Forum

selling books on amazon
 

I have a friend studying in singapore, and she has access to a lot of university textbooks for much cheaper prices. For example I purchased 3 texbooks required for my studies and they are page for page identical to what is available in the college bookstore. However I paid her 30$ for the book and my bookstore wants 150$.

The other difference is that the international book is softcover and different ISBN number.

Can I get banned for selling these books on amazon? I don't want to buy 50 books and be stuck with them...

I have sold a few textbooks from my last year of study, but not international edition. So I do have some feedback :)

You probably can do it, but you will have to enter all of the info and pics yourself.
I think if you word your listings correctly it would work and would probably a nice little income source for you...
Good Luck!

Amazon has a policy that disallows this.

International/Foreign Edition Textbooks: Sometimes softcover, these textbooks may have "IE" printed on the spine, or the front cover may contain "International Edition" markings. This information will also appear on the title page of the book. International Editions of textbooks that publishers have not authorized for sale in the US may not be listed for sale on Amazon.com.


The thing is, manufacturers have been pricing things differently for different markets. In the USA they rape us, making us pay the highest prices in the world. For years this was fine, but the internet has allowed people to see these price disparities and the manufacturers ABSOLUTELY HATE IT! So, they use their clout with Amazon to make sure that the $30 editions stay outside the USA, forcing you to pay $150 for the book.

Drug manufacturers do the same thing. Of course the textbook publishers say it is not about money, it is a quality issue and the drug manufacturers say that importing their drugs from Canada is unsafe. Of course, it is never about the money! Yeah, right....

Ink cartridge manufacturers have tried to stop the sale of compatible ink cartridges by placing a microchip in each one, then claiming that to circumvent it was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Of course, they claim the real issue is compatability.

Of course, all of this is complete bullsh*t!

It IS all about the money.

Textbook publishers have also claimed it is illegal to sell international edition textbooks in the US, but the law is not clear on that yet. But Amazon and Half (and probably eBay) all have rules against selling these.

In the future, this will change as the people won't stand for it - especially as our coutry enters a long period of economic decline.

But for now, you cannot sell them on Amazon.

so.. hypothetically.. if I was to just list the american ISBN number and sell it as local version.. would they have any way to detect this? I guess only one way to find out...

You could do that, but you risk a customer complaining to Amazon.

I would try this on a new stealth account, so that if it burns it does not hurt as much.

Agree with jeffweico - you could try a dabble on Amazon. People might buy it and keep it without problems.

BUT, remember that if a customer does complain, he will be covered by the A-to-Z claim and you will be out both the money AND your book. I would wager you would get through a few sales but people in general want the quality they paid for.

Depends on the book and your target clients of course.

Great advice jeffweico, I was unaware of the policy

Info from a dealer
 

You can be banned from Amazon for selling International Edition text books. I know because I sold them for years, and was banned. That being said, it is a lucrative market if you know what you are doing.
Basically there are 2 versions: UK color editions (most sellers buy in Singapore or Europe) and Indian editions (black and white on cheaper paper).
Publishers will not ship to the United States. Some online stores will but charge outrageous shipping charges. Freelance dealers will sell to you but most are either incompetent or downright crooked.
Sooner or later all American sellers fail, because they have no idea what they are doing. They are all drop shippers and keep nothing in inventory. They are amateurs.
Shipping is a problem because if you don't have your own shipper you have to rely on UPS etc...this gets expensive. You also have to acquire your titles and get them to your shipper --- good luck on that one....
Any book dealer worth his salt keeps an inventory in stock. The way to sell (books as with anything) is to keep a very high feedback. If you have your own inventory, you have control and can keep a high feedback. Amazon could well leave you alone for a very long time.
The book business is a game. You either love it or you don't. It is different from selling any other commodity, because it has many secrets. Dealers do not share that knowledge (I know I don't) with anyone.
My advice for anyone contemplating selling these titles is: do your home work. Do not drop ship or you will fail. keep a very high feedback.
I am contemplating getting back into the game as a wholesaler(especially with the nonsense amazon is pulling now) I still have all my contacts and may well be open to business suggestions. If anyone is interested in opening a dialogue, please let me know.....

This is a high risk category, and one complaint will most likely give you the boot as a new seller.

You are correct, there is risk involved. it falls under the "gray market area" All sellers get nailed eventually. Especially drop shippers, they never last long.

Dropshipping on cheap imported books might be troublesome, I dropship genuine retail books and I do very well out of it.