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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

Thanks :peace:
But so , how can amazon know if I ship out the item within 2 days as their Policy or not :bounce:

I wanted to list some books today I wanted sold on Amazon.... I type in the name of the book - it finds it in Amazon, but there on the right side it says something like "Sorry, you are not authorized to sell this item? Why? " and than I clicked on "why", but books are not mentioned as I would need to ask for authorization? I tried to find a phone number I can call Amazon and ask about that, but can't find it.. What do I do? Thanks..

they don't unless there is a claim. if the item is still in transit at the time of the not received claim and you shipped it out late...they will take your money. claims can't be done until after 20 days of purchase. now if they paid for express shipping, then you must comply or deal with amazon's wrath if the buyer complained.

i never experienced this, but you can try surfing around for more info on their site or call their toll free number (i don't know it off hand). my guess....most likely you will not be given permission to sell that item anyway.

But why? Those are just nice hardcover books I had for sometime now.. Main reason I signed up for Amazon was because I can get probably more than on Ebay.. I thought Amazon was initially ALL ABOUT selling books....

Amazon approves some sellers to have the run of most, if not all, of their site. You probably can't sell the book for the following reasons. The book and condition (new) may be a restricted item available for sale by pre-approved sellers or you are in Seller Central. Generally, only Marketplace sellers can list media items. If you are in Seller Central (where you're paying the $39.95 monthly fee), you can call or email them to get permission to operate a Seller Central and a Marketplace account. The Marketplace account would be restricted to selling media items only, like books and nothing else

Amazon is requiring authorization now for certain book categories, I believe mostly in the collectible book arena.

Thank you guys for the info. Much more clear now with the whole thing...

I registered a new account and added a credit card that had like 1 dollar on it. So they couldnt charge me their redicilous 39.99 fee. They canceled my account after 20 days and said if I gave them another credit card that my seller account would be re activated. Anyone done this. Would hate to get another vcc and amazon decides to stiff me.

That's because you had subscribed to their Pro Merchant Plan , the monthly subscription fee is $39.99

Well, I wish I'd known about the 'collectible book' issue. My account is now suspended because ONE of my books was listed as a collectible. Been listed for quite some time. Today, I get the email notification that my wonderful account is now kaput! The book was a genuine collectible and not a recent addition to my inventory. It's been there. I never received any official notice about any change for book categories. I never received any advance warning to amend or remove the item.

Aaarrrrrgh!

ffs, I just have the same thing. A newish account pffft.This is suxs. Book is hardly read :rant::pout:

Yea me too.... I am determined to list some 20 books, almost new, all hard cover books I spent a fortune at one time. But no, wouldn't let me. Than I spent about two hours to find Amazon contact number, but NO again , can't do that any more. Tel. number nowhere to be found!They give you two options:

1.)If you want to talk to them on the phone, click here because they know who you are and they will call you. You can chose the time, like right now, in five minutes, or whatever. So, I chose "right now" and indeed.... the phone robot rings me immediately. But than, no live person.. Robot keeps on asking me if I am calling about my suspended account to press #1, ( For God's sake, I just signed on two days ago for the first time, EVER!) or all other issues press #3. So I press #3 and nothing happens again, but every 10 seconds robot keeps on throwing the same stupid question at me: "If you are calling about suspended account press 1...All other issues press 3". So, every d*** 10 seconds I kept pressing number 3 on my phone.

After about 7 minutes of this torture, I was ready to throw my phone out of window or "kill someone".. lol. So, it was better that I hang up and go for the choice number 2.................

2.) which was writing them an email about my problem, so I did.

Today I receive the response to my email where I asked WHY is that I can't sell darn (I didn't say "darn") books? They do not belong in their stupid collectibles nor are the first edition books..Anyway, this is what I get:

Greetings,

Because you are in our Merchant program, your concerns are best addressed by our Technical Account Management team. Normally, you would contact them by logging into Seller Central with your e-mail address and password combination, clicking "Get technical support," and using the "Contact Us" form.

However, since you no longer have the password for your Merchant account, you can go to this Password Assistance page to reset it:

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/...ord-email.html

Enter your e-mail address and click "Continue." You will receive an e-mail containing a personalized link. Click the link, enter your new password twice, and click "Submit your password." Your new password will be effective immediately.

If you are unable to reset your password, click the link below, select the topic "Configure my account settings," and fill out the rest of the form. Include your phone number, your time zone, and the best times to call (between the hours of 5am-6pm Monday-Friday, or 7:30am-4:30pm Saturday and Sunday, Pacific time).

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/contact.html

A representative from the Technical Account Management team will call you, ask a few security questions, and reset your password for you. For security reasons, all Seller Central password issues that cannot be resolved using online Password Assistance, must be resolved over the phone.

Best regards,

Krishna
Amazon.com Seller Support
Check your seller account: http://www.amazon.com/seller-account

Please note: this e-mail was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming e-mail. Please do not reply to this message.

To contact us again about this issue, please use the Contact Us form using the following link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/conta...caseId=7896631

I am starting to think that Amazon is Ebay's little sister. WTH!!!!:hellBoy:
And why am I in their Merchant program? I don't want to be there, and don't know you selected this for me, cause I didn't. I just had a question about why I can not sell my books and they are having me re-setting passwords, and all kinds of nonsense! This is like they don't care and they are not listening!!!!! I am DONE with Amazon before I ever started! Hellooo????

Well, everything in the post above mine is quite surprising to me. I've never had any difficulty with their telephone system. I've never really had any huge problems at all, prior to today.

I'm wondering now if there have been recent management changes at Amazon.

I'll be persuing my own problem the same way I've dealt with minor issues in the past. I'll post back here when I have anything substantial to contribute.

I am completely new to Amazon and it takes hours for newbie to read page after page about selling on Amazon. The more I read, the more confused I get... They should have basic steps for beginners. I am going to leave it alone for few days until I cool off. But I will tell them how I know they are suspending accounts just like Ebay - for nothing and with no warning, and that I must sell those books and someone over there, so help me God will have to email me instructions and approve me or whatever, or else!:attention:

Hang in there Girl:yar:friend! When I fianly get hold of them, I plan to have real frank talk with them.. Will keep you posted...:pout:

Will amazon temporary suspend every new seller account for verification ? I read it from an amazon community and don't know if It's true or not

Not really i just posted on another amazon forum that it just happened to me my last amazon account was suspended today , and never got revised.i started really slow, and kept it that way for , well , until 1 month ago.
1st month sold $200
2----'' '' '' '' $500
3-----'' ''' '' '' 800
4-------''=======1500
5------------------1700
6---------------------3900
that's when i got naruud