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.

Q&A: How many bookstore sales can I expect for each Amazon sale?

QUESTION: I have a book for sale on Amazon, and now I'm getting it distributed to bookstores. How many more sales can I expect when my book is available in stores? I've heard that if you get your books into the stores, you'll sell more books -- but how can I forecast the number of books?

ANSWER: This is more difficult than forecasting the weather. And I'm not a meteorologist or a retailer. However, in his book "Print-on-Demand Book Publishing," Morris Rosenthal estimates:

• If the title is modeled at one or two copies by the major bookstore chains, multiply Amazon sales by five.
• If the title is also carried by indies, specialty stores and book clubs, multiply by 10.
  

Depending on whose numbers you believe, Amazon accounts for between 8 percent and 15 percent of book sales in the United States. But it's safe to assume that certain types of books are overrepresented in Amazon sales -- computer books, specialized books, books that appeal to a younger audience.

By contrast, brick-and-mortar stores do a better job moving bestsellers by big-name authors, especially when they're on display in the front of the store.

Certain types of books do poorly on Amazon because buyers prefer to examine the physical book before purchasing. A good example is children's picture books, as Aaron Shepard points out. Many of these are bought as gifts from grandparents.

Your mileage will vary.