Q&A: What's the difference between Amazon Advantage and regular seller accounts?

QUESTION: I'm an independent publisher. What's the difference between Amazon's Advantage program and selling books on Marketplace using a Pro-Merchant account? I know that with the Advantage program, Amazon lists publishers' books for free and charges 55 percent commission. Pro-Merchant sellers pay only 15 percent commission plus a $39.99 monthly fee. Why, then, would anyone choose the Advantage program?

ANSWER: If you're a third-party seller on Amazon, then you're responsible for fulfilling the orders, of course. With Amazon Advantage, Amazon handles fulfillment and all customer service.

The major advantage of Amazon's Pro-Merchant subscription ($39.99 monthly) is that Amazon waives a 99-cent "closing fee" on each transaction. So if you sell more than 40 books per month, the subscription pays for itself.

As a Marketplace seller, it's tough to compete against Amazon on sales of new books. Most customers prefer buying directly from Amazon because those orders are eligible for Super Saver Shipping and Prime Shipping. So you need to undercut Amazon by a few dollars to get significant sales. Still, Marketplace is a good venue for selling returns and hurts.

Publishers with certain types of books like to have access to buyer information, to be able to cross-sell and upsell additional products. If you sell the book yourself on Marketplace, you'll have access to buyer names, addresses and e-mails. If Amazon is handling the fulfillment, you won't know who is buying your book.