Approval for selling books on amazon
Hi everyone! I just started on Amazon and I’m only interested in selling books right now. I’m an individual who is reselling from what I find locally. Do I need to get approved for every different book I list? Or Do I need to get approved for all books? If this is a bad time for books on Amazon then I’m not interested in selling. I just thought that books would be a good start on here and if it’s not easy to get approved, I’d rather not hassle with it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Approval for selling books on amazon
Hi everyone! I just started on Amazon and I’m only interested in selling books right now. I’m an individual who is reselling from what I find locally. Do I need to get approved for every different book I list? Or Do I need to get approved for all books? If this is a bad time for books on Amazon then I’m not interested in selling. I just thought that books would be a good start on here and if it’s not easy to get approved, I’d rather not hassle with it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
4 replies
Seller_ITSm6TMeixAhB
This is a round about answer to your question .. a few years ago I started selling books out of my personal collection (which spanned decades). Before I listed my first book .. I did test buys to see what smaller sellers' sold versus what mega sellers' sold on Amazon. It was eye opening. Out of about 20 test buys .. only 2 smaller sellers actually sold books in the condition they were advertised.
80% of my inventory is from one specific publisher that I know (catalog) like the back of my hand. I view that as a strength, though no doubt .. others would see it as a weakness.
I've only come up against one approval requirement (recently) that I was immediately approved for (per Amazon due to my having several years of positive selling history).
If I screw up (which can happen with vintage books) .. I take total responsibility and refund in total .. absorbing the out going shipping costs as a part of doing business here.
Amazon can be a challenge. This time last year I put my entire inventory on "vacation" for months due to the issue with Amazon's catalog (search forums for detail page debacle if curiosity is piqued). Corrected several thousand titles .. never originally listed by me.
The book catalog (for the most part .. at least in the area I sell into) is still somewhat of a mess. I tried today to upload a photo to correct an inaccurate cover that was rejected. I could literally spend hours every day submitting incorrect detail page data to seller support ..been there .. done that and no change worth noting ever comes to pass.
You will learn to pick your battles. I sell product that I know extremely well. I do not sell anything I would not buy. I value my customers and (knock wood) have been very lucky for the most part of who buys my titles.
I don't ask for feedback and can go 50 to 100 orders before receiving one. What I value is my retention ratio (that is taking a first time customer and having them become a repeat customer some 30 to 40 times over).
Lastly, I am finally starting to upload pictures for every title I have listed (it's a lot and beyond time consuming). I have always had totally detailed descriptions for each title listed. My plan (if I make it through the inform act BS) is to move to Amazon's professional account status early next year for one reason only .. so my repeat customers can source/locate titles' on offer by me far more easily. My repeat customers know the quality of the books that I sell.
I am (and have been since I started selling) on the individual plan .. which has worked for me while I've learned the plusses and minuses of selling on Amazon.
I offer no advice beyond stating .. know what you sell .. at least to start with. Best of luck regardless of what direction you head towards .. KJ (BookshopByTheFalls)
Seller_roNdLQpqbVoOH
Persistence is the key to that.
Once you see that the level of support you're dealing with is never going to understand/fix an issue, you have to ask for the case to be escalated to (Seller Support) Leadership. Not always an easy task, and even when transferred, dealing with that level of support is no guarantee of success either.
So then you go to the Executive Team (via the Jeff email), and they will look into the issue.
But, as you say, you must learn to pick your battles. The relatively few "urgent" issues that I have felt compelled to escalate to the top have all been resolved successfully.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
It's hard for anyone to give a good answer to this, because many of us booksellers have been around for a while, and it's very possible that newbies get treated differently.
But I'll say that it's very common for me to start to list a book, and have to go through an approval process. I'll get a message that I have to be approved to list from "Publisher XXXX", and be given a button saying "Apply to Sell".
Upon clicking that button, one of three things will happen:
Sometimes, I get a message along the lines of "You are approved based on your account history"
Sometimes, I have to watch a video (you don't actually have to watch it), and answer 4-5 questions. So far, every time I've gone though this, I get approved
But sometimes, I'm asked to submit invoices and/or publisher authorization. Since I sell only Used books, this i is not something I have. But last I checked, there are only 8 publishers that are still on my list that I can't sell; I've been approved for over 400.
Since the message states "Based on your account history", I have no way of knowing how easy it is for a new seller to get approved.
But on another note, if you are into books, then you should try to sell them here. But if you are NOT a book person, then it's likely not the best idea. Bookselling (used, at least) is VERY different from just about any other product on Amazon. The entire business mindset is different; I feel fairly confident about selling books here, and I've been doing it for 7 years; I would have almost no clue about how to start selling a product purchased wholesale, or a Private Label item, other than what I've learned on the forums to avoid. So if you're looking to use it to "get your foot in the door", I'm not sure that it's the best idea; although personally, I love it.
Rose_Amazon
Hi @Me_and_You_,
Thanks for the post and hope you had a good weekend. Looks like you received some solid nuggets from the other Sellers on this thread.
There is also the New Seller group within the Seller Forums that provides a safe space for new Sellers to post any questions, interact with and learn from other Seller's threads, and meet and network with other new Sellers. If you haven’t already visited the group, you can access them by following the steps below:
• Top of your dashboard, click on Groups
• Under Discussion group, click on New Seller Community
I included some helpful links and a thread below for newbies:
Many brands and products are in restricted categories or require approval:
Categories and products requiring approval
Read what you agreed to, when you signed up:
Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement
Thoroughly read and understand:
Prohibited seller activities and actions (Code of Conduct)
Make sure to choose a Selling Plan that is appropriate for you:
Professional Selling Plan or Individual Selling Plan
Most importantly, watch the videos and read the .pdf files in:
Take a peak at The New Seller Tip thread as well.
Should you need anything, please hop on over to the Forums. We are all excited to have you.
Best Regards
Rose_Amazon
