Selling Your Stuff on Amazon Part 11 - Advice for newbies in first two posts

teapot2

masterkay wrote: »

Hi,

I've sold some more things and got them all dispatched. I'd like to know a bit more about the feedback system. There doesn't seem as much emphasis on feedback as there is with ebay. Does everyone leave feedback for the buyer straight away or do you take the ebay approach and wait until they leave you some? I also don't really get the feedback system for buyers, it's seems a bit redundant (admittedly I know very little so please correct me) as people add the item and pay by credit card, there is none of thing hanging around getting emails saying my paypal is broke or NPB that there is with ebay?

More importantly if you had to estimate/guestimate what percentage of transactions do you get feedback for where you are the seller? On ebay most leave feedback due to the fact of people wanting to build up their own by buying (obviously this will change in May).

It's just I can see myself having sold items and still saying just launched.

Thanks

Hello,

as far as Amazon feedback is concerned its nothing like as big a deal as it on Ebay. An average for most sellers seems to be that 1 in 4 or 5 buyers leave feedback, Amazon sends a reminder to them after a few weeks which prompts some. It doesn't seem to put buyers off if you are still a 'new seller', took me a while to get any feedback and the books still sold.

I know some sellers reply to every feedback that is left for them but IMHO it looks a bit messy/daft as theres a limit to what can be said so whats the point? I do respond if a buyer has said something I feel is innacurate/unfair or needs explaining and would leave feedback about that so potential buyers can see my side of the story.

Also its possible to leave carefully worded feedback for a buyer which alerts other sellers to potential problems ie possible regular claimer of non delivery etc. This can be helpful to other sellers though I have to say I've not really had any probs so far in nearly 2 years.

Good luck with the sales and feedback.

Annie021063

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Fake despatch now emails - a cautionary tale.

Be vigilant!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=738239

Should I be concerned about two SDN emails I got within 12 hours of reading your message. One to Australia and one to USA, both not hugely valuable books. Is this purely coincidental?? or should I be concerned. The money is in my account with amazon but can I trust this????

teapot2

HI Annie, if the money is in your account then they are genuine sales so you need to post them off - well done on the sales BTW.

I think the problem referred to in the link is when there is an apparent SDN which is fake and of course there is no money deposited in the account. Usually the fraudsters get the Amazon email address by emailing via Amazon to ask a question and then when you reply they have your email.

Your sales sound 100% though
Teapot

masterkay

If selling books (novels), are jiffy bags the best way to sent them out?

Any suggestions?

Thanks

tsharp

I always use Jiffy bags. In fact, i hardly ever use new ones. I raid the office for old ones and re-use them. One of my colleagues is always getting amazon/ebay/play purchases delivered to work, so I have an arrangement where I use his old ones. The best ones are the ones that have a plastic wallet type thing attached to the front, i simply slice one end open, take out his details on the paper and insert my own name and address sheet. Free, and looks very professional.

mrs-d_3

Thanks rare_stuff for the info. I tried selling books on Amazon but didn't do that well and made a small loss. What I did is matched the lowest offer thinking if I go higher it wont sell. Is this correct? Any tips gratefully received.

rare_stuff

mrs-d wrote: »

Thanks rare_stuff for the info. I tried selling books on Amazon but didn't do that well and made a small loss. What I did is matched the lowest offer thinking if I go higher it wont sell. Is this correct? Any tips gratefully received.

You fell for the classic newbie mistake, sorry!

Matching the lowest price without working out your postage costs can be a big mistake as you may well be matching a seller who has a pro-merchant account, therefore doesn't pay the 80p-ish closing fee. Also, many full-time amazon sellers will have a postal account with RM which can allow them to send out books weighing up to 2kg for less than you would pay for a 350g packet!

You have 2 choices in cases where matchingthe lowest price won't gain you a profit - a) throw it away (charity/recycle/etc) b)list at a price that you can make a profit.

For example, today I sold a book for £22.50 where there were 2 cheaper, one from america at about £6, and one from a new seller at £17, in a better condition but with no description. My copy was described as very good, with a full description. The higher prices were £24.50 new and £24.99 like new. This book was listed 2 days ago and had a sales rank of 22,000.

I'd also like to say did anyone else think of sending the selling fairy a Valentines Card? She rewarded me today with my personal highest value sale of a book that's been listed for almost 10 months!

mrs-d_3

Thanks for you honest answer. No I didn't do my homework properly. I also didn't know about RM account. I sell stuff on ebay every month should I look into RM account? As for books are charity shops best places to buy for re-sell? You mention 'sales rank of 22,000' how do I find info like that? Thank you for taking the time to help. Mrs D

mrs-d_3

BTW congrats on highest value sale.

rare_stuff

mrs-d wrote: »

Thanks for you honest answer. No I didn't do my homework properly. I also didn't know about RM account. I sell stuff on ebay every month should I look into RM account? As for books are charity shops best places to buy for re-sell? You mention 'sales rank of 22,000' how do I find info like that? Thank you for taking the time to help. Mrs D

Sales rank is shown on the product detail page, under product details. It is also shown on the listing screen when selecting price, under prices of other copies.

Royal Mail accounts should be considered by anyone sending more than 100 itemsa week thru Royal Mail.

As for stock.... That's the million dollar question! The highest value book today was from a pallet of books I paid about £1000 for. This has repaid itself and then some over the last year, but I do recall breaking even on that pallet in a little over a month. Idon't find it particularly easy getting to charity shops, but there is a few good ones I'd always check if in the area, most high street ones aren't worth the time looking unless they're handy on your lunch hour whilst in town. There's almost as many ways as acquiring stock as their is sellers on amazon, you just have to find one that works for you. I can tell you though that very few professional sellers will tell you exactly where they buy their stock, if they did they'd suffer greatly from you competing with them for stock and sales.