Cool reception for 'Fulfillment by Amazon'
Amazon is testing a program enabling sellers to outsource their book storage and shipping tasks to Amazon. Under the "Fulfillment by Amazon" program, sellers would send their books to Amazon after listing and, when sold, Amazon would ship the book and handle customer service.
The program's plus for sellers is their listings would be more attractive, since buyers would have more shipping options on certain orders:
-- Amazon Prime 2-day shipping
-- Free Super Saver shipping
-- Amazon Gift Wrap option
Also, listings would feature a "Fulfillment by Amazon" logo, which could carry weight among shoppers distrustful of third-party sellers.
But active sellers are nearly unanimous in their opposition to the idea, according to a survey of online bookseller message boards and discussion lists. Many critics say:
-- Amazon will charge additional fees for handling the orders, but hasn't said how much. Presumably the new fees would be added to Amazon's 15-percent Marketplace commission.
-- Sellers don't want to lose control over their high-value books.
-- Books stored at Amazon couldn't be listed for sale at venues such as eBay, Half.com, Abe.com, Alibris and others. This could crimp the bookseller's sales velocity and profit margins.
-- Amazon will charge an annual storage fee for each book, but hasn't said how much. It's unclear whether sellers would be able to retrieve books they want to delete from their inventory.
Amazon is testing the program with a limited number of volunteers, more information is in Amazon's FAQ.
Despite the reservations of active sellers, the program might be attractive to non-Pro Merchants and non-sellers. 'Fulfillment by Amazon' might draw students and others interested in trading in books without the hassle of dealing with customers. It's likely that 'Fulfillment by Amazon' participants would receive much better prices for their books compared to other online buyback programs operated by Barnes & Noble and others.
If the program succeeds in drawing more sellers, it will certainly mean more competition for sales. I'm interested in hearing your comments about this program.
The program's plus for sellers is their listings would be more attractive, since buyers would have more shipping options on certain orders:
-- Amazon Prime 2-day shipping
-- Free Super Saver shipping
-- Amazon Gift Wrap option
Also, listings would feature a "Fulfillment by Amazon" logo, which could carry weight among shoppers distrustful of third-party sellers.
But active sellers are nearly unanimous in their opposition to the idea, according to a survey of online bookseller message boards and discussion lists. Many critics say:
-- Amazon will charge additional fees for handling the orders, but hasn't said how much. Presumably the new fees would be added to Amazon's 15-percent Marketplace commission.
-- Sellers don't want to lose control over their high-value books.
-- Books stored at Amazon couldn't be listed for sale at venues such as eBay, Half.com, Abe.com, Alibris and others. This could crimp the bookseller's sales velocity and profit margins.
-- Amazon will charge an annual storage fee for each book, but hasn't said how much. It's unclear whether sellers would be able to retrieve books they want to delete from their inventory.
Amazon is testing the program with a limited number of volunteers, more information is in Amazon's FAQ.
Despite the reservations of active sellers, the program might be attractive to non-Pro Merchants and non-sellers. 'Fulfillment by Amazon' might draw students and others interested in trading in books without the hassle of dealing with customers. It's likely that 'Fulfillment by Amazon' participants would receive much better prices for their books compared to other online buyback programs operated by Barnes & Noble and others.
If the program succeeds in drawing more sellers, it will certainly mean more competition for sales. I'm interested in hearing your comments about this program.
posted by Steve Weber at 4/18/2006
9 Comments:
I personally think Amazon is trying to get rid of 3rd party sellers. The competition to sell lower ranked books is getting to them. With all the cool scouting tools... and I have an arsenal, it is so easy to purchase books that compete with Amazon retail prices. It use to be more about rare out of stock books. Not anymore. They must see some profit in this or more likely just want to get rid of the mass amount of small sellers. There is also a large amount of sellers who purchase high volume wholesale and sell on "the river". They use the Amazon venue and make a killing, low-balling prices and now we are all going to have to pay. I say nay. I won't do it. I can't figure out who determines the price? Do we even have control of that? I have sold on Amazon for a few years thinking the whole time, when is it going to end. The End is Near.
I will be very surprised if Amazon ever follows through on this. It seems it would be a tremendous administrative burden. They can barely manage their 3rd party program now, with everything outsourced to us.
What happens when Amazon fails to ship the book on time? Does the seller take the hit with bad feedback? I see way too many drawbacks to this.
Amaz has come up with a really bad plan on this one. They have problems right now keeping site stability and getting orders out - they need more headaches? How can they possibly keep track of more? I am not going to trust them with my inventory. no way! thanks.
I, too, believe Amazon is trying to eliminate sellers. This may just be a way to begin that process. I imagine sellers are great in numbers, and AZ can't keep up with costs for new equipment, and administering which seller will be shown when. I can't imagine how they could manage OPB (other people's books), or how carefully they would handle the inventory. It seems this is a brainchild of a new grad who swears the theory will work.
I see no asset in doing this. I want to continue to have my own autonomy and manage my own book sales.
I don't think Amazon is trying to get rid of third-party sellers, I think they're trying to sign up even more -- those who would like to get top-dollar for their books, but don't want the hassle of running a business.
My sense is that Amazon likes having third-party sellers because those people probably buy more merchandise -- new and used -- after they begin selling. I know I buy at least three times more stuff on Amazon than I did before I started selling.
If this program succeeds, it will mean more revenue and fees for Amazon.
That said, Amazon has never been known to consider the impact on its seller partners when it makes changes. When they try something, you can count on it being done wrong the first time -- reminds me of Microsoft.
It seems there's no end to the constant change in the bookselling world. There's not even a remote possibility that we would participate in this program. I think (hope)that so few sellers will participate that it won't have an impact on the rest of us. It does make me feel a bit more relieved that we opened an eBay store a month ago. Thanks for the giving us the heads-up on this. --Anita
So where is this warehouse going to be??? Think for a moment if 1,000 sellers sign up, each has 2 copies of the The Da Vinci Code. So so thats 2,000 copies of the same book from 1,000 different sellers, how in the devil are they going to keep those books straight?? Its going to have be one huge warehouse.
There was a comedian who had this line 'You can't have everything, where would you put it'? Think about that Amazon.
Dave
Anchorage, AK
I think Amazon would be better off fixing their feedback system so that "unfair" negative feedbacks on sellers can be removed. That way, the sellers with highest ratings would rise to the top and the sellers with bad ratings would go out of business like they should. When you have a well-oiled machine, faulty parts are replaced with parts that function correctly.
Of course, Amazon needs to fix other things as well, such as their search engine. It is my feeling that they would be better off correcting their own internal problems rather than lauching a new program that is in my estimation going to be a major disaster! They make tons of money off 3rd party sellers and it's too bad that they can't see that that is the area that needs to be improved.
But what do I know....I am the DUMMY that just bought a truckload of about 5000 books that are sitting in a storage unit waiting to be listed...and now this has happened. Looks like it's time for a yard sale...or 2...or 10. It would be nice to get that several thousand dollar investment back!
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