To sell or not

Flyonthewall

RFW said:

Flyonthewall said:
As for what is essential or not, the government have decided that with regards to shops so that would be what to base it on. People weren't living in empty homes before this and if they can shop online they have the Internet and some form of device to access it, which means they should be able to find some way to occupy their time and ideas to maintain their mental health. They could also have bought items when lockdown was first mentioned and before a lot of shops/businesses closed (online and stores), most people shouldn't need to keep buying things.

Some things are common sense. Physical media, for example, is not essential. There's plenty of digital media that people can buy at no risk to others. Better still, there are many free options! You may prefer reading an actual book, for example, but for a few weeks I'm sure you can manage with the books you already have or reading them on a device.

Physical books are considered essential for online selling. Amazon have prioritized sales of home, health and books. I never say what I sell on here but whether it's essential is debatable, I have a demand and I see that through that it does some good so I'm continuing selling. I'm fortunate to be able to drop in a postbox. No one's telling me not to do it and I actually think I'm doing more good than possible harm. I'm working alone from home, I frank all my mail myself and walk it to the postbox.

Problem is, you see the demand and the positive feedback only. You'll never see or know if any negatives came from it. It's why lockdown has had to be forced, because you can't see the virus and not everyone has symptoms so people were walking around and passing it on without realising. They didn't see the negative side, the strangers they met who were then ill and struggling or dying from it, only that they felt fine or only had mild symptoms.

I've not seen anything to say Amazon are prioritising physical books. Why are books a priority? Not all books are in Amazon warehouses in the UK and ready to ship. Self published books are printed on demand so involve people interacting and some come from abroad, from a country currently on lockdown. 

Edit: Looking at Amazon, all I see is ads for audible and Kindle books. They're the top banner ads and they have an ad at the top of the page for free Kindle books. Below that is the best selling Kindle books.

They're also selling Kindle devices at a reduced price, which doesn't help with the delivery risk, but it seems to be that they're massively pushing digital books, not physical books. Have you got a link to where it says they are prioritising them?

RFW

Flyonthewall said:

I've not seen anything to say Amazon are prioritising physical books. Why are books a priority? Not all books are in Amazon warehouses in the UK and ready to ship. Self published books are printed on demand so involve people interacting and some come from abroad, from a country currently on lockdown. 

Edit: Looking at Amazon, all I see is ads for audible and Kindle books. They're the top banner ads and they have an ad at the top of the page for free Kindle books. Below that is the best selling Kindle books.

They're also selling Kindle devices at a reduced price, which doesn't help with the delivery risk, but it seems to be that they're massively pushing digital books, not physical books. Have you got a link to where it says they are prioritising them?

I haven't said they were prioritising books, merely that they had deemed them essential in some way. Not every book is available digitally. I've purchased several books to help with my son's education. Amazon have/had prioritised deliveries from sellers, those items were home, health and books. It was fairly well covered a couple of weeks ago.

They are pushing digital books, probably because there's less books being printed and they're instant to receive, as is any digital delivery. They've just had a removal of VAT on digital books so any increase in sales will add extra to their coffers.

On a couple of other points there's still plenty of international post even from countries on lockdown.
I'm happy to follow government advice on what is being sent out. I've also checked scientific advice on any risks of contracting a virus from things like handling of envelopes.
I don't think buyers or small sellers should be made to feel guilty when decisions are being made by companies and government.

Flyonthewall

RFW said:

Flyonthewall said:

I've not seen anything to say Amazon are prioritising physical books. Why are books a priority? Not all books are in Amazon warehouses in the UK and ready to ship. Self published books are printed on demand so involve people interacting and some come from abroad, from a country currently on lockdown. 

Edit: Looking at Amazon, all I see is ads for audible and Kindle books. They're the top banner ads and they have an ad at the top of the page for free Kindle books. Below that is the best selling Kindle books.

They're also selling Kindle devices at a reduced price, which doesn't help with the delivery risk, but it seems to be that they're massively pushing digital books, not physical books. Have you got a link to where it says they are prioritising them?

I haven't said they were prioritising books, merely that they had deemed them essential in some way. Not every book is available digitally. I've purchased several books to help with my son's education. Amazon have/had prioritised deliveries from sellers, those items were home, health and books. It was fairly well covered a couple of weeks ago.

They are pushing digital books, probably because there's less books being printed and they're instant to receive, as is any digital delivery. They've just had a removal of VAT on digital books so any increase in sales will add extra to their coffers.

On a couple of other points there's still plenty of international post even from countries on lockdown.
I'm happy to follow government advice on what is being sent out. I've also checked scientific advice on any risks of contracting a virus from things like handling of envelopes.
I don't think buyers or small sellers should be made to feel guilty when decisions are being made by companies and government.

That's exactly what you said! Second sentence of your post, "Amazon have prioritized sales of home, health and books."

Either way, where does it state they have deemed them essential because I can't see any mention of physical books?

They probably always push digital books, but my point is I can only see mention of digital and audio books, not physical books.

I think people need to be careful, think things through and consider others as well as themselves. The Government, despite many warnings, were slow to act and may not cover all risks, especially for things that are harder to enforce/police. Knowing something is a risk and making sure you're safe and doing your best to reduce risks to save lives is more important than whether the Government have yet to bring out a specific rule for something.

mgdavid

My policy is to follow government advice, not that of 'some person on the internet'.

RFW

Flyonthewall said:

That's exactly what you said! Second sentence of your post, "Amazon have prioritized sales of home, health and books."

Either way, where does it state they have deemed them essential because I can't see any mention of physical books?

They probably always push digital books, but my point is I can only see mention of digital and audio books, not physical books.

Yes, poor sentence on my part. I was clumsily pointing out that physical books were not being prioritised over digital ones as far as I know. Physical books have been prioritised over other physical items though. Their deliveries are haphazard but many books are still on next day delivery. There was a statement to sellers about what they were taking in regarding their priorities, several papers picked up on it. It's slowly loosening anyway and they'll be accepting more items from marketplace sellers next week.

RFW

Flyonthewall said:

I think people need to be careful, think things through and consider others as well as themselves. The Government, despite many warnings, were slow to act and may not cover all risks, especially for things that are harder to enforce/police. Knowing something is a risk and making sure you're safe and doing your best to reduce risks to save lives is more important than whether the Government have yet to bring out a specific rule for something.

I don't see anything I'm doing as a risk beyond me going out for a walk. I'll stick with government advice rather than stop working and give up my business to my competitors who will all still be trading.

Flyonthewall

RFW said:

Flyonthewall said:

I think people need to be careful, think things through and consider others as well as themselves. The Government, despite many warnings, were slow to act and may not cover all risks, especially for things that are harder to enforce/police. Knowing something is a risk and making sure you're safe and doing your best to reduce risks to save lives is more important than whether the Government have yet to bring out a specific rule for something.

I don't see anything I'm doing as a risk beyond me going out for a walk. I'll stick with government advice rather than stop working and give up my business to my competitors who will all still be trading.

Well I keep explaining the risk. It's not complicated. Anyone involved in the process of sending mail could have the virus and pass it on via the parcel or through interactions. 

You personally may not be at risk, you may be following advice by not interacting, but that doesn't mean your actions won't lead to someone getting the virus which is killing thousands. You'd never know, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened or won't happen.

Flyonthewall

RFW said:

Flyonthewall said:

That's exactly what you said! Second sentence of your post, "Amazon have prioritized sales of home, health and books."

Either way, where does it state they have deemed them essential because I can't see any mention of physical books?

They probably always push digital books, but my point is I can only see mention of digital and audio books, not physical books.

Yes, poor sentence on my part. I was clumsily pointing out that physical books were not being prioritised over digital ones as far as I know. Physical books have been prioritised over other physical items though. Their deliveries are haphazard but many books are still on next day delivery. There was a statement to sellers about what they were taking in regarding their priorities, several papers picked up on it. It's slowly loosening anyway and they'll be accepting more items from marketplace sellers next week.

Odd. On the Amazon page about the virus it states "Are delivery times affected?

As the Coronavirus has spread, we’ve seen an increase in people shopping online. To serve you while also helping to ensure the safety of our employees, we have prioritized stocking and delivering items that are a higher priority for our customers. These are items such as food, health and personal care products and items needed to work from home. As a result, estimated delivery times for some items may be longer than usual at the moment. You can find updated delivery times on the product detail page."

No mention of any types of books in that. I have an Amazon seller account and I've sold books, but had no emails from Amazon at all relating to the virus.

Seen various news articles about the virus too and not noticed anything about books at all.

RFW

Flyonthewall said:

Well I keep explaining the risk. It's not complicated. Anyone involved in the process of sending mail could have the virus and pass it on via the parcel or through interactions. 

You personally may not be at risk, you may be following advice by not interacting, but that doesn't mean your actions won't lead to someone getting the virus which is killing thousands. You'd never know, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened or won't happen.

From the WHO: "The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low."

RFW

"Amazon defined several categories as essential products that can continue shipping, including baby products; health and household items; beauty and personal care; grocery; industrial and scientific; and pet supplies. Books are included as well."

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/amazon-warehouses-vital-supplies-europe-ud-coronavirus-covid19/