Amazon has just unveiled a promotion called “Easysell” which can be seen here: www.amazon.com/gp/seller/fba/fba_easysell.html Basically, Amazon is offering $15.00 to anyone willing to try the program as a way to sell books, CDs, old DVDs, etc. . Is it cost-effective? Does it simplify things? Can you make money by sending your books and other items to Amazon and letting them sell and ship them for you, eliminating any need to go to the post office or print your own shipping labels? Is this a nice, quick way to ship off the stuff you don’t want to have around the house at Christmas and maybe rake in some money during the year, helping to pay for those holiday gifts?
Maybe so, maybe not. Here is the intriguing part: You can list and sell on any venue and have Amazon ship the products for you. That is certainly an interesting twist as noted in this question listed in Amazon’s questions:
Can I use Fulfillment by Amazon if I dont sell on the Amazon.com Web site?
As noted by Amazon: “Yes. You can ship your product units to us, and we will pick, pack and ship the items to your customers when you tell us to. This allows you to sell your products on other platforms but still take advantage of our fulfillment centers and our experience in shipping products.”
In short, you no longer have to store your books or other items at home. Even more tempting.. maybe. But here’s my question: what happens if you sell an item on Amazon and another site on the same day? Hmmm?
Here is how the program theoretically works (wonder how it works in actual practice):
You, the potential seller, send in your items to Amazon. They can be books, CDs, old DVDs and/or video games. Then Amazon will keep track of your items, ship them to buyers and send you the money. The $15.00? That is an incentive to try the program. For 60 days, you can try it out for free, plus you get that $15.00.
Getting rid of a lot of books instead of listing and storing them myself is certainly tempting. Really. Still…maybe I’m a control freak but I like to keep track of when my items are sold and shipped and keep the tracking number in case a customer has questions. I like to know that my customers can choose me as a seller – I’m not so comfortable being in a seller queue, seems a bit impersonal, although it may be cost-effective (don’t know, not having tried it).
If you are interested in trying Amazon’s offer , , you might want to check out the link above.Be sure and let me know how it works out, especially any profits.
Just be sure to keep these facts in mind:
1.. If the buyer is dissatisfied, be sure you know who gets the negative feedback, you or Amazon. I couldn’t find that info but I’m guessing it is the seller (you). lso, if your items don’t sell (and nearly all sellers have a percentage that don’t) you are responsible for paying to have them returned to you unless you want Amazon to “dispose” of them.
2. The costs: . You pay Amazon $1.00 to ship and send your item plus an additional 40 cents per pound (rounded to the nearest tenth of a pound). So if you have a two pound book that sells for $10.00, you would pay $1.80 in “fulfillment fees. After 60 days you convert to a Fullfillment by Amazon customer. a service which has a monthly fee as well. So you are only on the EasySell program for a 60 day trial period. Sixty days? They go by quicker than you might think. The EasySell fees would then convert to Fulfillment by Amazon fees and that has a whole different pricing structure as seen here:
sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help-folder.html/105-3352229-4562847
4. Storage Fees – You pay nothing for the first 60 days of inventory storage but after that you have the “option” of converting to a Fullfillment status and paying 45 cents per cubic foot per month (through September 2008) and then 60 cents per cubic foot per month after that. Hmmm….I’m not really paying myself any storage fees for my books now. Admittedly, I do have to take time to dust and maintain them but I guess I could leave that duty up to Amazon as part of the storage fee I’d be paying.
I’m passing up this option for now. I’d like to hear from others who have tried this – or are considering it.
