posted on January 12, 2001 01:28:58 PM
I conduct about 5-10% of my auctions on Amazon. I often get a better price there for certain items than if I would sell them on eBay.
Anyways, I just got an e-mail from Amazon today stating they are forcing all their merchants to take "Amazon Payments". Add to that they also stated that to do this you will have to have an account from a bank in the US (which is kind of hard because I'm Canadian) and of course the "Amazon Payments" also take a further % cut depending on your selling price.
So not only are they in effect kicking non-US citizens from selling there they are also getting more of my profits in their greedy hands. Nice!
Selling on eBay is sounding a lot better. I'm now waiting for eBay to send me the same message stating are forcing it's sellers to take Billpoint.
posted on January 12, 2001 01:39:51 PM
As a buyer, I don't like Amazon Auctions either. At least at Ebay, if you don't get what you paid for, there is some backup: you can obtain the seller's contact details, and there is limited insurance cover.
I had a seller rip me off last year, paying by Amazon Payments. When I tried to get some information so that I could report her for internet fraud, would Amazon give me her details? Nope... so WTF are buyers to do?
And for insurance... They would only allow you to claim three times, and if you do multiple purchases from a single seller (as I did) you can lose your three "lives" in one fell swoop. And they don't cover your loss for postage - only the bid price.
I can live with the lack of insurance, or poor cover provided, but what I cannot abide is their lack of support in allowing me to pursue the seller through all possible legal channels. Amazon lets them hide behind a screen of anonymity - especially when using Amazon payments. You don't even get their proper name or address.
posted on January 12, 2001 03:03:16 PM
I still can't believe that amazon is forcing candians and other nationalities from their site. Ebay was able to allow billpoint for canadians why can't amazon ? I was one of their sellers that sold some items very high. and I was willing to start increasing my listings. Well , I guess it is the end of the line for me. (not suz23 on auctions).
posted on January 12, 2001 03:30:57 PM
There is no excuse for Amazon to do this to good customers. Please email Amazon and let them know how serious this is.
If they really want a US citizen only site, then lets give it to them. BUY Canadian!!
posted on January 12, 2001 04:00:55 PM
In a show of solidarity to my Canadian compadres, I fired off this polite missive to Amazon today:
"Just to let you know I'm not happy with these changes.
Requiring all sellers to use Amazon Payments and making them have a U.S. bank account and address will effectively eliminate all the good Canadian sellers (and other internationals) from the site.
And, with traffic down SINCE YOU TOOK THE AUCTIONS TAB OFF THE AMAZON HOMEPAGE (dumb), how can you justify imposing completion fees?
If you want to close down your Auction Site, JUST DO IT already. These "improvements" are only giving it a slow death.
It wasn't the AUCTIONS at Amazon that is requiring you to register for Amazon Payments----it is if you are a ZShop Merchant. You have to pay $40.00 a month to be a Zshop merchant
So canadians can still auction there without a USA address or banking account. Just can't do Zshop or Marketplace
Thank you for participating in Amazon.com Auctions. There are some
important changes we're about to roll out that will improve Auctions
for both you and your buyers. These improvements will be implemented
in the coming weeks, and we want to let you know in advance. We will
contact you again with firm dates prior to implementation.
In this message:
* Important Amazon.com Payments information
* Global seller preferences
* Completion fees
1. Important Amazon.com Payments Information
Buyers have shown that they overwhelmingly prefer using Amazon.com
Payments. To accommodate your buyers and simplify your selling
experience, we will be requiring all merchants to register for
Amazon.com Payments. This service makes it easier for buyers to
purchase your sold auction listings and for you to collect their
payments. Most of the items currently available on Amazon.com
Auctions are already "Amazon.com Payments enabled. "Click below for
all the relevant details pertaining to Amazon.com Payments:
(URL..)
Or register for your Payments Account today (if you're not already
Amazon.com Payments enabled):
(URL...)
Here are several very important things to note:
a) In order to be eligible for Amazon.com Payments, you must have
access to a U.S. address and a U.S. bank account.
b) You will still be able to accept alternative payment methods,
such as credit card through a merchant account, check, money
order, and escrow.
c) Because Amazon.com Payments is limited to $2,500 per transaction,
items you sell above that amount will require an alternate
payment method. All items sold below that amount will be
available to buyers via Amazon.com Payments (as well as other
payment methods you choose to accept)."
Then, it went on about the other stuff. So, it will apply to Amazon Auctions, though they don't say when.
posted on January 12, 2001 05:27:55 PM
I got this letter too - addressed to Amazon.com Merchant - but I only sell at the Marketplace. I have never auctioned there nor do I have a Z shop account.
posted on January 12, 2001 07:46:05 PM
Its great to hear some are emailing Amazon and giving them a word or two!
My email from Amazon was addressed as follows:
Dear Amazon.com Auction Seller, (so it was intended for all)
I havent sold there since August. I was moving a few books and some other stuff that would not sell on eBay, but stopped listing when Amazon removed the auction tab on the homepage.
Clearly the change in policies that Amazon has made are designed to provide a more uniform interface for the Amazon customer. They do not wish to alienate this segment of their customer base, the retail consumer; but they are not willing to put into place the infrastructure necessary to include international auction sellers who they consider a totally "insignificant" segment of their customer base.
posted on January 12, 2001 10:04:07 PM
I never thought eBay was all that bad. I just decided to expand to selling on Yahoo last week (the timing was impeccable, mere hours before the insertion fees came into effect). I though later this month I would also expand to Amazon, but I guess not now, I'm a Canadian resident too.
It's bad enough having to put up with people who are reluctant to deal with Canadians, many would rather buy only from US sellers. PayPal only recently started to accept Canadaian (an other "international" customers).
Canadians have enough obstacles to overcome as it, we don't need more! I'm sure living in Montréal doesn't help. It seems to have the dubious distinction as fraud central, not to mention some people just don't like Québecers. (ta***nac!)
posted on January 13, 2001 06:03:52 AM
Well I wouldn't worry about it to much. A few days ago I was listening to the finicial news and one of the CEO's from overstock.com said they expect very much to be buying Amazon merchandise out by the summer (I give it until the fall). overstock buys out companies that can't make it. Even though amazon is still one of the most known sites on the net the numbers aren't all that good. They put their hands into to many pots. I used to be a regular shooper there when they first opened then the went into every thing else let the book part go down in quality etc. . . and started to pull stuff like this.
I hope that overstock is wrong and that somehow what they are doing has a postive benefit for all over the long run.
It really doesn't seem right they are forcing you to take their payments. I am sure of they don't change it they will lose a lot of buyers.
posted on January 13, 2001 06:43:28 AM
I got that stupid email, too. None of it had anything to do with me, since I am only a Marketplace Seller, and nothing is changing in that regard. We have always had to accept Amazon Payments, and they are still closing our listings after 30 days. I was wondering why on earth they felt the need to send it to me. I can't figure out why Amazon is doing this to auction sellers. Their auction site was having enough problems without their forcing out sellers who don't have an American bank account. It seems so darn *small* for a company that wants to be your global marketplace to insist that all sellers have a US bank account!
posted on January 13, 2001 09:32:33 AM
I unregistered with Amazon.com and registered with Amazon.co.uk. I dont mind dealing with pounds sterling - anyways most of my Amazon customers were in Europe in the first place.
Im pretty sure that Amazon.com payments are not required at that site and the auction listings are currently free. They also have a much stricter spam policy- maybe the junk mail will stop.
