Amazon Fees Are Eating All Profits
Just started reselling my books on Amazon in October (rather them sitting on my bookshelf forever). I was told Amazon would be a better locale for this for the opportunity to use their FBA services. I've now sold 26 of my books and have lost money on almost all of them, no matter the listing price, because the fees.
I don't understand how the fees are calculated. The books are all the same size paperbacks. However, when I list a book for $6, I incur $6.58 in Amazon fees, but then when I list a book at $11, I incur $11.78 in Amazon fees. If the books are approximately the same sizes and same weights. How does packaging increase with price? Or why do fees increase with the price? The level for work for Amazon is the same? Shouldn't a higher priced book make a higher margin?
So, now I'm paying the FBA fees + monthly premium account fees & if I try to price my books reasonable (not a higher cost than the same book brand new), I end up paying Amazon money.
I've made $218 in sales since starting with an average sale price of a little over a $7. But I've paid Amazon almost $300 in fees.
Amazon Fees Are Eating All Profits
Just started reselling my books on Amazon in October (rather them sitting on my bookshelf forever). I was told Amazon would be a better locale for this for the opportunity to use their FBA services. I've now sold 26 of my books and have lost money on almost all of them, no matter the listing price, because the fees.
I don't understand how the fees are calculated. The books are all the same size paperbacks. However, when I list a book for $6, I incur $6.58 in Amazon fees, but then when I list a book at $11, I incur $11.78 in Amazon fees. If the books are approximately the same sizes and same weights. How does packaging increase with price? Or why do fees increase with the price? The level for work for Amazon is the same? Shouldn't a higher priced book make a higher margin?
So, now I'm paying the FBA fees + monthly premium account fees & if I try to price my books reasonable (not a higher cost than the same book brand new), I end up paying Amazon money.
I've made $218 in sales since starting with an average sale price of a little over a $7. But I've paid Amazon almost $300 in fees.
4 replies
Seller_kIukTwdhvntAp
You have a pricing problem AND fell for a line of B#@@### about FBA being a 'good' place to sell used books. At one point a decade ago that might have been true but that ship sailed down the river several years ago.
One of the first rules of business is to know ALL your costs BEFORE you establish a selling price.
Amazon profit margins suck due to competition from people that are willing to 'race to the bottom' as well as competing with Amazon.
I don't do FBA so that I have control. I price my items so that I make a profit if/when they sell on here. If they don't sell here they will on one of the other sites I sell on that have LOWER FEES.
Jumping in and not knowing the costs is a self-inflicted wound no matter what site you choose to sell on.
It's going to cost you some serious cash to recall any leftovers from their warehouses so you MIGHT be better in the long run just having them trash what's left there.
Seller_AXC06kcsKI1qG
you can save on fees by shipping the book to the customer yourself.
See fees here.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
There are cases where FBA is a good way to sell books; but more and more, as policies and fees change, those cases become more and more rare.
I started out selling books FBA only. Now, it's about 20% of my sales are FBA.
The first thing to realize when selling books is that the vast majority simply are not worth the trouble; you're better off donating them or throwing in the recycle bin. If I get a book for free, is a very fast seller, and I can list it on FBA for $9, it goes in the donate pile. Very rarely, a book going for $10 might be worth sending in, but generally, I want $12+, and even then, only if it's a small book (low fees), great sales rank (will sell fast), and I already have the book. However, the same book may be totally suitable for FBM, as the fees and other costs are considerably lower.
I'm not sure why your $11 book has such high fees; I suspect there is a mistake in the size or weight in the listing. But even without the mistake, probably not worth sending to FBA.
Don't forget when figuring your costs that it also costs you money just to get your books to FBA; shipping cost alone will work out to around 40 cents per book, plus the cost of a box to ship (another nickel or so per), and if you have to drive to drop off the box, the gas for that. It all adds up. And you simply cannot make a profit with an ASP of $7, as difficult as it may be for you to accept the fact that most of the books on your shelf are worthless as far as selling.
