Some Amazon sellers may begin using PayPal for the first time next month to collect miscellaneous payments from buyers. Amazon is phasing out its zShops program that enables sellers to collect special payments from buyers and list unique items in an Amazon storefront. The online retailer plans to kill zShops on October 24, which could make PayPal a necessity for some sellers, and could make eBay Stores a good option for those who want a flexible storefront.

zShops' phaseout will make it impossible for sellers to combine shipments or collect special payments for overnight shipping.

"Wow," said one seller posting on Amazon's seller discussion board. "Does Amazon realize they are driving business to eBay?"

Amazon launched zShops in 1999, but steadily reduced its profile after its Marketplace platform debuted the following year. On Marketplace, sellers pay a 15-percent commission on sales, instead of the 5-percent closing fee typical for zShop sales. Today zShops listings no longer appear in Amazon search results.

But even as most Amazon third-party sales have migrated to Marketplace, many collectible book dealers, who are among Amazon's most experienced and highest-volume merchants, have continued relying on zShops for three main purposes:

• To collect miscellaneous payments for buyers requesting domestic overnight or international airmail shipments.
• To combine shipments for Marketplace buyers who wanted to consolidate multiple purchases.
• To list valuable collectible books not appearing in Amazon's catalog, and thus ineligible for sale on Marketplace.

Over the past two years, Amazon has been perfecting a system enabling sellers to enter collectible and out-of-print books into its catalog, enabling their sale on Marketplace. But some dealers complain they still have thousands of collectible listings in zShops, and don't have enough time to convert them to Marketplace listings before next month.

zShops' phaseout also will change the storefronts for volume sellers who pay $39.99 monthly Pro-Merchant fees. Until now, those merchants have had a zShops storefront they could customize to highlight certain products or categories. Next month, Amazon will convert those storefronts into a generic Marketplace storefront and delete the zShops listings. Sellers will be unable to customize their new storefronts with categories or special offers.

Some Amazon sellers believe the phaseout of zShops will make eBay Stores a more attractive option for collectible book dealers.

zShops' phaseout also makes it impossible for sellers to collect miscellanous payments using Amazon Payments, or to give buyers a discount on shipping multiple items.

Amazon's Marketplace checkout charges customers a full shipping fee on each item, even for multiple purchases from the same seller. For example, a purchase of 20 books results in 20 shipping fees. Because standard Marketplace shipping is $3.49, a buyer purchasing 20 books from the same seller is automatically charged $69.80 for shipping, although actual shipping costs are much lower.

The inflexibility on shipping fees frequently results in confused or angry Marketplace customers, who assume the seller has deliberately overcharged them for shipping. Sometimes the excess fees can be refunded by sellers. However, Amazon sellers are urged to avoid refunds whenever possible, and the company closely evaluates seller refund rates. High refund rates, among other things, can result in suspension of Amazon seller accounts.

In recent days, several Marketplace sellers have written emails to Amazon's management, asking for some mechanism, besides PayPal, to collect special payments. The sellers have received canned replies from Amazon, stating: "Thank you for your feedback! Although we cannot respond personally to your inquiry, please be assured that all e-mails sent to this e-mail address are read."

Several other recent policy changes at Amazon have frustrated sellers, who complain that changes are being phased in without assessing the impact on buyers and sellers. For example, last week Amazon announced it would immediately begin sending feedback reminder emails to customers 15 days after transactions instead of the customary 30 day.

Amazon was swamped with complaints from sellers and partially relented, changing the feedback interval to 21 days. Irate sellers pointed out that Marketplace shipments often arrive after 15 days, and that buyers may be confused by receiving feedback instructions for shipments that haven't yet arrived. About 90 percent of Marketplace book purchases are sent via Postal Service Media Mail, formerly known as Book Rate, and delivery often takes a few weeks. On my own bookselling blog, sellers have expressed exasperation with the policy changes: (http://digbig.com/4nbpb).
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Steve Weber is author of "The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site." He is an online bookseller and writes about online bookselling at his "Selling Books" blog: http://www.weberbooks.com/selling/selling.htm