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Auctionbytes-Update, Number 60 - December 22, 2001 - ISSN 1528-6703     Previous Story | Contents | Next Story

A Letter to 'Santa' Bezos By Edith Reynolds AuctionBytes.com December 22, 2001

I had no problems with Amazon, my business relationship and feedback was perfect. Heck, they even sent me a nifty baseball cap with their logo when I made a suggestion. So when I applied to open a Z-shop and join the Marketplace, I was stunned to receive a friendly but disappointing email from the company that said I was denied. They did state that the denial wasn't credit-related, but no other explanation was afforded. More than being outraged by the callous dismissal, my feelings were hurt. It didn't make sense. Why would Amazon turn its back on more than 16,000 salable titles and offend a good customer and seller? Denis Gouey of "And Books Too" in Torrington, Connecticut, (and who sells on eBay as Bibliopegist) made it his personal crusade to find out why. Denis loves a challenge and was determined to discover the root of the denial. He found the reason was simple. Because I was a former auction-lister, I already had a Z-shop account. All I had to do was use the information from this to load up my inventory instead of reapplying. Amazon wouldn't recognize the duplicate information. Why didn't they say so? Then again why didn't they leave Bibliofind alone? And why don't they make a profit? Good questions all. Maybe the answer is that Amazon doesn't need to worry about the little things. They're busy selling books, gadgets, and other things. Maybe they're like Santa's elves, too busy filling Christmas orders to worry about the feelings of sellers who don't realize they're already part of the Amazon team. So maybe taking the Christmas approach will prove helpful. Instead of writing to Santa, maybe a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is in order. Mine would read: Dear Jeff Bezos: I am very pleased you were once voted man of the year, because Amazon is a remarkable company and provides my company with strong and consistent sales. But could you provide an easier way to do so? All the various places within the company that sells my books confuses me. And the redundant emails take up a lot of time. Couldn't we simplify things a bit so that we keep costs lower in order to make more money? I forgive you for hurting my feelings, after all, the increased sales you brought me did much to assuage my wrath. But there may be others out there who don't have Denis Gouey to sort things out. They may have lots of books to sell that will generate more commissions for your company. And who knows, you may turn a profit. After all, with the waived fees for Pro-Merchant accounts, the free shipping policies sometimes used for holiday promotions, and the various shipping restrictions, it's a tad more difficult to keep track of commissions and payments. And selling through Amazon.com isn't the only game in town. Many of your sellers have to contend with multiple Internet-based companies that sell books. It's not that we don't appreciate what you've done for us. It's just that a lessening of the headaches would be nice. It may give us more energy to provide additional inventory for the Amazon coffers. You could opt for something less time consuming like Barnes & Noble, Half.com, and Alibris do; they provide a table that lays out the daily sales with all the information right at hand. And it requires only one email a day! Sincerely, Edith Yes, that's what I'd like Jeff Bezos to bring me for Christmas or even making it a New Year's Resolution would make me happy. Traversing the Amazon landscape isn't always easy. It is a site designed to sell new products, yet it is a site that wants to capitalize on the rare book market. The seller must always remember, they are guests in the Amazon house and that means putting up with some nagging idiosyncrasies. But 29 million customers make it worth your while to explore their confusing landscape. It will be up to you to find ways to make it easy for customers to know your shipping costs. (I developed a table on our own Web site that lists the mailing costs by weight and each email request is calculated by that.) Just remember, Amazon may not seem like it's promoting individual booksellers, but the customers do come when you have a book they want and offer it at a good price. Once the sale is made, introduce yourself to that customer with information about your company and give the customer a "roadmap" directly to your store. And remember, Amazon may be difficult to contact when you have a problem, but when you finally get to make a suggestion, you may get lucky like I did. A baseball cap may turn up in your mail!