selling your stuff on Amazon - part 9 - advice for newbies in the first 2 posts

rare_stuff

twobfair wrote: »

Cheers Soo! Two weeks after the order had been delivered she sent me an email asking how to change her address for future orders - Thinking I was Amazon!!

Do you have a specific number I should call and should I ask to speak to a specific department? Are they any good at removing feedback?

Maybe instead of waiting for CS(customer service) to return from the bank holiday it may be better to contact your customer directly, and politely point out that you sent to the address that was given and if they access their amazon account it is a simple matter to change default delivery address. Also then point out that the feedback they left for you is potentially damaging your sales and unfair, after all you're not psychic!

Amazon CS have very strict guidelines for removing feedback and can be quite inflexible. If you do get through to a jobsworth it maybe worth asking to speak to a supervisor. the number to call is 0800 279 6620 selecting option 2 for seller support.

I got a 3/5 last week with a comment "thank you", no point in calling CS in regard to this! Have emailed the customer but had no response, so will send them a nice letter tomorrow. In most cases when poor feedback is left it is much better to contact the customer direct before contacting CS and then at least you can say that you have attempted to deal with the customer and are only calling them as a last resort. In many cases the customer is unaware of how feedback works and is only to happy to work with you and resolve any problems.

My 30day total is now at 98% as a result of this, and my overall at 99%, this does not seem to effect sales at all, and I may moan a bit when I do get a neutral, but I get over it quickly most of the time.

Good luck!

cat64

Hi, rare-stuff, I understand what you're saying about the price matching - but personally I think some of the prices that are being asked are excessive and would rather offer it at a more reasonable price. For example, I picked up a copy of a riding book today - not a very old one - it is listed at £29.99:eek: . It was only 12.99 to buy new and there are more recent editions out now. I cant really see that anyone would pay nearly £30 for it - or am I just missing the point altogether as I am new to selling? If it was an older, collectable book I would see the point of holding out for a higher price, but I'd be happy to get £12 or so for it which would still make me a nice profit, rather than price it too high and have it gathering dust lol.

Anyway, you're right, e'bay could be another option. Thanks for the advice:D

rare_stuff

Cat,
you are correct that some books are priced excessively, especially when there are more recent editions available for less. In cases like this it may be better to match or even slightly undercut the price of the newer edition, unless there is a peculiarity making the older edition more collectable. Buyers who are searching for this book may well not be aware of the newer edition and would happily pay the premium price asked though which is one of the reasons why sellers do ask high prices on scarce copies, though whether they'd be happy upon receiving it to find it was outdated is another matter altogether!

Many american sellers you will find on the UK site rely on this strategy when setting prices, and if you do look at their feedback it will show that many customers aren't happy, but it does make the seller a good profit!!

As a small seller you have the luxury of being able to research editions and set prices accordingly, whilst those listing in volume will follow the crowd and price at the higher amount other sellers are asking. The exception to this will be those sellers who know to ignore the prices offered by RBMbooks, and their american cohorts.

I often sell older editions of books, both fiction and non-fiction, to buyers who have not researched to see if newer editions exist at cheaper prices. In the vast majority of cases the buyer is happy. Though when selling older academic editions I will make sure the customer is aware of this before dispatching, rather than have to deal with an unhappy customer.

R.

SilverScooby

I've just cancelled my pro sub as I've only sold 17 this month, so wouldn't cover the full sub. Def made money on it as Jan was great, Feb OK.

My day job went mad as it was our year end so I haven't listed much new recently, so I'm not too put off.

I think this means I'll be v busy in exactly 60 days time when all my listings lapse at once!!!

Sales picked up today - just sold 2, including one heavy one, where postage has actually gone down! 1st class 1001-1250g was £4.74, now its £4.25!

Hope everyone else is having "I'm bored, what do I do on a bank holiday" type sales!

mishkanorman

EEK im gonna have 800 odd that will need to be re-listed at once !!!

poo it, there goes an evening a week for re-listing


mishka

jo_b_2

Sold a book through Greenmetropolis but it's one I received in a swap from www.readitswapit.co.uk and I haven't got round to reading it yet!

It looks really good as well - I'm going to try and read it tonight if I can! :rolleyes:

hornetgirl

My three months pro merchant are up. Sales were 27, 31, 31. Fees therefore covered while it was half price.
I figure that I am therefore 44 sales "in credit", which means April and a bit of May are already covered at the full rate. Is my logic correct here, looking at it on a cumulative basis like this, or do you have to work it out just on a month by month basis?
If I'm wrong, please only provide a simple explanation - I can be a bit of an arithmetical midget at times!

livelife_2

foxybabe wrote: »

Anyone??????? they do seem to have more books listed than amazon. I tried to list a book again yesterday on amazon which it did not recognise but found it straight away on abebooks.

I just bought some old books from a bookshop. The chap there said that 2/3 of his books sell in the shop and 1/3 sell online. When I asked him who he lists with he said Amazon and ABE. He finds that Amazon has a higher demand - more customers, but ABE is more detailed - you can list VGC+ or - etc. He wishes ABE was better marketed because for him it is a better site. ABE is good for bookshops but not so good for us doing it privately I think.

If you are selling a large number of books you can list on Amazon and ABE using the same software which saves a lot of work.

My best hint for selling is to note the ranking of the books you are selling. I copy and paste it into the comments section (and SKU if you are a pro). I sort my books by these numbers - those in the top 200,000 on the shelves, others in boxes. It saves a lot of time if you have a lot of stock as many of the sales are in the top 200,000 and so I just pick the best -selling books off the shelves. If a book is not in the rankings then it is not in the top 2 million books or so. If that is the case I only list the book if there aren't too many other sellers and the price is not less than a pound.

Happy selling,
Mike

livelife_2

rare_stuff wrote: »

As is pointed out in the first posts of this thread, though is worth repeating, by cutting the price so much of an out of print book, you are likely to permanently lower the price of it. Those using autopricing software will price match within hours, if not days, of you undercutting. Best to match the price and describe well, letting the customer choose yours with good feedback and good description. Also, even if other sellers aren't using price matching software, like yourself they may check their prices regularly and lower to match yours anyway.

If you are prepared to take much less for a quick sale ebay would be a better option, remember as it's media it will only cost 10p to list, and it may go for more than the amazon price!

Hi rare stuff do you use autopricing software? Is it worth it - or only for certain kinds of sellers?
Mike

teedy23

came on to woop it up about my second 100% feed back, then read all your sales and techy stuff and well ........I,m still gona woop it up...yeeeehaaa