Okay here's my latest nightmare...I listed a bunch of old magazines on Amazon. Why Amazon? Well to be honest I wasn't sure they would sell quickly enough on eBay and I like Amazon's pricing model of no listing fee until they sell. Always liked that...anyway...here's how it worked out…
First, Amazon “double dipps” by charging both a commission of 6 to 15 percent of the sales price, a per-transaction fee of $0.99, AND a variable closing fee. This may be fine for high end items, but kills small items like CD sales and used books.
For example, on one recent sale see how things actually worked out:
| Buyer's price | +$2.95 |
| Amazon Commission | -$2.78 |
| Shipping Credit | +$3.99 |
| Actual Postage (cheapest possible route via USPS.) | -$4.50 |
| My Earnings | -$0.34 |
| Amazon's take | 94.24% (+$2.78) |
In this transaction I lost money because of Amazon's inaccurate postage credit and huge commissions—even if you don't include gas or my time to mail the item, list the item, etc. Wow, so I supply the inventory, take all the risk, etc. and get a loose money in the process. (Mind you I have always hated how many people abuse shipping on eBay for so many reasons... Again, I like Amazon's model because sellers can't abuse shipping, but in this case, their credit wasn't even enough to cover shipping.
(update:see Why Media Mail didn't work)
Note, I was not the cheapest seller of this item...I priced above the the current high price when I listed so don't tell me I should just up my listing price. This is ridiculous I would be better off throwing away my inventory or giving it away at this rate!
I have complained to Amazon customer service and to Jeff...let's see if that goes anywhere. If it does I'll do a follow up posting.
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