Amazon is forcing is to set a price THEY think it should be listed at - we ARE the original manufacturer & publisher
We are the creators, manufacturers, and distributors of the product we are selling - we are selling it at a higher rate than on our website, because our website calculates the CORRECT shipping cost, while Amazon is saying it only costs $4 to ship a 9lb book. We pay at least $20 for shipping, and it especially hurts us internationally. We already price our book low and have low profit margins.
Amazon should not be dictating what we price our own goods at. We are NOT resellers.
There is no way we can sell on Amazon if they force us to HALF our price. The price they recommend is lower than what we sell it at even before shipping, so we're operating at a loss if we choose to "accept" Amazon's pricing.
Amazon is forcing is to set a price THEY think it should be listed at - we ARE the original manufacturer & publisher
We are the creators, manufacturers, and distributors of the product we are selling - we are selling it at a higher rate than on our website, because our website calculates the CORRECT shipping cost, while Amazon is saying it only costs $4 to ship a 9lb book. We pay at least $20 for shipping, and it especially hurts us internationally. We already price our book low and have low profit margins.
Amazon should not be dictating what we price our own goods at. We are NOT resellers.
There is no way we can sell on Amazon if they force us to HALF our price. The price they recommend is lower than what we sell it at even before shipping, so we're operating at a loss if we choose to "accept" Amazon's pricing.
31 replies
Seller_0qyRtqm32cQSi
this is absolutely maddening... Our FBA fees are up $1.5 per unit, our ad spend is up 10% and returns are up 20%.... I try to increase our price by $2 to PARTIALLY compensate and Amazon tells me I'm no longer eligible to be the featured offer on our own branded product
Seller_LImVvUWeyiCfQ
Agreed.
Agreed again.
I don't think you'll find one seller here who doesn't agree with both statements.
Seller_aWrza8YvWVgM1
We had to pull a lot of our once-profitable products from Amazon bc they drove the price so low it wasnt worth it. Most of my prices now are at the point where if they tell me Im uncompetitive, I just delete it from Amazon.
Seller_Lu3bFSNnS57zM
reach out to the ftc lawyers working in the Amazon lawsuit. You are the person they want to hear from
Seller_keSnEDesLFVwv
After beating my head against Amazon policy for years, I have finally accepted that Amazon does not want many of my rare books to sell on their site.
They set their price according to some clueless bot. The few copies that remain sell out, and the ASIN remains empty.
I, and some other sellers, transfer the books to another venue, where they sell at a more reasonable price.
Amazon loses their cut. The Amazon customer loses an opportunity to buy. I lose a tiny bit because it takes longer to sell.
Almost everybody loses. The only party that wins here is eBay.
Seller_O6YWkDReQ90FK
Legitimate book sellers should all dump Amazon and begin listing on all other more professional sites. Amazon supports price-fixing; supports scammers; allows bots to run the program; hires incompetent seller 'support', and on and on. I'm already starting the slow process of pulling out, and I'm raising my prices on all my existing books. 13 years is long enough, and I've never once had a two week pay period of LESS than $100.00. The two-week period was almost always between $700-$1000 until about a year ago. And now it's worse than ever. No sales for days now, and Amazon doesn't care.
Seller_6bsxKLlsfgTmU
This is why when I need to purchase something, I go directly to the company website instead of purchasing from Amazon, and that way I help that company make the profit it deserves not what Amazon wants. Everyone should start doing the same.
Seller_YBfUTeoG971hG
I am always puzzled by the force of the word "potential" when listings are deactivated for a "potential pricing error." There is nothing "potential" about it! Our listing is deactivated because of what Amazon bots perceive as a price that is too high and the only way to reactivate a listing is to lower the price to some mysterious "actual" figure that resides in the head of the bot in question. Is "potential" supposed to make us feel better??
Today I tried to list a fine, signed first edition copy of a book on a listing that had 4 "acceptable" ordinary copies and a high-priced, non-existent copy listed by a book-jacker who has no books in stock but lists everything (even 80-year-old books) as "new." Hard to fight that.
Seller_NUMgZy2H3GR9w
Same issue here - we're brand owner, manufacturer and distributor that sells several products exclusively on Amazon. Their bots keep picking up different items across the web and trying to force our price down. Opening up a case with seller support with clear screenshots, UPCs, and other data is useless. Escalations are useless.
The fact that Amazon can dictate the prices of products which we own is absolutely maddening...
Seller_Lu3bFSNnS57zM
I wasnt joking about contacting the FTC lawyers. You can easily find their contact information on Pacermonitor for free.
