Q&A: How can I list my book when Amazon's catalog data is wrong?

QUESTION: Sometimes the descriptions Amazon gives for a book may differ from the copy I want to list for sale. Sometimes the cover graphics or the number of pages will be different. According to Amazon's rules, the book has to match completely.

In some cases, new books I've ordered from Amazon have these discrepancies too, but I want to resell them now. How do you handle this kind of situation when listing books?

ANSWER: I have listed and sold tons of books that differed in some way from what is specified in Amazon's "Product Details" section -- page count, covert art, sometimes even the binding. If it's something that seems really minor, usually I'll make a note of the discrepancy in capital letters in my Seller's Comments. I always hope that if a customer pays close enough attention to Amazon's data about the book, that they'll read my description too.

It's a good idea to check these details on each book, because heaven knows we have customers who will take any possible opportunity to complain, like when the page count is off by a few pages.

In some cases, a catalog error is serious enough to prevent books from selling at all. For example, sometimes Amazon has the author's name misspelled, or has the title wrong. In those cases you should submit a correction to Amazon's cataloging department. Usually there's a link somewhere on the book's product page for "Update Product Info."

If you can't find the catalog link, go to Aaron Shepard's Sales Rank Express. (This is also a handy tool for checking sales ranks on Amazon.com and its international sites.)

At Sales Rank Express, after you type in the book info and click "Get Ranks," you'll see a button for "Fix Data." After logging into your Amazon account, you'll be at Amazon's Catalog Update Form for that book. Here you can suggest changes to the title, author name, binding, publication date, publisher name, number of pages, edition, format, language, and language.

I've submitted changes several times this way, and almost every time my suggested changes have appeared on Amazon's product page within a week. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Sometimes there will be a weird discrepancy that makes a book unique. For example, sometimes you'll end up with a softcover while all the other sellers have hardcovers listed with the same ISBN, and there's no product page or ISBN for the softcover. In these cases I'll list the book as "Acceptable" even it it's like new, give a big discount, and explain everything in the Seller's Comments. That has worked for me so far, even though it's technically against the rules.

POD could devastate out-of-print book sales

You might be interested in this article I wrote about Amazon's advertisements for print-on-demand (POD) copies of out-of-print books.

My main point was that mixing these books into Amazon's book-recommendation emails is a bad idea.

But even more important for booksellers, I think, is what this could mean for our sales. Scarce and out-of-print books are our bread and butter.

If you or I had found a real copy of the book mentioned here, we might have sold it for $500. Then again, it might never have sold. But with a "new" print-on-demand copy listed for $23 -- well, you get the idea. One more tightening of the vise for the bookseller trying to make an honest living.

Scary book sales: Are you a vulture or a goon?

Here's the most amusing account of an FOL book sale I've read in a while. Click through to read the whole article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Inside, the vultures ravaged the tables to stock their online stores or used bookstores. They had roaming goons, too, minions separating the Hemingways from the Harlequins. Eyes and hands never moved so fast. They filled up cardboard boxes faster than a ShopRite checkout boy on Red Bull.

For fun, observers should move slowly through these sales, as motorists do to thwart tailgaters. At least speeders won't knock you in the bumper like one dealer with her box that kept poking my wife, who was just like most of us - simply looking for a few good books. Dealers, however, who simply want 1,000 good books, act as if we're interrupting their eBay businesses.

One thinning-haired man with a scruffy beard and wrinkled shorts was yelling obscenities as he flung empty boxes. One smacked a guy as he entered. "I'm trying to work here!" the dealer snarled. "Someone took my damn books! This is insane!"

Here's one way to advertise your bookstore

Catching up on your reading?

Culling some penny books?

Want a bit of light summer reading?

Thanks to Wystan Stevens for sending me this photo and thanks to Jason Weaver for posting it on Flickr.

The pile of books is intended to be recognized as a sculpture (representing a human leg?). It was erected on the main street of Linz, Austria, by a bookstore called "Thalia" during a festival this spring celebrating the city's nomination as a cultural center.

Here are some other views:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=linz+book&s=rec
http://www.flickr.com/photos/da-fi/878543147/in/photostream/

Here is the pile under construction, using a boom platform:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taibo/492492191/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taibo/492492755/in/photostream/

And another random photo, from a distance:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tripsofsidney/614513000/

Airports see healthy used book trade

Here's an interesting story in the Chicago Sun Times about used book sales at airports.

In North Carolina, it's a reader's paradise at Raleigh-Durham International. New books are sold at Borders, Hudson News & Books, CNBC, Press Plus and other retail outlets.

But there are about 8,000 used books for sale at 23-year-old 2nd ed. Booksellers, a shop owned by Walter and Karen High.

Walter High says the shop sells about 60,000 books a year.

Did Amazon's book recommendation computer crash?

I buy lots of books Amazon recommends, even though some of the suggestions are wacky. For example, last year I got a recommendation for a book about hysterectomies. Here's another nutty one I just got this morning:

We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated Antique Trader Book Collector's Price Guide by Richard Russell have also purchased The Journalists' Privilege not to Disclose Their Sources in Court- A comparative Study by Valentina Bratu. For this reason, you might like to know that The Journalists' Privilege not to Disclose Their Sources in Court- A comparative Study is now available. You can order yours for just $64.00 by following the link below.

The Journalists' Privilege not to Disclose Their Sources in Court- A comparative Study Valentina Bratu Price: $64.00

Thanks, Ammy, but I'll take the Fifth Amendment on this one.

eBay pulls Harry Potter listing hours after completed sale

From Publishers Weekly:

Will Collier, the aerospace engineer who put a copy of the book on eBay after receiving it from DeepDiscount.com on Tuesday, has been informed that the online auction site pulled the listing after receiving a complaint from London-based The Christopher Little Literary Agency, which represents J.K. Rowling. According to the site, the agency "notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law."

Q&A: Why won't the Postal Service take my Media Mail?

QUESTION: I've been selling books online for about three years. The most convenient method for shipping has been Media Mail, leaving them in my mailbox. I carefully weigh each book and affix postage stamps, then stamp the package "Media Mail."

The mailman knows me, and has had no problem dispatching my packages to the Post Office each day. But today, he came to my door and said that he can no longer take the mail, even though he knows me!

Now I have to hand-deliver them to the Post Office. With the thin margins we make, this is a big inconvenience.

ANSWER: It's funny you should bring this up -- I've been having problems with my mailman, too. Sometimes I'll leave him one or two packages, and he never takes it. He's new, and I haven't had a chance to talk with him yet, so maybe he just doesn't understand what's going on.

But usually I go to the Post Office daily anyway. I always have a few crates full, and I've never formally asked for "carrier pickup" because I liked to finish when it's convenient for me, usually in the afternoon, then take my mail to the loading dock of my local Post Office. If I had them pick it up, I'd need to be ready in the morning.

But in any case, Carrier Pickup is one of the basic services touted by the Postal Service. You can even schedule it online. But if you look at the fine print, it seems they may have changed the requirements a bit:

• Carrier pickup is free, regardless of the number of packages you're sending.
• Available for Overnight Guaranteed, 2-3 Day, and International.
• Pickup occurs on the scheduled day when your regular mail is delivered. (Do you need to schedule pickup for a specific time?)
• Packages should be properly sealed and ready for shipment (including postage) at pickup.
• The deadline for pickup requests and changes is 2:00 a.m. (CST) the day your pickup is scheduled.
• Maximum weight per package is 70 lbs.
  

It seems that in the past, you only needed to have one piece of First Class or Priority Mail, and they would take the rest. Now it seems they have some wiggle room to refuse Media Mail. A phone call to your local Postmaster might clarify this.

It seems that will all the rate hikes the Postal Service has been slapping on us, they could afford to improve service instead of slacking off. At the rate they're going though, they could end up putting themselves out of business when it comes to package shippers. Media Mail is still the cheapest option out there, but if the Postal Service wants to keep making it a pain in the neck to deal with them, who knows?

Got that, Newman?

Another Amazon seller feedback survey

Amazon has been e-mailing this message since Thursday, asking for volunteers for an "Amazon seller experience" survey. Apparently if you've completed a similar survey within the past year or two, the link won't work.

Dear Amazon seller,

We would like to get your feedback about the Amazon seller experience via this short online survey. Your views are important to us: by filling out the survey, you will have an impact on the design of features and services offered to all Amazon sellers. We appreciate your time, and we take your feedback seriously. The survey should only take about 15 minutes to complete.

The survey is available for a limited time only, so please respond as soon as possible. Just click the link below to get to the survey. Amazon's surveys are hosted by an external company, so the link does not lead to the site. Your information will be kept secure and confidential, and your name will not be associated with your answers.

Please click here to take the survey

Thank you very much for your time and effort!

Sincerely,
Market Research Team

Q&A: Where can I outsource my book database maintenance?

QUESTION: I have a PDA with a database book pricing program on it. I have a difficult time trying to download the program onto the PDA. I've e-mailed the manufacturer twice, but no help.

When I get my program to work, it works well. I would like to outsource the task of getting this program onto my PDA every month. How can I find someone for this small job? People usually outsource to foreign countries, right?

ANSWER: Two likely places to try are Guru.com and GetAFreelancer.com. On these sites, you post a job, and volunteers bid on it. It's a reverse auction -- the lowest bidder gets the job (after you check out their credentials and references, and give the OK).

For work that can be done via e-mail, these freelance networks are a great way to find affordable expertise. Many of the workers who bid are overseas and they're willing to work cheap. Earlier this year, I posted a job on GetAFreelancer and got about 50 bids, many of them at rock-bottom prices.

But just because someone's willing to work for below minimum wage doesn't mean it's a good deal for you. One thing you've got to watch out for: Some of the people who respond will have very limited English skills. You want to find someone you can communicate with, of course. So take a good look at the writing they've posted on their profiles, that will give you a hint on their language skills.

The eBay curse

eBay can be a lot of fun, but I usually avoid auctions when it comes to my bookselling business. I just like to set my price and be done with it. If I had a ton of collectibles it might be different.

So it's Buy-it-Now on eBay (or Amazon) for me. I just hate to mess around with the buyers who want something for an unrealistically low price.

Of course the other side of the coin is when the auction buyer pays an unrealistically high price. An interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor finds that many auction bidders end up paying more than they could have bought the item for using Buy-it-Now.

This is where eBay users fell prey to what Malmendier and her coauthor, Stanford University economist Hanh Lee, call "bidder's curse." Apparently, some bidders grew so enthusiastic about winning the auction that they lost sight of the "buy it now" price, sometimes offering more than $185.

We found that in 43 percent of the auctions the bidders ended up paying more than the 'Buy-it-Now' price," Malmendier says. This is really huge. It's far more than I could have expected

Links for 7/13/2007

If you want to kill some time on a Friday afternoon, here's five alternative ways to browse Amazon.com.

With such an immense array of products, browsing and searching them can become a chore. Below I'll take a look at five different visualizations that let you browse and find Amazon products in completely new ways. None of these are necessarily new sites, but they're all interesting and some are very useful and fun ways to browse through Amazon's massive catalog.

Have you ever gotten the urge to write your own book? You might want to check out Thomas Nixon's SmallPress Blog. Tom was gracious enough to feature me on the blog, and we discussed Plug Your Book.

In the interview, I explain why it's a good idea to maintain a blog if you're an author (or plan to become one):

Instead of trying to beat people over the head with an advertisement for your book, a blog enables your audience to discover you, and they get involved.

Blogging does take time, but the payoff can be huge. The more you blog, the more readers will find you, and contribute new ideas you can use in your books.

Amazon surveys sellers on third-party tools

If you've taken a look at your seller account page recently, you might have noticed this yellow box at the top. Amazon wants sellers to answer a series of questions regarding third-party software tools for managing your "Amazon sales channel."

Unlike some previous surveys, this one doesn't offer an Amazon gift certificate.

Here's what they want to know:

1. Do you use third party software to sell on Amazon?

2. Please select the Amazon websites that you sell on?

3. What is your Amazon seller name?

4. What is the name of the software that you use?

5. What is the contact information (Name, E-mail and Phone) for your primary contact at the software company?

6. What is the name and website of the software company?

I'm a bit curious as to why Amazon is after this information. Do they want to develop their own software tool and put everyone else out of business? Or perhaps they want to inform these software makers about changes ahead at Amazon.

GuruLib helps you organize your books and movies

If you need to get better organized (and don't we all?) you should check out GuruLib, a new, free service that helps you organize home libraries.

Using a bookshelf metaphor, GuruLib helps you catalog books, movies, music, games and software on its Web site. For example, you could use it to keep track of books or movies you've loaned to friends. Cataloging information is pulled either from Amazon or public libraries.

Here are some more features:

1. Virtual shelfs to provide a visual reference to the actual physical location
2. Cataloging and searching of Word, PPT, PS, PDF and XLS documents.
3. Barcode image decoder allows adding titles to your GuruLib account using a cellphone or webcam.
4. Write and share book reviews
5. Find the monetary value of your home library for fun or for insurance purposes
6. Set price alerts on your wish list items so that GuruLib will automatically notify when price drops below the target

And here's the related blog. GuruLib was developed by Rana Basheer, a student at University of Missouri-Rolla, and his wife.

Big Calif. bookseller goes bust, blames Web

If you're within driving distance of Southern California, you might want to check the going-out-of-business sale at The Book Baron. Anaheim's huge dealer of used and rare books lost its lease and began selling its inventory of 400,000 volumes at 40 percent off this week. I'm sure there are still a few good picks left, and the discount will rise as the lease's end draws near (the end of 2007).

Here's a TV news report from the local ABC affiliate. Click on the play button and you'll have to endure a 10-second commercial, then hear the store owner blame Internet booksellers for putting him out of business. And then he goes on to bemoan the fact that so many people need to touch and feel a book before they buy, and of course you can't do that online.

OK, I know certain people like to blame everything on "the Internet." After 15 years, I'm used to it. But hey, The Book Baron was on the Internet too. Did they put themselves out of business, or did they let rest of us do it?

Q&A: Why are book sales so slow on Amazon?

QUESTION: You recently mentioned that sales on Amazon have been slow. I belong to a site called PaperbackSwap.com, which has over 1 million books now. I'm wondering if this site or other swapping sites like it can have an impact on overall book sales. I don't have statistics on the number of members or total trades, but it must have some impact.

ANSWER: There are several of these sites but I doubt they have much impact. I suspect that only a fraction of the public knows about them compared to the awareness of Amazon, eBay and Half.com. And it seems many of the books popular on the swapping sites would be the same ones that are oversupplied on Amazon and selling for pennies. Just a guess.

The recent slow sales are due mostly, I think, to increased competition among sellers and the time of the year. July is always one of my slowest months. But things pick up in August when students start going back to school. August is always my biggest month, and January is a close No. 2.

The other things that have hurt recently is Amazon's increasing emphasis on free shipping and Fulfillment by Amazon, FBA. Those two things make us regular sellers a lot less competitive.

There's been a lot of speculation about FBA -- that fewer sellers are signing up than Amazon had hoped. On the other hand, just today Amazon announced plans to build one of its biggest fulfillment centers yet. The announcement of this Phoenix warehouse mentions nothing about FBA. But since it's one of Amazon's biggest fulfillment centers yet and they plan to hire hundreds of people there, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a connection. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean Amazon is doing something smart -- when we had the dot-com crash of 1999-2000 Amazon had to dump several brand-new warehouses to cut costs.

Things aren't any better over on eBay lately. AuctionBytes has a good analysis of the declining traffic and number of auction listings over the past couple of years.

The thing that could really kill us is e-books, if they ever become that widely available and people really start using them. It's been predicted for a long time but hasn't happened yet. And I'm hoping it won't during my lifetime.