Facebook debuts book exchange program

Are you familiar with Facebook? It's a social-networking site similar to MySpace, but focused more on the college crowd (although it recently was opened to the public, and non-students are free to join. Current membership is about 30 million).

Anyway, Facebook has added a "book swap" feature that should drive some additional business to Amazon Marketplace. Users can list books they're interested in buying or selling by punching in the ISBN. Facebook is charging no fees or commissions for listing or selling books. If the book isn't listed by another Facebook member, members are referred to the book's Amazon page.

If you're already registered at Facebook, here's the link for the Marketplace Book Exchange.

California law could strengthen used textbook sales

Many states are considering new laws to combat rising textbook prices, but one case that bears watching is California. No publisher will ignore California and its huge population of college students, so what happens here will shape the entire textbook industry, particularly used and online sales.

Textbook publishers squeeze more profits every year from students by continually issuing new editions. In many cases, the new editions are a transparent attempt by publishers to destroy the market for used copies.

Often the "new" editions are simply a repackaging of the previous edition, perhaps with a new cover design, a reordering of chapters, and a few pages of additional material. Many students buy used copies of the previous edition online, saving $75 or more from the price of the new edition.

However, buying a used textbook is a gamble for students because there is always the chance that they'll be tested on some new material added since the previous edition. And here is where California's new law comes in: Apparently the state will require publishers to print inside each textbook a summary of its changes since the book's previous edition.

This could prompt more students to take a chance on used copies because they'll know exactly which material has been added to textbooks or deleted.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to decide between two competing bills by Oct. 12, each requiring more concessions from publishers. One demands "a price list of all books in a subject area, an estimate of how long the publisher intends to keep the texts on the market and a list of substantive changes the newest editions contain." The lists would be provided to college professors and posted online.

The other bill requires publishers to "print on or in new texts a summary of differences between the current and previous editions and provide faculty, upon request, a printed or online list of wholesale prices and edition changes." This bill would also outlaw restrict the resale of instructors' editions. Because these books contain test questions and answers, their availability supposedly encourages teachers to order new editions with different test material.

More details are in the LA Times.

New on Amazon: Video book reviews

It had to happen sooner or later: Amazon is allowing customers to upload video product reviews. So far I've been able to find three video reviews for toys and gadgets (apparently all submitted by Amazon employees) but none for books.

Whether this will help book sales is highly debatable. It might even hurt book sales, if "cute" but uninformative video reviews become more visible than good reviews that help shoppers decide which books to buy. On the other hand, video reviews could be very helpful for demonstrating gadgets or displaying clothing.

It will be interesting to see how closely Amazon polices copyright violations, which have been rampant on video sites such as YouTube. This Amazon video review, for example, posted by an Amazon employee, includes footage from a motion picture without permission (you'll need to scroll up to the top of the page to see the video). According to a discussion board posting, the reviewer believes the use of the movie clip falls under the "fair use" exemption of copyright law.

According to Amazon's video review guidelines, reviewers must "hold all intellectual property rights" to the video or have the permission from the copyright holder. Reviewers also grant Amazon a "nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual right and license" to distribute the material.

Here's a couple more video reviews from a user in Seattle.

The maximum length of reviews is 10 minutes and the maximum file size is 100 megabytes.

Feedback tweaks may prompt lower ratings

It seems Amazon's revised feedback page is prompting more buyers to leave neutral or negative feedback. Here's one comment that caught my eye on the Amazon seller board today:

I've been fighting off "3s" constantly since the new feedback system has been in place.

The new format seems to encourage buyers to "find something" to complain about... It's almost an "accusatory system" that insists the buyer find a problem...even one that may not have been significant to them.

And, amazingly, that discourages people from "communicating" with the seller...so the bad feedback always arrives "unannounced."

I've seen an increased number of "unannounced" negative feedback too. Sure, Amazon's feedback page asks buyers to notify sellers of problems before leaving feedback, but very few do so anymore.

This week I chatted with Ina Steiner at AuctionBytes about feedback at Amazon and eBay. You can listen to the podcast here.

Goodwill opening bookstores to sell its best donations

I've always been frustrated in trying to find good books for resale at Goodwill and other thrift stores. Too often, the selection is terrible -- although I've heard sellers in other areas say they get plenty nice books at thrift stores.

Goodwill already runs a used book Web site. Now there's another reason why it will be hard to find good buys locally: Goodwill is diverting many of its best books to new book-only stores, where they'll be sold for about $3 to $8 apiece.

Here's a local TV news report on California's first Goodwill bookstore opening this week in San Diego:

Easy way to get rich selling collectible books

OK, here's how it works:

1. Find out which authors will be visiting your town this week (you can search here).

2. Pick the most famous authors, and buy some of their books.

3. Everything else you need to know is in this cartoon:

Ever-rising textbook prices draws thieves

Colleges are responding to textbook thefts by marking books with invisible ink, requiring used bookstores to keep logs of sellers, and banning resale of expensive books by non-students.

For example, The University of Texas marks books with student names using ink visible only under fluorescent light. Campus stores check incoming used books for the mark. Read more in USA Today.

Amazon cuts off mobile access to Web services

Amazon is shutting off its Web services for users of mobile phones, a move that might threaten wireless access to Amazon pricing and catalog data. It seems price-checking tools such as ScoutPal haven't been affected, but it's unclear how Amazon's policy change might affect new companies from offering service.

The change was reported on this popular technology blog, where an Amazon spokesman added this comment:

Its says in our license agreement for that service that developers must first get permission from Amazon Web Services prior to using Amazon ECS in connection with any handheld, mobile, or mobile phone application (see 5.1.4 here). The reason is that it’s very early days in the mobile space and Amazon.com is still thinking through how to best serve customers who want to use mobile devices to shop on Amazon.com. At this point, we’re being cautious about exposing our catalog data for use in the mobile space.

Kevin O'Brien, founder of Spaceware, a provider of Amazon seller automation tools, said he suspects Amazon will provide access to ScoutPal and other lookup services. Most of these price-lookup services use their Web sites to get the ECS data, then transmit it in changed format to the cell phone.

"And since these applications indirectly drive sales to Amazon, I cannot imagine that they would shut them down," O'Brien said. However, he noted that this paragraph in Amazon's licensing agreement is somewhat vague:

5.1.4. Unless we have provided you our express written consent in advance, you are not permitted to use Amazon ECS in connection with any handheld, mobile or mobile phone application.

The paragraph doesn't state if it is permissible to indirectly use the data (via another server) or if they mean direct access from the device itself. It's possible that Amazon is simply trying to prevent mobile applications directly hitting their servers directly and causing lots of traffic.

Dave Anderson of ScoutPal said he believes the issue boils down to Amazon wanting to own direct merchandise sales via wireless, which is understandable. "This is an an explosive marketplace, and there are a few players in it now, one of them being run by an ex-Amazon guy," Anderson said. "I'm certain that Amazon does not have any issue with data lookup and delivery properly done with ECS/AWS."

One startup company providing mobile-phone shopping services that is probably drawing Amazon's attention is Mobile Shopper, whose chief technology officer is a former Amazon employee. The company uses PayPal to process payments, which is probably an additional irritant for Amazon.

Who says you can't get a great deal at church book sales?

The Church of England is regretting its bargain selloff of a huge collection of rare religious books. The Church sold the books for $73,000 to a local book dealer, who resold them for more than $1 million. Amazingly, the Church didn't bother to auction the collection or even get an appraisal.

The books were cleared out to make room by Church officials who didn't know how much the collection was worth. Thanks to his tidy profit, the book dealer is closing his shop in London and retiring to the countryside.

Amazon's new feedback page emphasizes delivery time

Today Amazon began testing this new page where Marketplace buyers are asked to leave feedback (click on the picture to enlarge):
















Here's what stinks about this new page: Even more than the existing page, it emphasizes a short time window for Media Mail orders. For example, I just looked at the feedback page for a Marketplace order I placed on July 4. As a buyer, the first question I'm hit with is:

"Did your item arrive by July 26th?"

That's only 14 business days for shipping! As we all know, the Postal Service delivers many Media packages after that time frame. Yet Amazon is inviting buyers to zap up with negative feedback when USPS isn't prompt. When Amazon implies that something was substandard about the order, the implication is that it was the seller's fault, and the remedy is negative feedback.

The new page prompts buyers to criticize sellers for factors beyond the seller's control -- even if the buyer was satisfied with the purchase! (The existing design also provides the same delivery time frame, but asks the question at the bottom of the form, where many buyers might not even see it without scrolling down.)

On the other hand, I suppose the new design will reduce the amount of buyers who leave feedback comment about a book's contents. This page design makes it more obvious than ever that the buyer is being asked to rate the transaction, not the product.

Here's what else is new about the test page:

• Only one click to reach the feedback page after logging in.

• All feedback-eligible orders are visible on one page. Buyers can leave feedback on as many orders as they want without having to leave the page.

• Comments are automatically filled in based on the rating the buyer clicks. For example, if the buyer leaves five stars and answers "Yes" to each of the three feedback questions, these comments are automatically added to the box: "Excellent. Item arrived on time. Item as described. Satisfied with customer service. The buyer can then edit the comment before submitting the feedback.
  

• The message "If your order hasn't arrived yet, please note that it's still before the delivery estimate" is much more prominent.
  

• The comments box is below the optional questions so buyers will be more likely to notice the questions before they leave a comment.

Although Amazon is calling the new page a "test," it sounds like the changes are guaranteed to go through. In its announcement, Amazon's Marketplace team said the design of the existing page "will not meet our business needs as we add new features." The announcement claims the new design was based on feedback from sellers (yeah, right) and will provide a "greatly improved buyer experience."

Here's my take: Amazon redesigned the form so that buyers can vent immediately using the feedback form, take out their frustrations on sellers, and consequently Amazon will receive fewer Marketplace order inquiries and complaints.

What do you think?

BookFinder lists most-wanted out-of-print books

BookFinder released its annual list of most-wanted out-of-print books. Tops on the list are:

The Book of Bond, or Every Man His Own 007, by Kingsley Amis.

The Great Tool Emporium by David Manners.

Hell, I Was There! by Elmer Keith.

Football Scouting Methods by Steve Belichick.

The American Wild Turkey by Henry Edwards Davis.

Beyond Backpacking by Ray Jardine.

See other books and details about the list here.

Why are people unlike the books they buy?

I've had this experience so many times now, it can't be a coincidence. I'll sell a book about religion, for example, (a book about how to be a better person, more forgiving, etc.) and invariably the buyer is the customer from hell.

They'll accuse you of all sorts of things -- padding your shipping charges, lying about the shipping date, stealing their money, misrepresenting the book's condition. And when it becomes obvious they're wrong, do they apologize or forgive? Noooo.

Why do so many buyers of heavenly books treat other people so viciously -- the exact opposite of what the book is about? I guess they just want the book on their coffee table to make it look like they're a great person. Meanwhile, the way they act violates the principles of every religion on earth.

Here's another way many buyers are unlike the books they buy: People who buy comedy books often don't have a sense of humor.

Recently I sold a copy of "America: The Book" by Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's Daily Show. The book is a parody of an American history textbook, and even includes a fake school stamp inside the front cover, "This book is the property of..." It's mildly funny, but any moron would know the stamp isn't real because ... because, well, I don't have enough fingers to count the reasons.

Well, wouldn't you know, the buyer was outraged and left negative feedback because I "hadn't mentioned the school stamp in my description."

I wrote to the customer and assured her that the stamp was a joke and was meant to be funny.

Like most customers with bogus complaints, she couldn't bring herself to admit she was wrong, saying: "I haven't seen the book before, so I didn't know the textbook stamp was part of the design. I have gotten other "like new" books before from eBay with a similar stamp, and those stamps were real."

Hey, thanks, you should be a comedian.

Have you ever had a customer who wasn't like the book they bought?

Selling books to raise funds for a cause

Here's an interesting article about a psychiatrist who got into online bookselling to raise funds for her favorite cause, land conservation.

Here's an excerpt:

Books that people scramble to buy, and perhaps pay a lot of money for when they are released, are worth little on the Internet book market, she said. The ones she sells, she said, would often end up tossed away if she did not put them up for sale in an international marketplace.

“The most successful books are highly technical books about subjects I don’t understand, electrical engineering, metallurgy, nuclear science,” she said. “I sell a lot of books to Korea, Hong Kong and Australia.”

Q&A: Can I sell teachers editions or solutions manuals on Amazon or eBay?

QUESTION: I've known for a long time that we are prohibited from selling teacher's editions on Amazon or eBay. As a used bookseller who also home-schools (and has experimented a lot with curriculum), I'm aware that I can list my books through e-groups or Home School Legal Defense Curriculum Marketplace (though there don't seem to be a lot of bids there. I see a lot of zeros).

So I was rather surprised and hopeful to see a math solutions manual listed on Amazon, both new and used, a book that I want to sell (but can't if I'm to comply with their prohibitions). The teacher's edition of the same book is also listed, although the listing doesn't state that it's a teacher's edition.

So I started thinking hopefully that maybe they've changed their policy on this. But I looked and it still says the following are prohibited:

Solutions manuals. Manuals or teacher's editions that provide answer keys to student textbook editions are prohibited.

Is Amazon inconsistent or just unaware? I'm not planning to tell them. It just bothers me that I would like to list these books with them and can't, and yet the books are actually listed there with copies for sale. Have you or anyone else had similar experiences or frustrations?

ANSWER: I've never understood why teacher's editions are against Amazon's policy in the first place. As long as the buyer is getting what they expect ... But the policy hasn't changed as far as I know.

Is buying a teacher's edition cheating? Seems like a silly question to me. Anyone who goes to the trouble of buying and reading a teacher's edition is probably going to learn the stuff assigned for their class, and isn't that the whole point? Besides, 99 percent of the teachers manuals bought online are probably purchased by teachers and homeschooling parents.

At one point I had a ton of teacher's editions and I sold them all on Amazon under the regular ISBNs by listing them as "collectible" then providing the description. I guess Amazon polices Marketplace more closely these days.

I wonder if any Pro-Merchant sellers are creating detail pages on Amazon for teachers editions and solutions manuals? There's probably nothing to prevent it, unless they have a filter that includes all the ISBNs for these items.

But for the two examples you've given, they don't look like seller-created pages, it looks like Amazon is carrying the books. So my impression would be that if Amazon has a "Sell Yours Here" button on one of their pages, it must be OK to sell that item.