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+--- Thread: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. (/showthread.php?tid=262053)
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Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - richorlin - 11-30-2021
I used to sell a lot of one-off items on Amazon, mostly electronic. Now, suddenly Amazon is requiring approval to sell practically everything I have tried to sell in the last few months. You have to provide documentation of a minimum of quantity ten purchased from an authorized vendor.
I’m at the point where I feel like giving up on selling on Amazon and move entirely to eBay. On eBay, I’ve always been able to get higher prices and recover shipping costs in full, as opposed to Amazon.
I’ll continue to buy from Amazon if the price is right, but as for selling, feh!
Has anyone else experienced this change in policy?
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - Acer - 11-30-2021
I did not encounter that a few months ago, when I listed something. I did have to be "reapproved" to sell in general because I had nothing up for a while. But that was quick and painless. I wasn't given any quotas or anything.
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - Carnos Jax - 11-30-2021
@richorlin been selling on Amazon for several years, and yes there are some brands for which I have to go through the hoops you stated. However, almost all the time I find that I can get significantly more for my products on Amazon then I can on eBay. Even with a higher return percentage is on Amazon, a higher price this more than make up for it by far. So I’m a little surprised to hear you can get more on eBay, though I’m sure there are exceptions. Almost everything I sell is brand new, so that may have something to do with it. But in regards to the policy, it is not new.
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - Acer - 11-30-2021
I do well with reselling my kids textbooks on Amazon. I've sold some used DSLR lenses for respectable returns. New electronics as well, say something you got as a premium somewhere. I tried a few model train items, even brand new, and had no action. It is good for high-volume categories, not so good place for niche markets, IMHO.
I think in general the take-home is comparable to eBay in most categories. It is much easier to list on Amazon since you don't have to write your own description or upload photos. I don't like their forced shipping rates, though, I've lost money when their weight is too low.
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - mattkime - 11-30-2021
Why would amazon bother with you when they could deal with a company selling 10k's of items??
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - Carnos Jax - 11-30-2021
It’s too bad, because Amazon built themselves upon the backs of small third party sellers.
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - richorlin - 11-30-2021
Carnos Jax wrote:I agree, and now they just kick us to the curb.
It’s too bad, because Amazon built themselves upon the backs of small third party sellers.
I can understand them doing this, though. Selling a single used item can result in problems for the buyer if the description or condition isn’t spot-on. Since Amazon also built their business on customer support, any problems undermine that. If I was selling in the volume I did ten years ago, I would really be pi@@ed off over this.
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - mrbigstuff - 11-30-2021
This is news to me, as I never see examples of used items for things I am searching. Car parts, being one. Are there resellers on Amazon in an eBay fashion?
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - mattkime - 12-01-2021
mrbigstuff wrote:
This is news to me, as I never see examples of used items for things I am searching. Car parts, being one. Are there resellers on Amazon in an eBay fashion?
There are some categories they don't allow used sales or even non approved sellers.
I think amazon is pretty quick to gouge the seller if anything goes wrong so I don't understand how it burdens them. Seems like they have much more trouble with counterfeits which happens at a very different scale.
Re: Almost not worth the effort to sell individual items on Amazon. - richorlin - 12-01-2021
mattkime wrote:
I think amazon is pretty quick to gouge the seller if anything goes wrong so I don't understand how it burdens them. Seems like they have much more trouble with counterfeits which happens at a very different scale.
Yes, they always seem to back the buyer, but this is what they built the business on. "The customer is always right" and the seller is never right - except when it's clearly the fault of the buyer.