What's the impact of zShops' demise?
How much do you use Amazon's zShops?Back when I started selling, about 20 percent of my inventory was zShops listings, and I sold many collectible books that way. Back then most pre-ISBN books weren't in Amazon's catalog, so zShops was the only way to list them.
A couple of years ago Amazon stopped showing zShops listings in searches, and sales promptly dried up. But I've continued using zShops to create special listings for customers who have special requests. For example, every once in a while I'll have a customer who absolutely must have their book sent FedEx for next-day delivery. In other cases, customers didn't realize "standard" shipping might take a few weeks, so they want to upgrade to airmail.
I've sold to more than 100,000 Marketplace customers, but my biggest seller of all time is a $2 zShops listing I call "Upgrade to Priority Mail." Each time I've used it, it's been a hassle on my end, but I offered it to keep my Amazon customers happy.
Recently AuctionBytes asked me to write an article about what the demise of zShops means. I said:
Some Amazon sellers may begin using PayPal for the first time next month to collect miscellaneous payments from buyers...
I think some people have interpreted this to mean I'm advocating that people circumvent Amazon Payments and use PayPal instead. Not so. I'm simply pointing out that every so often, customers have special requests, and there should be mechanism for handling these requests using Amazon Payments. Perhaps this can be solved by allowing Pro-Merchants to invoice customers for additional amounts as requested by the customer.
What do you think about this, and the fallout from the demise of zShops?
posted by Steve Weber at 9/28/2006
2 Comments:
I think I will miss it for the singular reason you cited: allowing US and international buyers the simple option of upgrading to priority, or overnight, shipping through the familiar amazon site. Some less savvy buyers, or someone who has been burned by an internet experience, may be reluctant to go to Paypal. I would understand.
I wonder if we could convince amazon to create several levels of upgrades we could list and sell, and allow them to collect additional commissions on? Ok, it's my fantasy ...let me enjoy it.
I applaud amazon's seller created pages that have broadened the catalog for buyers.
If anyone has a solution in mind that could be standardized somehow, it might be helpful not only to the seller community, but for buyers as well.
The part that gets me furious about Amazon's new scheme is the following (paraphrased) line: "All new pages sellers create become property of Amazon". Before, the Z-Shop page was my own page, my creation. When the book sold, or when I chose to, the page disappeared. Now Amazon is drafting millions of hapless sellers into free labor. We have to create millions of pages for them, free of charge. I already had to do 75 this week, grrrr. Okay, the seller gets a small reward if the book sells. But the page remains in the property of Amazon and will not close. Amazon's catalogue will be unparalleled in its completeness, especially as far as unusual and rare books are concerned that (almost) nobody knew existed. That's one heck of a database, that no competitor can even dream of acquiring - and all this through our labor, completely free of charge. I very much prefer the honest Z-Shop approach: I create the page - I own it.
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