Q&A: Why are book sales so slow on Amazon now?

QUESTION: Our family has been selling books on Amazon for one year. I can't understand why sales are so uneven. We usually sell a dozen books a day, but lately it's only a few sales a day.

It's very frustrating. I've heard rumors of reduced listing exposure time due to some Amazon servers being down. Is there any other explanation for these dramatic lapses in order flow?

ANSWER: Just like you, I experience those ups and downs. First, let's look at some things that cause orders to surge:

Advertising
During certain times of the year, Amazon advertises in Sunday newspaper circulars. The ads never mention books, they're always hawking the big-ticket stuff like kitchen appliances. But I always see a boost in my book sales whenever those Sunday ads hit the papers.

Recommendations
As you probably know, Amazon stimulates much of its volume by sending personalized book recommendations to previous customers in periodic e-mails. If you've never seen one of these messages, here's an example:



My hunch is that these "Amazon Recommends" e-mails go out periodically in huge batches, and can produce a big spike in book sales when people receive them. Likewise, sales probably dip between these campaigns.

Amazon's recommendations will probably drive even more sales as its customer base grows and it refines its system.

Student demand.
I carry lots of nonfiction titles, so my business triples during two times of the year -- August and January -- when most college students are starting new semesters. Students buy lots of books for assignments, not just "textbooks."

Here's some less obvious patterns that can slow your sales:

Competitive listings sell first. Whenever you get new stock in, you'll sell a bunch of those, maybe 20 percent of them, pretty quickly. It's due to a combination of these factors: desirable books, competitive prices, and perhaps a bit of luck. The ones you're left over with sell more slowly, and some -- maybe 10 or 15 percent -- never sell at all. So if you take time off from listing new stock, sales can dip dramatically.

Leisure time
Certain times of the week produce a stronger flow of orders. Generally Sunday night through Tuesday night is the fastest for sales, then it tapers off until the next Sunday night.

When people are taking time off for leisure -- weekends and holidays -- your sales will be lower. In the five years I've been selling, early springtime has always been the slowest part of the year. I expect it's due to lots of young people being away on "spring break."

Unique events can take people away from their normal routines and prevent sales. Since I started selling nearly six years ago, my slowest sales day by far was Sept. 11, 2001.

Technical problems.
Amazon makes constant changes to their Web site, which can throw a monkey wrench into the buying process. And plain old malfunctions take a toll.

Something as complicated as Amazon's site can't be expected to work 100 percent of the time. But the problems are especially frustrating for sellers because there's no way for us to report bugs directly to Amazon's technical staff. For Amazon to ignore troubleshooting reports from the outsiders who know its business best (you and me) is incredibly foolish and shortsighted.

During my first few years of selling on Amazon, its staff would routinely conduct "planned maintenance" on Friday afternoons. And just like clockwork, orders would grind to a halt for the rest of the weekend. The orders wouldn't start again until Monday morning, when the right person came back to the office and flipped the correct switch.

But is Amazon doing this on purpose? I've never believed the conspiracy theories. I suppose certain listings might get switched off when Amazon's site is overloaded. But I don't think "cycling" could be intentional. Is it negligence? Sometimes. Premeditated evil? I don't think so.

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