Amazing scam!!! Selling used books as NEW
Been a long time seller, and seems to me the number of sellers sourcing used books and just listing as new is increasingly expanding. The economics behind it makes sense, knowing they sell for much more and only so many people will return them. I see many people engaging in this. FBA is the perfect cover. I've seen accounts with over 100 bad reviews calling out this practice yet remain at 100% given the strike through policy. I can't quite figure out Amazon turning a blind eye to this. If ethics aren't your thing, it's genius. Just find books in decent condition and pawn off as new. Inscription? Just tear off the page. Dust jacket issues? Just trim away. Rounded edges? Buy a paper cutter and trim. I personally am disappointed this is becoming rampant. Why isn't Amazon busting these guys and instead covering for them?
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Several years ago (at least 5) I was in a library bookstore looking for stock. Found a few; as normal, most weren't worth buying.
Then another guy who was scanning books and had a large pile offered me a stack, saying that when he double checked, he wasn't able to list them. I checked through the stack, and without exception, none were worth considering, with prices all under $7-8. But again, without exception, the prices for "New" copies was $20+.
I have no doubt that he was planning on selling as "New".
The trick to doing this of course is to send everything to FBA; then ask for a Strike-through, which is usually given automatically (the few times I've had to use it, it's only 1-2 seconds, so obviously no person involved).
You would think that Amazon would notice a pattern; it would be easy enough to program a bot for this. But they're more concerned with making sure that we can't sell a 50 year old OOP book for more than $5.
Seller_bYvQMCZlUGPIa
Agreed, this has become epidemic. I've noticed a flood of new scanner types in my geographic area in the past 3 years, and almost every single one is FBA, selling used books as new. The only one who was kicked (and then re-instated) was caught selling used textbooks as new and the publisher caught him on a test buy.
Seller_fQCTxrT2bm0WT
I would add that as a result of some joker listing a used book as new - any other copies listed with a higher price get de-listed for "Potential Pricing Error"s and must be fixed. A real time-waster!
Seller_I2qqv3zfXygfp
How are you selling books for any profit? Even if you get a book for free and sell it for $9, you will not make anything after $4 in fees and $5 for shipping and indbound FBA shipping costs. Then you have Amazon selling a new book at $9 or $10 at 50% bellow MSRP so there is no reason to sell a used book, you can't make any profit and people won't buy it when they can get new for the same price delivered in a few days with prime.
You guys realize you make $1-$2 on a used book if you can't sell for over $10 and Amazon makes $4-5?
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Seller_2dUos1lIpKtTn
Since Amazon requires invoices to be dated within last 365 days, you would think that would do it.
Then again, I have one book listed that Amazon offers as "New", although they are out of stock, so "order it and we'll let you know when it's in stock".
But it was a one-time limited edition from 1979, from a publisher that closed their doors in 1999 (I know, because I got to clean out their storage units that had all the display and archive copies). Pretty sure that Amazon will never get a copy of this book, and that no one could produce an invoice that meets requirements.
And even though I got my copies directly from the publisher, I listed them as "Used".
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Seller_I2qqv3zfXygfp
All that matters is my profit; what Amazon makes is irrelevant. If I sell a book for $10, I make about $3; that's not much, but $3 more than if I didn't sell it.
But most of my books sell for more than that. Sometimes much more. The key is to find the stuff worthwhile. When amazon takes $150 commission on a $1000 book, I still come out in pretty good shape. And yes, that happens (not often, but happens).
Seller_ToPPYvOWlyp9j
Consider:
If new, a title on AMAZON doesn't have CONDITION NOTES! Think of all the time saved if sell nothing but new--sometime takes 25 minutes to list a inscribed USED or COLLECTIBLE title(next to physicians, authors must have the worst handwriting to decipher) held in my elderly hands. Admittedly, my listing skills have slowed down in the last few years plus don't use templates to bulk-list.
No, we don't list New... but it is tempting, I suppose- if you're more worried more about income than ethics. After all these years, we do have a reputation to maintain. But often wonder when drop-shippers or aggregators buy from us, if they're scraping a gift quality or Fine+, selling as New!
Seller_BeWo5Xt3t43rn
Used books sold as new is why I always check the striked out feedback before I buy (and tell all my friends to do the same!
This scam started long ago on AMAZON but the one that really hurts us sellers is those dropshippers who buy used books from honest sellers and sell those as new with the ultimate returns cost borne by us!
Seller_bLpzUne3tRjkG
This isn't a new thing. It has been happening for years. In my experience as a book buyer, I would say the majority of third party booksellers greatly overestimate the condition of their books.
