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I hate selling on Amazon. Hate it. Ebay fees are 11%, Amazon fees are 40-50%. I've seen a seller almost cry watching amazon take over $140 in fees out of a $300

• moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
• moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
• moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
• moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
• moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
• moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
• buovjaga 12y ago
  > And the biggest insult is Amazon saying they make so little profit. Where is all this money going? I guess they make the profits disappear by using tax havens: http://www.ibtimes.com/eus-amazon-probe-puts-scrutiny-global-tax-shifting-schemes-1700683 http://www.ibtimes.com/eus-amazon-probe-puts-scrutiny-global...
  • mschuster91 12y ago
    Even "sunk" or "disappeared" money must end up somewhere. In Amazon's case, they have a shitload of investment costs (warehouse/datacenter building and staffing, both need massive upfront investment and take quite a time to go black) and costs for failed/under research-projects like the Fire Phone.
• mandeepj 12y ago
  > Amazon fees are 40-50% That is enormous. I do not see that fee structure anywhere here - http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161240 http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1...
  • ChrisNorstrom 12y ago
    I didn't either but: http://i3.minus.com/i0tJucuLy5zPB.jpg http://i3.minus.com/i0tJucuLy5zPB.jpg
    • vacri 12y ago
      The reason is right there in the footnote: the user only charges a penny for the items. The user is doing a hacky trick, and firing off a higher percentage take by amazon.
• Alupis 12y ago
  > Amazon fees are 40-50%. I've seen a seller almost cry watching amazon take over $140 in fees out of a $300 transaction That's a little exaggerated. My company sells a lot of stuff on Amazon... for a Pro Merchant account ($40 a month and gets you no per-item listing fees), Amazon commission rates are based on which selling category you list your items in... they range from 10% - 30% generally, but do fluctuate from time to time. For any items on Amazon that is listed at or less than $6 there is a minimum commission rate of $1 or $2 depending on the category (the reason most cheaper items have disappeared from amazon lately). Regardless, you have to bake the Amazon commission rate into your sale price, otherwise you will lose money. It's often considered an "insider secret" that almost everything listed on Amazon is more expensive than if you just did a search for the seller's actual website. Few people do this, and a lot of people just assume Amazon is cheaper always (which is absurdly false). The pricing formula is often: product cost * 2 == your normal markup for selling on your website Amazon formula is often: (product cost * 2 ) / (1 - commission rate in decimal) So, say you acquire a product for $10. Your website will probably list it for $20 retail price. On Amazon (assuming a 20% commission rate) you will likely list it for $25 (10 * 2 / .80 = $25) Amazon then takes their 20% commission cut ($5 in this case), which leaves you back at your original target retail price, $20. The customer eats the Amazon commission fee.
  • pbhjpbhj 12y ago
    >It's often considered an "insider secret" that almost everything listed on Amazon is more expensive than if you just did a search for the seller's actual website. // See, I'd assumed that, but at least in the UK the things I've looked at buying on Amazon have been equitably priced and sometimes cheaper on Amazon that on the sellers own sites. Didn't Amazon get in trouble for having a contract term that requires that they be able to sell at the low price offered to anyone else .. or did I dream that. Once you factor in postage and having to make a new account Amazon has worked out cheaper for me [versus sellers own site] each time I've looked. Any examples you can give?
    • Alupis 12y ago
      > requires that they be able to sell at the low price offered to anyone else .. or did I dream that. That's very false, at least for regular products on Amazon, ebooks and books have special rules and maybe that's what you recall... You can list your products at any price you want. Browse to any product that has the "More from $xx" button below the main listing, it will take you to a list of all sellers listing that same product (matched usually by UPC or similar, but can also just be hand selected when the listing is being created, however usually only small-time sellers bother with that since it's very difficult to manage a catalog of 20K+ products and handle each one by hand) Each will list it at different prices. Some sellers even list the same item multiple times at different prices. There's no perfect strategy, but obviously they think it benefits them somehow. > Once you factor in postage Well, it seems you are overseas and not in the US, so shopping on amazon.com is probably not going to save you a lot because your shipping fees will be much more significant than most people buying domestic. Have you tried shopping on amazon.co.uk? These should be mostly domestic sellers (if you are in fact from the UK). There's also a Japan amazon and a few others. > and having to make a new account Amazon has worked out cheaper for me Making an account is free on almost all (sane) ecommerce websites. So this is just a laziness thing (no really it is, I'm not being smart with you, we go through great pains to make account creation as simple and easy as can be since it often does turn away customers). I do agree that having a common account is nice and simpler... which is why a lot of ecommerce websites now allow you to checkout with an amazon account (well, maybe not anymore?), Facebook account (to grab you name, email, address, etc), google account, etc. > Any examples you can give? There's loads. Some categories and really really big sellers (think Target/Walmart sized sellers) get special deals/treatments on Amazon and are called "Platinum Sellers". The electronics items generally will be round-about what you will pay on newegg.com or similar, but in my experience newegg.com will be a few bucks cheaper and/or have more selection that is easier to browse. Here's a few quick ones I found: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B007R9U3HC http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B007R9U3HC Listed at $57.95 + shipping per each And from the manufacturer: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Digi-International/XBP24BZ7WIT-004/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtJacPDJcUJY79HHPicnANXH0htiCKG4kM%3d http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Digi-International/XBP24... Listed at $28.00 + shipping per each Here's a better example of the same seller on Amazon, and on their own website: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OV98P9E http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OV98P9E Listed at $6.63 per each http://www.jewelrydisplaysandboxes.com/Cotton-Finger-Guards_p_1841.html http://www.jewelrydisplaysandboxes.com/Cotton-Finger-Guards_... Listed at $0.26 per each ~~~~ Another dirty little secret is the Buy Box (what the "Add to Cart" button on the main product page is called) is not always the cheapest offer for an item. You often have to click the "More from $xx" link to see all offers and find the cheapest one. The Buy Box is awarded based on a convoluted algorithm that weighs a lot of factors including feedback ratings, email message response times, number of feedbacks in the past 12 months (it's average to have about 4%-8% of sales leave feedback), on time shipments, on time deliveries, etc etc etc... They all add up and allow some sellers to list an item at a higher price than others, but still get awarded the Buy Box.
• nether 12y ago
  > I hate selling on Amazon. Then don't do it. > Ebay fees are 11%, Amazon fees are 40-50%. Bullshit. Look up their fees, they're nowhere near that much. You're making shit up. > I've seen a seller almost cry watching amazon take over $140 in fees out of a $300 transaction. If a loss of $140 is making him cry, I strongly recommend you encourage him to meet with a personal financial advisor, or have him seek the mental health resources he needs. No person of sound mind/finances should be broken by a loss of a few hundred bucks. > And ruetinely take 50% of gross receipts. Yes this is normal. Again, you're fabricating data. > Sellers have started canceling large transactions and directing their buyers to the same product listing on etsy, ebay, or their own store. I've bought and sold hundreds of items via Amazon used items and have never experienced this. You can't sell handmade items from Etsy on Amazon either. (Etsy is for handmade items only) > Don't get me started on the inability to control shipping rates like every other marketplace. The only valid complaint, though it actually works out well when you're buying.
  • ChrisNorstrom 12y ago
    50% fees regularly charged. http://i3.minus.com/i0tJucuLy5zPB.jpg http://i3.minus.com/i0tJucuLy5zPB.jpg Btw, thank you for your kind "adult like" response. It really makes HN better. Also, YES you can sell hand made items on Amazon. Just get a UPC code.