Tried to list Michael Jackson on the River...not authorized?

SickandTired067 · #1 07-09-2009

Anyone know a get/go around for this? I can't understand why I can't list my MJ stuff...dvds, cds, etc.? It's not in the preapproved category, so I don't know why when I go to list, I get "you are not authorized to list here".

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

GreenBean · #2 07-09-2009

Where did you try to list? Amazon or ebay?

SickandTired067 · #3 07-10-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenBean

Where did you try to list? Amazon or ebay?

tried to list on Amazon

ovidiu · #4 07-10-2009

Amazon's going on a restricted listing spree. For example, I am no longer able to list against certain top-selling software items in the software category. According to customer service dopes, this was an arbitrary decision by the category manager. Most likely, Amazon is preventing too many people from coming in with lower prices and undercutting their profits.

#5 07-10-2009

Boy, the hits just keep on coming! Are they even posting which categories are being added to the pre-auth list? I lost my Amazon about 2 months ago because they changed the status of one book to 'collector's item' and never told anyone. I know that about 20 of us with that book got suspended forever, even though we had the book listed for a long time prior to the undocumented change. No appeal, no reprieve.

SickandTired067 · #6 07-10-2009

Wow...just wow:(

Anyone succeed or "try" getting approved to list with a "stealth" account? I just wonder if it is like getting a merchant account approved with ebay or is it just as simple as giving them your projected sales revenue, website, other selling sites, etc.

Thanks again.

GreenBean · #7 07-10-2009

Also with MJ items, the Amazon server went into meltdown. It froze 'cos of buyers looking for the items. So to reward the 'sellers', they put a limit on who could sell them. As usual, not replying to emails as well

ovidiu · #8 07-10-2009

You really can't get added to the pre-approved list, stealth or not. This is from their email, when I inquired about the Windows XP Pro SP2 listing that I am only approved to sell as "used-very good" (that is very arbitrary, no kidding):

"Thank you for your inquiry to Amazon Services. The ASIN that you provided is listed among a few other software items that are restricted to sell as new. This means that unless you were pre-approved by the manufacturer and Amazon.com you will not be able to list these items. There is no process for becoming approved, and this has been set forth by the category manager. This doesn't have anything to do with negative performance or anything like that, it's just belonging to a group software items that is limited on Amazon.com. Sometimes best-selling items are placed this way to regulate the distribution. Keep in mind that you didn't do anything wrong, and you will be able to continue selling when the item(s) become open again."

Also bear in mind that this "restricted as new" thing is not the whole truth. For example, I recently purchased a Photoshop CS4 to resell, but when I tried to list it, the entire ASIN is restricted. I cannot list this one in any manner, new or used. As far as I can tell, only the big brick & mortar stores have approval to list against these restricted ASINs.

#9 07-10-2009

Man, they are turning into so much

over there, lately. Regulate WinXP (?)!

ovidiu · #10 07-10-2009

Notice how much self-contradicting BS the email I got has in it. First off, I need to be pre-approved by both the manufacturer (Microsoft has no such process, btw), and Amazon, but wait! There's no actual process for any of this. It's just pure old-fashioned nepotism, I guess. I'm sure the "category manager" (is that now a synonym for moron?) has approved all his friends and family, though.

ovidiu · #11 07-11-2009

To be honest, though, I'm not surprised Amazon went this route. I strongly suspect they got tired of the following two types of idiots:

1. Idiots who were selling the chinese bootlegs of adobe and microsoft software and causing all kinds of headaches for Amazon.

2. Idiots who got software for free at work and sold it for $50 on Amazon, severely undercutting everyone else. It would have eventually started looking like the book categories...a bunch of losers selling $500 software for 1 cent + 3.99 shipping. That's not smart competition, it's just plain retarded.

Even though it has affected my bottom line somewhat, I can't help but take a perverse sense of pleasure in the fact that Idiots 1 and 2 are blocked out of their previous playing ground on Amazon.

#12 07-11-2009

Yep, I think you are right at least as regards #2. Those sellers don't comprehend that if they keep the price up to market value, they make more than by selling very low.

Example: If I sell my XP for $50 and make 10 sales, I get 500, sure. But, if I set my price at $149 and sell 5 units, I get 745 and still have 5 units left to sell later.

If those items were obtained at say $39 per pc, the items priced at 50 would give me net profit of 110 +- fees. But the items priced at 149 would give me profit of 550 for half inventory or 1100 if I sold all 10. Looks like 10x the money, to me - by not cutting the sale price to 1/3.

If I were to set my price just 11 higher than the original price of 50, I double my profit.

People who destroy a market should be removed. If they don't comprehend economics, they do not belong in the game.

SickandTired067 · #13 07-12-2009

Thanks to you all for your replies. Seems as I thought...I'll have to wait until profits fade for Amazon before they "open" the listing:( Bullcocky! lol...oh well. Thanks again

ovidiu · #14 07-12-2009

For software anyway, you'll need to wait until the new versions come out. They have locked all Adobe CS4 stuff and some new MS stuff (but not all). CS5 is coming out in October, which is probably when Adobe will release the restriction.

nobody999 · #15 07-13-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by ovidiu

You really can't get added to the pre-approved list, stealth or not. This is from their email, when I inquired about the Windows XP Pro SP2 listing that I am only approved to sell as "used-very good" (that is very arbitrary, no kidding):

"Thank you for your inquiry to Amazon Services. The ASIN that you provided is listed among a few other software items that are restricted to sell as new. This means that unless you were pre-approved by the manufacturer and Amazon.com you will not be able to list these items. There is no process for becoming approved, and this has been set forth by the category manager. This doesn't have anything to do with negative performance or anything like that, it's just belonging to a group software items that is limited on Amazon.com. Sometimes best-selling items are placed this way to regulate the distribution. Keep in mind that you didn't do anything wrong, and you will be able to continue selling when the item(s) become open again."

Also bear in mind that this "restricted as new" thing is not the whole truth. For example, I recently purchased a Photoshop CS4 to resell, but when I tried to list it, the entire ASIN is restricted. I cannot list this one in any manner, new or used. As far as I can tell, only the big brick & mortar stores have approval to list against these restricted ASINs.

sounds like your selling ⊗⊗⊗⊗

ovidiu · #16 07-13-2009

I do not sell ⊗⊗⊗⊗, have never done so, and strongly disapprove of it. A couple idiots doing it is part of the reason Amazon went ahead and restricted all these categories in the first place.

GreenBean · #17 07-13-2009

I don't think I am going too far off the point to say that 3 years ago Amazon had a very good selling platform. Then as ebay tightened its stranglehold sellers started to try to make their fortune with Amazon.
imo, this has been at the expense of sellers whose items are not ⊗⊗⊗⊗.

ovidiu · #18 07-13-2009

No kidding, Greenbean.

#19 07-14-2009

Yep. The ebay exodus has driven sellers to the Amazon marketplace. The first wave was a significant % scammers. You know, rats leaving the sinking ship. So Amazon started having to deal with issues more often than they had in the past. Things tightened down. Each wave out of ebay has brought certain problems to Amazon.

If you spend half of one day on a weekend and just pick an item then watch it for an hour or even less, you can tell who was previously a shifty ebay seller. You often tell just by reading what people put in the comment line for their product notes.

ovidiu · #20 07-14-2009

You're right, I can usually tell the "trying to hide something" listings in the categories I frequent. Almost always from brand new sellers.

cardfelon · #21 04-16-2010

Ran across this same thing today. I have a item that i have sold on this Amazon account several times over the last month and when I listed it today it showed that the listing was blocked. But when I looked at the listings for sale it had several people selling this same item whom were brand new and had no feedback at all. Any suggestions on how to get around this? Thanks!

Amazombie · #22 04-17-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardfelon

Ran across this same thing today. I have a item that i have sold on this Amazon account several times over the last month and when I listed it today it showed that the listing was blocked. But when I looked at the listings for sale it had several people selling this same item whom were brand new and had no feedback at all. Any suggestions on how to get around this? Thanks!

I had a similar issue but amazon went a step further and blocked my account for an item I listed.

I had to wait a few weeks for things to settle down on that item and once I saw there were a few new sellers selling into that catagory I was able to relist/sell without any issues.

I think you may only need 1 feedback on your account to get back on that catagory.