Selling on Amazon

[trustknoone]

I see lots of stuff about ebay craigslist and yard sales but no one ever mentions Amazon.
Does anyone here have any experience selling on Amazon, there is no listing fees and it seems super easy to set up stuff to sell.

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

i am interested in this as well...details anyone?

 

[librarygal]

I have been selling books on Amazon for years. There are no listing fees but the fees and commission are fairly steep when the book is sold. The good thing about Amazon is that you can keep your listings up for years with no fees and they take care of paymeents. No waiting for the buyer to pay. Due to the high fees I would net sell anything under $10. You will also need to pay for shipping bags, labels, and gas to the post office.

 

[ssawka]

Amazon is a heck of a lot easier than Ebay or Craigslist. You just create a listing and when it sells, it sells. No dealing with waiting for the auction to end or idiots to not show up at your house. Amazon also reimburses you for shipping, but be careful of this because it is a set amount based on the type of item sold, which may or may not cover the actual shipping charge. Also, it is important to note that Amazon only pays via EFT to a bank account, and only at the end of the month.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

Amazon typically takes approx. 20% for their selling fees depending on the catagory you sell in. But, they do have such a broad customer base, that you can list your item a little higher than you would ask on eBay or craigs list, so you can re-coup your fees that way.
My Amazon seller account pays every 2 weeks, so as long as you don't need the money right away, you are fine.

Good luck!

 

[nunzia]

Amazon is a heck of a lot easier than Ebay or Craigslist. You just create a listing and when it sells, it sells. No dealing with waiting for the auction to end or idiots to not show up at your house. Amazon also reimburses you for shipping, but be careful of this because it is a set amount based on the type of item sold, which may or may not cover the actual shipping charge. Also, it is important to note that Amazon only pays via EFT to a bank account, and only at the end of the month.

Now see, I fele like Ebay is a heck of alot easier thatn Amazon. What turned me off Amazon is their high fees/commission and the fact that they have a set postage that you have to pay for out of pocket and then be reimbursed. I like that Ebay sales have PayPal attached and I can print off my postage from there right at home and not have to mess with the post office at all.

 

[peggster]

Another option is Half.com. Similar setup to Amazon, but the fees are lower. Also, the last time I used Amazon, the listing would expire in 60 days if the item wasn't sold. You could renew it at no charge, but with Half.com, the listing stays up until it sells or you pull it. I don't know if Amazon still works that way, though, because it's been a while since I sold there.

Good luck!

 

[ssawka]

Now see, I fele like Ebay is a heck of alot easier thatn Amazon. What turned me off Amazon is their high fees/commission and the fact that they have a set postage that you have to pay for out of pocket and then be reimbursed. I like that Ebay sales have PayPal attached and I can print off my postage from there right at home and not have to mess with the post office at all.

To each their own, I just don't like the whole aution thing. I know you can do the "buy now" but I don't think that's available for newbies.

 

[Forevryoung]

I would rather pay Amazon 20% commission than pay Ebay fees AND Paypal fees. To me it's relatively the same.

Selling on Amazon has been wonderfully easy for me and I've made a good chunk of change selling my old textbooks, my DBF's text books, and some other random items (workout dvds, wii games).

I like knowing what exact price I will get before it sells. I've definitely gotten slighted at least twice on Ebay with my listing not selling for what the item was worth. That won't happen on Amazon. And if it's not worth selling on Amazon it can go on Ebay, paperbackswap, or goodwill.

 

[Cherbear013]

I typically sell on ebay and have done okay over the years. The one time I listed an item on Amazon I was almost scammed by the Nigerians. I don't feel good about Amazon anymore for selling.

 

[ssawka]

I typically sell on ebay and have done okay over the years. The one time I listed an item on Amazon I was almost scammed by the Nigerians. I don't feel good about Amazon anymore for selling.

What are you talking about? One of the great things about selling on Amazon is that you don't have to deal with the buyer. They pay Amazon and Amazon pays you. It is much less risky than Ebay or CL.

 

[trustknoone]

Thanks for all the replies. One of the reasons I was looking at Amazon was that they deal with collections and for the worry free of that I am willing to pay them a little more. Don't have to deal with collections or paypal.
Just looking at the fees when you take ebay and paypal fess and the hassle vs. amazon fees and them collecting it's not a huge difference. Craigslist has always creeped me out but am willing to do it for some things that will need pickup.

For the craigslister peeps, can/have you put on your listing Cash Only?

Cherbear, how do you get scammed when Amazon is collecting? I would think that would be on Amazon to figure out.

 

[Ava]

For the craigslister peeps, can/have you put on your listing Cash Only?

I only accept cash when I sell on Craigslist - I think that's the norm there, since the buyer usually picks up the items in person.

What I have done in the past is list items on both Half.com & Amazon - that way I reach two different audiences of potential buyers. When the item sold from one site, I just took it off of the other site.

 

[Cherbear013]

It was a couple years ago and on the Amazon Auction site. They had sent me a fake email saying they had paid for the item. I trusted them too much and didn't check my actual account to make sure the money was there. So I shipped it and then realized they didn't pay for it. I guess its what you call a phishing scam. I didn't realize you could sell on the actual Amazon site too!

 

[Forevryoung]

It was a couple years ago and on the Amazon Auction site. They had sent me a fake email saying they had paid for the item. I trusted them too much and didn't check my actual account to make sure the money was there. So I shipped it and then realized they didn't pay for it. I guess its what you call a phishing scam. I didn't realize you could sell on the actual Amazon site too!

That's interesting because 95% of the time I don't have any contact (email or otherwise) with my buyer through Amazon. They don't even get my email address, Amazon sends the email.

The one sale that I emailed back and forth with was someone who never received their book and I wound up simply refunding the money because it wasn't worth the hassle of investigating further (a $7 sale). But that's once in a good 20+ sales.

When a book sells with Amazon, the buyer pays immediately and you get an email saying the item sold and you need to ship it. You log on, get the shipping info, ship the item, mark it "shipped" and the order is complete.

 

[trustknoone]

Cherbear, Thanks for the answer, this kind of stuff is why auctions make me twitchy. I did ebay years ago and had no problems but it seems to have gotten worse in the last few years. My goal is to avoid auction sites and paypal. I have had issues with paypal.

It looks like if you are willing to pay shipping up front and wait for the money Amazon is the thing for me, I'm willing to pay them a little more to collect the money. Just gonna need to list a few unshippable items on Craigslist for local sale.

Thanks Guys

 

[extremesoccermom]

I have been buying and selling my son's high school and college books on Amazon and Half for the past 6 years. It has been good for me. The romance novels on the other hand usually come up around .01. With the commission and shipping I would loose money there.