In 1994, Amazon was founded as an online bookseller named Cadabra. In 1995, they launched their website and changed their name to Amazon. In 1999, Amazon began selling music and videos in addition to books. In 2000, Amazon opened their platform to third party sellers. Today, Amazon is America’s store, and we can find all the things online that we cannot find in brick-and-mortar stores. Like so many others, I love to shop on Amazon.
The problem is, Amazon has gotten greedy and forgotten their humble beginnings as a bookseller. Today, authors pay an annual fee to have their books listed on Amazon. And, unless you have published your book through Amazon’s publishing arm, KDP, self-published authors like me receive only 55% of the listing price of my books AND I pay shipping costs to stock the Amazon warehouse with my books. This means I make about $1.00 per book sold on Amazon after I pay my illustrator, my graphic designer, my printing costs, and of course the shipping to Amazon. I’ve never seen a rich self-published author.
So why even be on Amazon, you ask? Well, it’s now America’s store and they make it so incredibly easy to shop. Many authors feel it gives their books exposure and credibility to have them on Amazon.
This week, I removed two of my books from Amazon because they now allow other sellers to come in and sell an author’s books at other prices. Some of the re-sellers say the books are new and undercut my price. (They cannot be new because I’m the only one who orders the new books from the printer.) One of the re-sellers, is charging $31.04 for a used copy of “The Button Box” that I sell new for $19.95. Another re-seller is selling my book, “The Halloween Scare” for $16.24 on Amazon when my selling price is only $14.00. This re-seller is saying the copy is new.
I feel the re-sellers cheapen my product and create confusion among potential buyers. This picture may be difficult to see but it shows all the different buying options of my book, “The Button Box” on Amazon.
The other problem I have with what happens on Amazon is people (competitors? publishing companies?) leave low star reviews but don’t bother to write anything. Why does Amazon allow star reviews without anything being written?
If you truly want to help authors and booksellers…people who love writing and books…then buy your books from the author directly or from a locally owned bookstore. Most authors have a website or book selling events where you can purchase their books, and most local bookstores can order books for you if they aren’t already in stock.
In fact, buy local whenever you can and support small businesses and artists and authors like me. We aren’t millionaires or billionaires and we do a happy dance whenever we get a new order or make a sale!
I couldn’t agree more. I think you sell more books through your other distribution channels anyway.