Some thoughts about everyone’s favorite on-line “book store:”

I love Amazon Prime. I’m not going to keep it, though. $79 is a big chunk of cash for the convenience, but I love ordering a single $10 book and having it show up two days later. Accumulating $25 worth of books/DVDs/CDs/what-have-you to order all at once to get the free shipping isn’t so difficult for me. And it won’t kill me to wait the extra few days that the free shipping gives you. Sometimes, the free shipping is just as quick, anyway. Maybe if I ordered more often through Amazon it would be worth it, but I’m going to cancel my subscription before the month’s free trial ends. I know it’s irrational and illogical, but it’s still nice to have.

I’ve been selling books and DVDs on the Amazon Marketplace for the last month or so, and it’s a pretty solid system. For me, it’s a heck of a lot easier than dealing with eBay. First of all, listing an item is super simple. Delicious Library — which indexes my collection — has a simple “Sell on Amazon” button that brings me to the right page with the item’s Amazon number and description all ready to go. Second, listing an item doesn’t cost you a penny. No fees are taken until the item is sold. The item stays in the system for 90 days, which gives you a nice long time period to wait for the right buyer. Third, Amazon sets the shipping price and dictates the method of delivery — USPS media mail or first class. For a single DVD, it’s not that great a difference. And the amount Amazon reimburses you (i.e. charges the buyer) is enough to pay for shipping and the bubble envelope to put it in. Fourth, Amazon reimburses you in Amazon credit. You can also have them cut you a check, if you like, but I like spending the money right there at the Big A. It’s the whole carrot at the end of the stick thing — sell something, and you can buy something. Good Augie.

There is one catch with the Amazon Marketplace, though. You can change your asking price for the item at any time. As more people offer up the same item, they tend to undercut you to get the sale. This is great for buyers, as it drives prices down dramatically. For the sellers, it becomes a bit of a problem. I sold one DVD for $2.50 last week. Even counting for Amazon’s generous shipping charges, I made less than fifty cents off the deal. Amazon takes a flat fee for the listing after the purchase goes through, then a percentage of the final sale price. On a $2.50 item, it’s punishing.

So long as you’re selling DVDs or books that get you a $5 price tag or higher and you have a steady stock of cheap bubble mailers and a local post office you can get to at lunchtime, it’s a nifty system. Right now, I’m almost out of bubble mailers. I may have to go scour eBay, ironically enough, to pick up another cheap box if I want to keep sending these things out. To keep it simple, I haven’t started listing the boxed items, like the PRISONER DVDs or the X-FILES DVDs. Those might go up someday, too, as soon as I’m comfortable with the shipping annoyances.

Finally, thanks to all of you who’ve clicked through one of the Amazon banner ads on this site in the last few months. The big pay off on that will be coming my way at the end of this month or beginning of October, and then I’ll be able to pick up that Harmony Universal remote I’ve had my eye on all summer. Full review to follow, of course.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 at 8:11 am and is filed under Web. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.