Selling on Amazon Marketplace
Posted in adventures in self publishing, booksellers, current stores, purchase |
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I decided to offer the books in another form on Amazon.com to see if I could get more quantities going on, and to offer something to people who weren’t comfortable sending me a check personally. I wanted to offer brand spanking new books with the option for an autograph to the customers.
That was my intention, because when you order books from createspace as an author, you get a bit of a discount. I thought it would be enough to offer the book for $5.99 (plus shipping, which is what I’m offering it for direct from me) with an option for the autograph, but Amazon charges a bit for listing in the marketplace.
I found out all said and done that with their percentage taken away, I would actually be losing money by selling new copies for a dollar cheaper than amazon’s new price. When all is said and done, and the extra hassle of shipping the book is taken into account with an authograph, I had to list it at the same price as a new book (which essentially it is, with an autograph). If I listed it lower on Amazon, taking into account their cut, I’d make approximately negative money when all was said and done.
That’s an important lesson for trying to open up new options for the customers: it’s very difficult to know how much things will cost, and how much you can take it down when dealing with online marketplaces such as amazon. However, that shouldn’t mean you should not list things with the offers like the one I have listed.
Because the more options that people have when purchasing your books, the more chances you have to sell. And it always is important to take a gander at the bottom line on pricing so you are getting at least your time’s worth out of it. I think that’s the most important advice I can give you when it comes to new options for your books: check the bottom line to make sure two things: A. you’re not losing money by opening up a new venue, and B. you’re getting your time’s worth out of it.
Keep on writing!
