Amazon query for specialist book business

[Snowgoat]

We have one business which has been dormant for a number of years, specialising in out-of-print and antiquarian books, which we want to get up and running again. The stock is there, but time has been a problem. It has never traded on line (unlike another business we run) and reached its peak in pre-internet days via mailing printed catalogues.

There are dedicated listing sites, of course, plus our own, for marketing, but we were interested in giving Amazon a go. One problem could be the commission (15%?) but the other might be the necessity to subsidise the postal/courier costs. The books are usually heavy, and will need insurance coverage, and this could add an extra 5-8% to our costs at least. Someone mentioned a maximum product value as well. It looks a non-starter to us, but before researching thoroughly, is there anyone in the same position and running successfully?

 

[alanc]

Someone mentioned a maximum product value as well.

I sell heavy and fairly expensive items on Amazon and I've never heard of a maximum product value (but it might be quite high).

You can factor your postage costs into the product price or shipping costs. You can also factor for their 15%, but remember its not costing you in advertising or merchant fees.

Trading on Amazon is at its worst when pricing is competitive. Some people seem to think making a few pence profit is worth it. I doesn't sound like you'll be in that position.

There are other book listing sites. www.abebooks.co.uk for example

 

[Snowgoat]

Thanks, Alan. To take an example, a £1,500 book, weighing 15 kilos, going to Japan. Insurance and postage is going to be north of £100, and my understanding is there's a default postage rate set by Amazon. To try and build that in would make the book expensive compared with the same book listed on another of (my) sites.

Yes, I know about ABE - they're an obvious choice, except that brings in a lot of (unwanted) competition. On Amazon the competition would be negligible, hence the initial attraction.

I've asked them about the max. listing price - it's not in their T&C for sellers.