Booksellers having a tougher time listing books?
Are other booksellers finding it tougher and tougher to list used books due to Amazon restrictions?
I can see restricting new books. And I know there have been countless arguments over whether Amazon should be able to restrict used books (first sale doctrine and all). But it seems either more and more publishers are restricting their books, or Amazon's bots are going willy nilly.
Today I tried to list as book published in 1973 by Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine (that's the publisher). Am I to believe that WIOTHOM (acronym) really restricted Amazon from allowing sellers to list used copies?
Is it less likely given that the Institute went defunct (pun intended) in 1999? I mean, come on! What's really going on here?
ISBN 0854840176
Can a mod help me understand this? Nearly half the books I try to list at this point have restrictions. I can list them elsewhere (and do), so I am not sure why Amazon hates money so much.
13 replies
Seller_DBzTQPDCouH9d
My question is: Do they hate money, or just others making any of it?
Seller_qTJiCxRI8PpIZ
I wholeheartedly believe Amazon is 95% run by badly programmed bots that latch onto certain keywords and never let go of them. Amazon bots don't take the time to look at which category we are selling the book under and it seems there just aren't enough humans to look. I highly suggest all booksellers sell on several different venues. For us, I simply list through Art Of Books and if it goes up on Amazon without problems, great, if it doesn't, there are 4 other venues my book gets listed on.
Seller_W6vNnb9Dv4v3c
Amazon OBVIOUSLY has many poorly programmed bots because they have many poorly trained employees. The FACT that we can not list books without running into Amazon Employee created Problems tells it all. It was not that way back 20 or more years ago. Amazon has gone Way Down HILL since those glory days, and overall does not support small third party book sellers. There is no such thing as Seller Support for any of us. There is also no truth to the word "Partner" on Amazon. We have NOT been "PARTNERS" with Amazon for at least a decade. Let me remind you all, WE did NOT break up that "PARTNERSHIP" arrangement, Amazon employees did that. Good LUCK!
Seller_keSnEDesLFVwv
Amazon is slowly becoming the second best ( or maybe third best ) site to sell used books.
So many pages have bad information on them that makes it risky to sell the book. Any textbook is risky on Amazon. Add to that the likelyhood of getting ripped off by claims of missing packges, and it just doen't make sense to sell most books on Amazon any more.
I haven't listed anything on Amazon in 1.5 months. I'm devoting my efforts to listing on eBay. I recommend that you do the same.
Seller_awYU0oH8skccg
Generally Small Publishers or Proprietary Companies seek to Keep their books protected...You seldom see this problem with major publishers... Just be Careful about buying small press books which may be limited...
Seller_ygcjnXMvC7GA2
I used to list magazines. I have magazines are not list it on Amazon before I could not List it. I could not lidt photos not on Amazon because I asked about The number of the photo and how many ounces is then a found out they speak about drink which you can not drink a photo.
Seller_awYU0oH8skccg
Amazon's "Fair Price" Policy is ABSURD Applied to Used Books...It Makes No Sense with Used Books which can Vary Greatly in Price based on a Number of Factors...
Used Books are NOT Like a Generic Toaster in the Box from China...with a Known Price Point...This is especially true when "outlier sellers'" are somehow allowed to set absurdly high or low prices...
Seller_Ifjfkusos2G4H
It all adds up to anti-competivie actions that ultimately hurt not just used booksellers but the entire used bookselling market.
The consumers are paying more and having less choice because Amazon is restricting the used book marketplace.
In the last few days, I have gotten notice that Amazon will be taking away Hallmark and Scholastic published books unless manufacturer invoices can be shown. That is Amazon again asking for the impossible in the used book marketplace.
