Getting an Add to Basket to appear
I have an individual seller account (not professional) which I have had since 2018, although was inactive for a while and just started listing again. I have added the listing for a book, and there is no Add to Basket, only See all Buying Options.
No one else sells this book by the way, if that is relevant.
Can anyone recommend please the fastest most reliable way to get the Add to Basket to appear?
Do I need to do FBA? I don’t want a Professional account as I am likely to sell less than 40 per month at the beginning.
Getting an Add to Basket to appear
I have an individual seller account (not professional) which I have had since 2018, although was inactive for a while and just started listing again. I have added the listing for a book, and there is no Add to Basket, only See all Buying Options.
No one else sells this book by the way, if that is relevant.
Can anyone recommend please the fastest most reliable way to get the Add to Basket to appear?
Do I need to do FBA? I don’t want a Professional account as I am likely to sell less than 40 per month at the beginning.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
Ok that’s good.
So to get back to the original question of the buybox your options are: pay for the professional plan, or do FBA
30 replies
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
I believe the buybox is only available to people on the professional selling plan.
Seller_Cag7tt44VLqxQ
Thanks. Well, I don’t know whether it is an individual or business account. Presumably the difference is just for tax/admin purposes and either would allow you to sell for a profit).
but I have just upgraded to a professional planat £25/m + vat in an attempt to get the buy box to appear! Does anyone know how long it should take to start showing ‘Add to Basket’? Hours/weeks/maybe never?
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
If Amazon thinks you are selling to make a profit on an Individual account, they will suspend you and demand you register as a business. While this is going on it is likely they will hold on to your money etc, as technically you are misleading buyers by not honouring the law regarding business sellers and not disclosing the relevant information etc. You can’t pretend to be an individual when you aren’t
At any stage during registration did you supply Amazon with your UTR?
Seller_Cag7tt44VLqxQ
I assume it’s a business account, I did it a few years ago.
Seller_Cag7tt44VLqxQ
Just checked and, yes, it’s down as privately owned business.
Seller_DROodOAYHftnc
As mentioned by Dedez - the problem lies with Amazon’s terminology and them using the same name for two entirely diffent things.
There are two types of Selller Account:
Business Seller Account - for selling (or making) items for profit. You can be an individual person ie. just on your own, but still must, by law, be registered with HMRC as self-employed sole-trader - many of us on here are.
Individual Seller Account - ONLY for selling off ones own personal, second-hand items such as used books, DVDs, CDs etc.
Then there are two selling plans:
Professional plan - where you pay the £30 month a fee (does have other benefits)
Individual Plan - where you pay an extra fee per sale, and ideal if you sell less than 33/34 items a month.
A Business Account seller can choose either plan - whatever is financially more sensible for your level of sales.
Oops, I’ve missed a few replies whilst i was typing! - hopefully it is now clearer.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
Ok that’s good.
So to get back to the original question of the buybox your options are: pay for the professional plan, or do FBA
Seller_Cag7tt44VLqxQ
Thanks, yes I just upgraded to the professional plan and am now refreshing every few mins naively expecting to see Add to Basket.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
You might not get it right away if you haven’t been trading for a while.
Usually when an account is first opened they wait for a bit of a sales history before you get the buybox, not sure if that applies as well to accounts that have been opened for a while, but unused for a period
Seller_Cag7tt44VLqxQ
Ok thanks for the advice, it’s appreciated.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
I am not a book seller. But I have seen many threads on here with people complaining about how they can’t make money on books, so that is where my impression came from.
like I said originally “From what I understand the profit on books is tight enough as it is.”
I didn’t say that I was sure it was, or I had experience, I just quoted an opinion based on my understanding.
If that is incorrect then I stand corrected, obviously the many posts complaining about the profitability of books, the high fees, the low margins, the low sales volume and the mess of the catalogue have led me to the wrong conclusion.
Seller_DROodOAYHftnc
@Julia_Amazon @Jessica
Here we are again with sellers not understanding the difference of the two ‘Individuals’, and assuming that Individual Account is same as sole-trader - which it is NOT.
Surely the ‘higher-ups’ must realise that the use of the same name causes complete confusion.
