Q&A: Why is my book being sold below wholesale on Amazon?

QUESTION: On Amazon Marketplace, "new" copies of the book I wrote are for sale at 50 percent off the list price. This seller claims to have their orders fulfilled by Amazon. How can this seller make any money, and why would Amazon team with them?

ANSWER: Any third-party seller can sign up for Fulfillment by Amazon. These sellers send their books (or other products) to an Amazon warehouse, and Amazon handles shipping and customer service. Amazon is signing up anyone who is willing to pay the monthly storage and service fees for this program. These fees are in addition to the 15-percent commission Amazon charges sellers for Marketplace sales.

The vast majority of Marketplace sellers are reputable, and I can think of four explanations for why your book is priced incorrectly:

• The seller is using automatic repricing software and has forgotten to account for the cost of your book, so they've mistakenly priced too low.
  

• The seller obtained some remainder or review copies of your book at little or no cost.
  

• The seller might be offering a used copy of your book, and the condition is mistakenly described as "new" instead of used.
  

• Amazon still has some kinks in with "Fulfillment by Amazon," which is just coming out of beta testing. Amazon may have introduced this error.
  

The easiest way for you to get to the bottom of this is to order a copy of your book from this Marketplace vendor. They may cancel your order and say the book is "out of stock." Then you
can contact them and ask for an explanation. You'll have leverage because you can rate the transaction using Amazon's Marketplace feedback system.