Power Sellers Unite

realjoycreations · Joined: 18 Jul 2011 Posts: 6

Hello, I have been researching selling some of my products on amazon.com,
though I am not quite sure how it all works yet.
Seems quite complex....still have to study it out a bit.

Just wondered if anyone else has sold their own products through amazon, and how it worked for you.

I am a little confused by the fees.

I gather there are several different options; you can have amazon ship the item to your customer, or you can ship the item yourself...etc, etc.

Then I gather you have to pay amazon something as well, everytime you sell a product.

The part that seems appealing is that amazon is such a huge marketplace and seems like they get tons of traffic everyday, so seems like it might be good exposure?

Any ideas, or your experience with amazon would be appreciated
Thanks everyone!

realjoycreations

:type:

portocall · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 157

I sell at Amazon, mostly books and media.

The fee structure is very confusing there. Basically, you can join for $40 a month, this allows you to create your own listings, get some reports and you don't have to pay the .99 cents per sale. This is good if you have alot of items or if you have unusual stuff that you need a good listing for. If you use Amazon's stock listings, it can be changed by another seller at any time, and if you're not a member, you have to go with the stock listing. I find it extremely frustrating and irritating to write a nice description and put up a nice photo, only to have it changed by Amazon cataloging or another seller.

The fees vary per category - for books it's 15 % of the sale price (plus .99 cents if you're not a member) So a $10.00 book sale would be $2.49 in fees. It's the highest fees out there - although ebay is pretty close now, and if you count relisting fees at ebay, they're REAL close now.
But, at Amazon I can get easily 20% more per item. I can get $12. for the same book that sells on ebay for $10. So the extra fees, for me anyway, are worth it. If you don't join and go with paying the .99 cents per item you can basically list on Amazon for free. No up front costs. Listing there takes less time for me, cause I list and forget it til it sells (I check my listings now and then, but don't have to relist etc like ebay)

Also, you don't have to deal with collecting payment at Amazon. They collect from the buer, take their fees and send a message to the seller to ship the item.

The shipping charges at Amazon are very confusing. It depends on the category. In books, Amazon charges all buyers $3.99 for shipping to USA. Amazon then takes $1.35 as a fee for collecting the shipping and gives the seller $2.64 to ship the book. Very, very few books can be shipped for that amount, so I loose with shipping on every sale. Again, the higher prices usually make it worth it.

The shipping charge is especially confusing to sellers because Amazon appears to give the entire $3.99 to the seller (it looks that way on the seller statement) but the $1.35 fee is taken out with other Amazon fees on another portion of the statement.

Like the other sites, it depends on what you sell. I find Amazon to be the glitchiest site out there for selling. Even the new up and coming sites are better designed. Again, it depends on what you're willing to deal with for better prices.

Remember that most of the changes at ebay over the past 3 or 4 years were copied directly from Amazon, so if you don't like some of the new policies at ebay you may not like Amazon either.

good luck with it

caljackscollectibles · Joined: 08 Feb 2011 Posts: 251 Location: California

portocall
Thanks for that very clear post re: Amazon. I'd read their info and didn't realize they charge for on the shipping fee. As you say it is very confusing. As I don't sell lots of things I guess I'll not use Amazon.

itsover4ebaysellers · Joined: 23 Dec 2009 Posts: 12

I Sold 2 items on amazon and they took just about everything in fee's. Sold a 4.00 cd and was left with 1.26 ,which was less then the cd cost me ,then sold a 10.00record and was left with about 5.00 or so. THE biggest killer on amazon is not enough allowance for shipping fee's. REDICULOUS! A record cost 4.00 to ship with tracking and amazon gives you only 2.95 shipping allowance,then the fee's to sell the item and your cost,not worth it. This is why items are so over priced on amazon,as sellers can't make a profit.The same records on ebay for like 5.00 or less are like 15-20.00 listed on amazon. Plus they have silly rules like needing permission to sell clothing or not being able to list an item that is not already on amazon,unless you pay them 40.00 a month.

Smart sellers have 3 or 4 ebay accounts,1 with a 50.00a month store that gives you 5cent listings and more noticeability or 20items per 1.00 and 2or 3 other accounts with no stores that give you 50 free auction listings a month. Not to mention if you have problems with 1 id,give it a rest and use the others!

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

I think a better alternative for you would be ebid.net or bonanza.

They both charge much more reasonable fees, not as big as ebay or Amazon of course.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I took down about 75 CDs from amazon, as these were priced below $6.99, and the fees would make it not worth my time to pack it and waste a nice mailer.

So now, everything I sell on Amazon is $6.99 and up with most items $11.0 or higher.

I have been testing out vinyl LPs on Amazon as well, and for a nice still sealed vintage item with no one else offering a "new unopened" copy, I did better than I would have at ebay.

The trick to getting a good high price is having a condition no one else is offering, and shipping to all countries.

I got $85 (before fees) for an item that would have not hit $50 on ebay.

I'll tell you, you really need to know your items, fees, and where and when to make any money these days. It ain't getting easier.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

You could try ebid.net for your lower cost stuff.
They have no listing fees and only a 2% fv fee.
(just a one off lifetime joinig fee of $49.00)

Schistosomiasis · Joined: 19 Jan 2010 Posts: 192

Hi RealJoyCreations,

I see that you make greeting cards and jewelry.

If you will be selling items that you make yourself, you should sign up to be a Pro-Merchant. This will allow you to enter new products into their catagory. This type of account is $40/month. For this you get access to a huge worldwide customer base. You should take a look at the Amazon's fees and shipping allowances and set your prices accordingly.

Jewelry can be tricky to sell on Amazon. It is a restricted category and getting permission to sell jewelry is a long process. I'd suggest you start out with your handmade cards and other non-jewelry items until you get a good track record on Amazon before applying to sell jewelry.

One word of advice: Amazon is very picky about following the rules and tend to permanantly ban sellers who break them. So, familiarize yourself with all the policies. Ship quickly, write accurate descriptions, take returns, be careful not to stock out, and you'll be fine.

Best of luck to you!

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

Sorry I am bit late to this topic.

I don't think Amazon fees are hard to work out. Just like ebay, when you list something they tell you what the fees and your net payment will be right before you hit the final "list" button, so you always have the opportunity to edit as needed.

But unless you are the step above ProMerchant, it escapes me now what they call it, Amazon charges an individual shipping charge for each item sold. Even if a buyer buys 5 items and from the same seller on the same order, Amazon does not combine shipping and charges 5 full rate shipping charges.

This is further complicated when you have to compete with a seller who can fully manage their shipping rates like ebay, and your stuck with either an undercharge or overcharge. One causes you headaches, one causes Amazon customers to loose money. (which is real sin of it all, they assault their own customers with multiple shipping charges, but don't seem to care.)

Amazon has not really paid much attention to improving the fundamentals for third party sellers. The system for a managing items for sale has improved, but they are entirely geared towards pushing you into Fulfillment by Amazon, where they make even more money. They do no appear to be interested in improving the customer experience, which weights the system to bigger sellers.

Sound familiar?

realjoycreations · Joined: 18 Jul 2011 Posts: 6

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I was not able to respond earlier....things had been rather topsy-turvy here, tho now everything is settling down. Whew!

Thank you everyone for your replies; very informative and helpful.

I have decided to not go with amazon.com....
will stick with my website.

Just a little postscript: I found the best price on a stainless steel saucepan for my mom on amazon, beautiful piece of cookware; this was the first purchase I had ever made on amazon. They seem to be quite nice to shop with; however I don't think I would be a very happy camper trying to sell on amazon.

Thanks again everyone; it is good to be back on these wonderful forums.

Joy.

funsunpools1028 · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 99

I was looking to sell on Amazon until I saw their commission. They are way high in fees, I thought ebay was bad.
Amazon commission on $175 item is $32.94 and Ebay on the same priced item is $13.
Am I looking at this correctly?
I have not sold on Amazon so I may be missing something. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

portocall · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 157

Yes, you're correct. Amazon is by far the most expensive venue to sell on, but the prices you get are usually more.

In Amazon books category the fee is 15% So a $175 item would cost about $27 fee PLUS either $.99 cent fee per transaction, or you can become a member for $40 per month and not have to pay the .99 cents on each transaction.

ALSO Amazon runs a play on the shipping charges - Amazon overcharges the buyer, charges a fee on it and then allocates a set amount for the seller to ship with. In my experience, the allocated amount rarely covers the cost of shipping. The shipping charge and the amount allocated to the seller varies by category. In books, Amazon charges a flat $3.99 to US buyers for shipping, Amazon takes $1.35 for the "fee" and gives the seller $2.64 to pay for shipping. Only the smallest of books shipped media mail can be shipped for that amount.

So, yes your estimate of fees in probably right, and be prepared for even more fees. Depending on what you sell, Amazon can be a good place to sell - if you can get enough from your stuff to cover the fees.

AND if you can put up with the technical glitches. In my opinion (and experience) Amazon is THE worst site out there BY FAR!!

8)

thegolfingdolphin · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 695

I quit selling there a few years ago. To tell you the truth I do not like to shop there as well. I just do not like all the extras on every page. It take to long to find out any thing about the item you are looking for. Search engines love this format and more and more venues are going to this format. I hate it.