In May of this year I received an e-mail from Amazon.co.uk asking if I wanted to sell any books, videos or CDSonline. The link in the mail got me to Amazon.co.uk/Marketplace. I followed the links under "Sell your Stuff" and read about the service.
No need to stand out in all weathers, yelling at punters or doing Pythonesque "5 for that you must be mad" negotiations. This can all be done from the comfort of your computer.
Basically, go to SELL YOUR STUFF; enter the ISBN number of the book/CD/ Video (you'll find it on the back cover). This will trace the book - make sure you are selling the same book/copy/edition as the suggested title. Amazon will then ask you to fill in details of what condition the book is in i.e new, unused, used and anything significant like tears, creases or missing dustcovers. Be honest because the prices are based on this description and advertised as such - do not deceive your potential buyers as it will probably cost you in the end.
When you are satisfied that you have given enough information you can put the book (or CD etc) on the marketplace. You can enter as many as you like. The service is FREE! You will see a list of items you are selling and can delete or update them whenever you feel like it.
After one month, if an item has not sold you will be sent an e-mail for each item asking if you would like to remove it from the marketplace or reduce the price. Prices are suggested by Amazon but ultimately you can decide what to charge. Remember that punters pay more than what you will receive because Amazon takes a small percentage.
Is this getting confusing? I hope not. But to illustrate I'll go through one of my sales.
I put "Food Optimising" a hard back on the marketplace for the suggested price of £10.10 - it was described as "Used - like new" although not still in sellophane. Amazon's commission was £1.52 + £0.75 Closing fee. Amazon sent me an e-mail confirming this.
The next day I got an e-mail to say that it was sold. I would recive £11.15 to cover postage (you have to cover this up front - payment is in arrears). I then received another e-mail confirming the sale. You must dispatch it within 2 working days after the date of purchase. If you can't then you have to refund the buyer. They send you labels with the buyer's address and a packing slip. You also get the buyer's e-mail address {this bit seemed a bit scary - we know where you live kinda thing}. I sent the book in a brand new jiffy bag clearly labelled as "Your Amazon Purchase" with my return address. If you don't want to supply this then you have to set up a PO BOX.
To get paid you need to give Amazon your account details over a security server system. They send you a PIN to activate your payments account . This can hold up your initial payment because the URL they give doesn't exist and it is hard to find the entry site for PINs. They e-mailed me with the correct address from payments-deposit@amazon.co.uk.
After this initail hiccup I was paid promptly and in full. I have since sold another two books with equal ease. I would recommend checking this out as it is quite easy (despite this review) and reliable.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Wide selection Of Products, Speedy Delivery, Better Prices Achieved Than Ebay For Selling Disadvantages: Charges For selling On Marketplace Are Expensive
criple 15.02.2003 (27.02.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Amazon.co.uk Marketplace
Advantages: one of the top 2 market places to sell you products Disadvantages: email correspondence / questions from buyers gives them access to you private email address
Sep 19th, 2002
very helpful by (97%):
helpful by (3%):
