. 1st off it was only Priority Mail that changed.
But what i learned made me want to barf. It seems that Amazon charges the BUYER $1.26 MORE than they pay the SELLER for shipping. So you get $2.23 to package and ship that 5 lb. book (that means you lose a couple bucks on shipping and packaging), while Amazon charges the buyer $3.49 per book and pockets another $1.26 in addition to their $1 plus 15%.
No biggie, you say? I say it is a biggie. Any smart shopper ads the sales price to the shipping price and compares that to where they can find the item elsewhere. It's that simple and it hurts sales and also my pocket.
posted on November 30, 2001 05:31:35 PM new
where does it say we will get more??
may be if buyer chooses priority ,then amzn has to give us at least what usps charges us for shipping priority,which will soon go up.
2.23 is a joke as my books are mostly thick hc ,amzn said built it into the price of the book,but easy said than done??
how???
posted on December 1, 2001 01:56:47 AM new
How to build it into the price? By not lowballing.
I, for one, do not mind Amazon keeping a portion of the shipping credit, because Amazon also provides the A-Z guarantee, which means when I ship something that never arrives, AMAZON will refund the buyer after 30 days. NOT ME! I also add a brief note in my "Shipping notifications" to buyers explaining why there is a difference in what they paid for shipping and what I am paying (Media Mail rate). As yet, have not had any complaints directed at me about being "overcharged", and twice have referred buyers to the A-Z guarantee when their book didn't arrive. With no hassle from Amazon, I might add. It's not perfect over there, but I sure do appreciate being able to sell there!
Happy Holidays, and good luck with your sales...
Verna (auctionmama at Amazon)
posted on December 1, 2001 07:24:43 AM new
i just sold a book on amzn marketplace and buyer specified expedited shipping,so amzn gave me a shipping credit of 4.35.
i also noticed when i relist a book that intl shipping credit is no longer 12.00,it is 8 dollars and something,how about that??
lowballing - i cannot afford to lowball anyone like those big discount booksellers!!
in case some of you do not notice-at least 1 discount bookseller sell its books on amzn 2 dollars more than its own website,that 15 % commission and pathetic shipping credit is the reason behind it.
but then you must marvel at amzn as a place where people come looking for books.
also buyer may consider shipping charge when price shopping for books,but on some websites,you may place an order,you never hear from the seller,and if you do,it is a message which said THE BOOK IS NO LONGER AVAilable.
alibris did that to me several times.
posted on December 1, 2001 07:29:27 AM new
amzn a-z program is good but if it happens too often,i will think amzn may evict the seller.
someone bot a book from me and claimed 34 pages have been hacked away,i refuse to refund but amzn did.
posted on December 1, 2001 07:39:10 AM new
"...Stop Whining and click on YOUR ACCOUNT button. On the right hand side of the page is NEW SHIPPING RATES. Click on that and you'll see the new charges are $3.49 media Mail, and $4.99 for Priority per item..."
---------
I'll have to take your word on this, because it's the weekend, and of course Amazon is down again, I haven't been able to access my seller account. (sigh)
posted on December 1, 2001 09:51:51 AM new
i have no problem with amzn site,yahoo is the problem du jour.
okay ,i received 2 orders today-first is expedited domestic shipping and i get 4.35.
another one is intle to japan,shipping is 8.95,it used to be 12.00.
they must be doing this to attract more intl buyers.
interesting note on lowballing-recently i just decide i am not going to play this game of lower and lower prices,and all my recent orders are high priced books. but then all my books are new,mint hc with dj.
posted on December 3, 2001 05:26:30 AM new
nnt-we are talking about amzn marketplace,a separate from amzn auction and zshop.
you can list a book along side with amzn 's books and other sellers' books ,find the book by isbn number and you will see what i mean.
amzn has made some changes,if amzn is selling this book which usually is an in print book,then you have to list your book as used,there are many categories of used books,so you can find one which suits your book.
if the book is out of print/not sold by amzn,then you can list your book as new.
the fee is 99 cents transaction and 15 % commission.
however you can open a merchant account for 39.99 and transaction fee will be waived.
your books will be auto relisted when it expires after so many days.
with merchant account,you effect has a zshop where books are listed on marketplace and other items such as gifts are listed as shop items,max is 40,000.
if all you sell is books.dvd.cd,video,and you think you sell 40 such items or more,then that 39.99 pro merchant account is for you,if you just sell one or two ,then it is expensive.
i have a promerchant account,but i dont sell 40 books,i have non books/dvd/cd in my zshop,they dont sell well enough to pay for the 39.99.
amzn is a good place for books only,sad but true.
that 40,000 items for 39.99 just let the merchants cram a lot of junks in their store.
also with this account,auction listing is free.
posted on December 3, 2001 05:35:32 AM new
amzn has always been charging 3.49 to buyer and giving 2.23 to seller ,nothing has changed in that formula.
what has changed is that now amzn offers buyer a choice of expedited shipping like usps priority for a higher fee and we get 4.49 or something.
as for intl shipping,it was 10 extra,now it is less/
so if you have heavy books,and you think an extra 8 dollars plus the built in factor is not enough,then block intl sales.
i have a book which costs me 19 dollars to ship by surface mail,and amzn gave me 12.23.
now with this new intl rate,this is definitely not worth selling to overseas buyers.
you cannot build intl shipping into the price of the book because if you do,you cannot compete for domestic sales.
