Q&A: Is Amazon cycling my book listings?

QUESTION: Since March, my biggest sales month ever, it's been straight downhill on Amazon. I've continued listing books, but sales have fallen so dramatically that I can't help wondering what's going on. I've asked Amazon if they've done anything to hurt Marketplace sales, but received a canned response. It doesn't make sense, since I have many times more new items listed than several months ago. Meanwhile sales have fallen to the same level as when I started.

ANSWER: This is always the worst time of the year to be an online bookseller. It's after the exhilarating Christmas and springtime rushes, and before the August rebound. It's depressing.

With less demand, competition among sellers heats up. It's harder to find the real gems this time of year too. Everything just compounds. The dog days of summer are the worst.

I don't believe in the cycling theories. Sure, Amazon has its problems -- I've been selling full-time nearly six years now, and I've never seen a week go by without some major malfunction. Negligence? Perhaps. Premeditation? No way.

My sales are abysmally low now too, I've never had lower unit volume since I started. On the other hand, I haven't had time to check my prices lately. So I'm not sure whether my prices are just too high at the moment, or if the wheels have totally fallen off Marketplace.

I used to check my prices at least once a day, but lately I haven't gotten to it. Fortunately I've had enough high-dollar sales this summer to pay the bills.

I think the automated price-cutting is getting things out of whack too. I happened to be watching the price of a certain book last week, and noticed that two sellers were lowering their price every 10 minutes by about one percent, so their listing would be on top. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up. The price was falling about 50 cents an hour. I watched this go on for about five hours, until one of them eventually got the sale -- but at $3 less. What happens when it takes a week to get the sale?

The good news is, August is right around the corner. When the college students go back to school, business will be brisk, and we'll be seeing the world through rose-colored glasses again.

So don't bother chasing the lowballers this month. Let them knock themselves out to sell low. We'll be selling high in August!