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What should I know about selling on Amazon?
 

Is it profitable to sell on amazon? How are their fees? Are they strict on vero? Thanks a lot!

Amazon wil be quick to suspend you if you sell Vero items. If you are legit, you can do well on amazon depending on how much you paid for the items and sell them. The fees are high. The foot traffic is great.

Forget vero for starters. Be prepared to be 'under review'. Depending on
the catergory, you need to get approval B4 selling from amazon. They
are strict.

yes, they are strict and you can easily get suspended for stupid reasons.

Be ready for high fees for sure.

Here is a example from a resent item I sold on Amazon:
Item sold for..........$552.50
Shipping charge........$22.95
TOTAL...................$575.45

Amazon Fees.......$86.32 (15%)
My cost to ship........$14.52
Take Home............$474.61

Damn. 15%. I know that not all cats. are the same, such as electronics and computers are only 6%.

Books are best to sell on amazon. Unfortunately they've closed their doors to electronic products to be sold by a select group of sellers. You had get in the truck before they closed their door to the offer to sell everything. Non the less you get way more money for books on amazon.

Thanks everyone! Those fees are outrageous though, I think ill stick with ebay :)

I sell software. I get hit with the 15% commission, but traffic is great and prices are sometimes substantially higher than on eBay. For example, I can buy an item on eBay and turn around, sell it on Amazon and make 50% profit.

^^^ovidiu, I just tried that (not with software). WOW! Made up for low ebay sales.:thumb:

Yeah, thank God for Amazon, eBay is crud for software with their stupid selling limits and lowball buyers, but see my other thread in this forum. They are being VERY strict about listing against matching ASINs now...I just barely missed another reprimand, and it was Amazon' fault (they put bogus info in their own listing).

Can you drop ship on Amazon? I looked at their website and didn't find any info on that..

Do they make you wait for your money, like PayPal's 21 day hold: feedback & provide track number? If you sell on Amazon, do you ship out before you receive your money for it?

For a brand new account, they hold for 14 days. If you make the account and let it rest for 14 days, the hold expires. *Then* you start selling with the account. No hold. The 14 days starts counting immediately, not when you make the first sale.

Amazon will automatically dump your stash into your bank account once every 2 weeks. You can manually dump your stash 1 time every 24 hours.

You won't even see an order or receive notification until the buyer has paid for it. You are expected to ship within 2 business days of being paid.

So, you get the money up front. The only hold is if you sell during your first 14 days. (there's a way around this even, If I can remember how...)

I'm not sure if there is even a way to post a tracking number within the Amazon system. I haven't found it. I always send the tracking via email, and only if the buyer asks. Never been a problem.

Thanks VicVelcro, very useful info. I have bunch of books I don't need any more to sell..so I plan to start with books anyway. I tried them on Ebay, slashed the price 50% and still did not sell. Most of them are very expensive books for architects and designers I obtained during my college days, so I quit listing those on Ebay because of listing fees. From what I read on Amazon threads here my best bet is Amazon to sell those.

I also wonder about selling things that are custom made to order, as it may take 30-45 days for delivery...Not sure if even Ebay allows such listings.

I do know that they want things shipped within 2 business days. Not sure if they are strict, as regards custom goods.

Also, some categories require prior authorization to list within.

Whenever I have a question about listing, I call them. Very helpful people, as regards general selling questions.

i never ship until the cash has hit my bank account! been screwed too many times....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

True DAT!

:thumb:

They are very strict about requiring items to be shipped within 2 business days. That I know. I try to get out shipments same or next day.

ya,ya,ya...i tell em...PAY ME..THEN I SHIP!

I don't know how to let amazon know that I've shipped the item ?
I don't see any " Mark As Shipped " Option in my Amazon seller account page as in Ebay

there is no button for that...ship when you get paid my friend