Discounted pricing of books
A person currently is selling their books through Amazon Advantage with a list price of $150. Amazon fee for selling this book is 55% of $150. If this person wants to have a $20 discount, Amazon would still get 55% of $150. I have seen many books at a discount so large that a seller would lose money if they had a similar seller agreement with Amazon. How do these sellers create a discount off the list price and not pay amazon 55% off the list price? Are these sellers using a professional seller account versus an Amazon Advantage account?
Discounted pricing of books
A person currently is selling their books through Amazon Advantage with a list price of $150. Amazon fee for selling this book is 55% of $150. If this person wants to have a $20 discount, Amazon would still get 55% of $150. I have seen many books at a discount so large that a seller would lose money if they had a similar seller agreement with Amazon. How do these sellers create a discount off the list price and not pay amazon 55% off the list price? Are these sellers using a professional seller account versus an Amazon Advantage account?
7 replies
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
I've never heard of "Amazon Advantage", nor a 55% selling fee.
I sell books, only books, and have a pro account. I pay $1.80 + 15%, with additional fees if FBA. So on a $150 book, I pay $24.30 in fees (if I did the math right in my head). And fee is based on my final selling price; if I knock the price down, the fee goes down as well.
Seller_pM8JBB0f7spt1
On top of that, time to time Amazon creates deals for buyers and reimburses the seller for the discount given by Amazon.
Seller_W6vNnb9Dv4v3c
Looking up what the words Amazon Advantage actually means, I found:
Feb 26, 2024 · "Amazon Advantage is a book and media product consignment program that enables publishers to sell new books printed by any printer. This is not unlike a brick and mortar bookstore".
Looks like it is NOT something Third Party Sellers of Books can join.
Amazon actually has the books and ships them. I can see how the Publisher/Author of the books can still make $$$ discounting. I am not sure how having a professional seller account enters into this program.
Seller_WKQcxV8GJk5T7
I sell to Amazon Advantage and they buy books for their Stores.
They are very good at sending the order and when you sign up with Amazon Advantage the do get a percentage off the books but you also make money off of Amazon Advantage, there's NO WAY they would even stand for prices that high to sell to customers, and this is just for books.
I have been with Amazon Advantage for years and they are very good at prices and very reasonable.
Where ever you received your information, you need to check for the right information.
Amazon Advantage charges a fee every year but nothing drastic.
Seller_Etedb4FUvUJhq
Yeah, Amazon Advantage is for publishers, not sellers, and a retailer wanting 55% gross margin is pretty standard. This program is designed to eliminate the middleman, and is great for buyers and Amazon, third party booksellers, not so much.
Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX
.The answer is simply when one knows how the book industry and retail sales work. We could sell that $150 book for $50 and still make a profit. Here's how.
The book industry works like this. The retailer pays 50% of the cover price. I buy a case lot of 24 of this book from the publisher for the price of $75 each ($1800). I sell 22 of the title for $150. realizing a profit of $1650. To clear my shelves and move on to something else, I sell the remaining 2 for $50, losing $25 on each book. So, on my total investment, I make a profit of $1600. I don't complain.
While you are only focused on one book, I'll admit the pricing does look a little foolish. To be a successful seller in the retail trade, on or offline, the profit is always in the amount of the item you in inventory. The same way selling 1-10 different items will lead nowhere.
Retail stores never offer 1-10 items for sale, they offer 1000's+ items for sale. Do they all sale every day, no. But enough do sell every day that you can maintain all expenses, and have a good profit left over.
Amazon is like the used car salesman. They want as much of your profit as they can get. They tout FBA, advertising, PPC's, Vine program, and more. Each one of these addons is based on selling one individual product. Extremely Expensive.
Seller_TMserLw0QU4BR
Books sold at $20 have a 55% selling fee because the base fees are so high. If a book is sold for more than that, the fees change quite a bit. At $150, the fee is closer to 20%. I suppose you are looking at FBA fees.
