So... while I don’t have an actual Amazon storefront, my publishing company is listed as a seller for the paperback editions of most of my books.
Few are sold that way however, as Amazon itself undercuts the greybeard publishing price by offering free shipping with prime. As an example, go to The Shylmahn Migration on Amazon and click on the "new from 5 sellers" link.
I went out to my Seller Central "manage inventory" page, first time in a long while, and I see that Amazon now charges such exorbitant fees for each paperback that I do sell through that avenue that I earn more in royalties by letting Amazon sell it.
They charge a referral fee, a closing fee (what the hell is that?) and a per item fee. For one of my books that I sell for $12.90, those fees come to $5.32. When you calculate my costs for book production and shipping to bring that book into my inventory,
then throw in the cost to package and ship the book to the buyer, my final earnings comes to about $3.50. Alternatively, if I let Amazon sell it I earn $3.65 in royalties.
Well, that sucks.
I think I’ll drop the Seller Central component of my Amazon presence. They win again. They’ll do all the selling on their site.
Anyone looking to buy a paperback, go to my greybeard publishing website and click on "Signed Print Editions" or "Bundled Sets". Amazon still gets their cut via my production costs, but at least I’m not limited to just the royalties.
BTW... with Amazon’s expanded distribution fees and lower royalty percentage, my most recent paperback sale to the UK brought me $1.25 in royalties. I’ve seen that go as low as 0.90 in some European countries.
I hesitate to complain, but... well... that sucks.
Writers certainly aren’t in it to get rich. As for myself, I can't imagine doing anything else; been doing it since I was 12.
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