math teacher Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 I've been trying for a few days, unsuccessfully, to list some books for sale on amazon. I used to do this all the time, and had no trouble. Today the site let me list two books, and now when I type in the isbn it says I am not authorized to sell the book and they are not taking applications. Anyone know what's going on? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 is there a glut of that isbn? too recent? too old? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Perhaps that particular book has some type of flag attached to it (teacher's edition, something like Tapestry of Grace that is never to be resold, something like that). Or, it may be that the ISBN isn't registered properly. I know (from experience) that Amazon only sells books whose ISBN registry (in the ISBN database) matches the publisher listed in the book. If not that, there could be other problems with that particular ISBN. It sounds like you need to ask permission to sell/resell it, and Amazon isn't taking applications for exemptions right now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Don't quote me on this, because I don't know the details, but I saw a thing on the news talking about how Amazon is trying to move away from small sellers. But I am not sure on the details and if that applies to things like individuals selling books. So I probably shouldn't post anything at all but thought that perhaps someone else might know more details. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 have you looked into selling your books on a site like bookfinder? it's a conglomeration site - we've found things there we didn't find on amazon. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Disclaimer: Most of the textbooks we purchased for DD during the past 7 years were purchased on Amazon. Then, I discovered that some of those same textbooks were available on eBay. Sometimes it was far less for me to purchase on eBay. Sometimes the same Seller had the textbook listed on eBay for much less. Sometimes for about the same price. There are far fewer books listed on eBay, but eBay is my "go to" for online shopping now and has replaced Amazon, when possible, for purchases. I hope you can sell your textbooks at a price you are happy with! At least 2 of the textbooks I purchased for DD on eBay were English textbooks, from private sellers, not from huge companies. NOTE: Is there an option on Amazon for you to sell the books you are trying to list for Sale, to them? Sometimes they will pay a lot of money. They give you a Credit to your Amazon account, so if you shop there, that's like cash in the bank. They pay for the cost of sending your book(s) to them if you sell to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 9 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said: Don't quote me on this, because I don't know the details, but I saw a thing on the news talking about how Amazon is trying to move away from small sellers. But I am not sure on the details and if that applies to things like individuals selling books. So I probably shouldn't post anything at all but thought that perhaps someone else might know more details. That doesn't surprise me. They have eliminated customer service for sellers. They have no phone number, for instance. You can send an e-mail, and they'll send you weekly updates saying they're "working on it". If you make too many mistakes in trying to make things work, they'll flag your account as "fraudulent" and shut it down. If you don't already understand how to work the system, you're up a creek. (Oh, but they'll keep charging you $40 a month while you have zero listings) 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
math teacher Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 21 hours ago, gardenmom5 said: is there a glut of that isbn? too recent? too old? The majority are college textbooks that ds doesn't want to keep. He will be in his last year for Computer Information Systems this coming semester, so I wouldn't think they would be too old. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
math teacher Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 3 hours ago, Suzanne in ABQ said: That doesn't surprise me. They have eliminated customer service for sellers. They have no phone number, for instance. You can send an e-mail, and they'll send you weekly updates saying they're "working on it". If you make too many mistakes in trying to make things work, they'll flag your account as "fraudulent" and shut it down. If you don't already understand how to work the system, you're up a creek. (Oh, but they'll keep charging you $40 a month while you have zero listings) Ok-maybe there is something I don't know about. I don't have a fee at all-maybe they allow two books for free since that is what they let me list. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 4 hours ago, Math teacher said: The majority are college textbooks that ds doesn't want to keep. He will be in his last year for Computer Information Systems this coming semester, so I wouldn't think they would be too old. for text books, this actually makes sense. publishers dont' want books resold, it cuts into their profits. my sil has a friend who has a text book published - if he wants money from it, he is required to "update" it every two years. not because there is new material, but so the publisher will be sure and get lots of new sales. this is why dd found the site - bookfinder (or maybe it was "fetchbook". both are conglomeration sites). *especially* for textbooks. some of the sellers will buy the books right out - but it will depend upon edition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 5 hours ago, Math teacher said: Ok-maybe there is something I don't know about. I don't have a fee at all-maybe they allow two books for free since that is what they let me list. It's possible there is a limit for free accounts. I'm not familiar with the particulars of Amazon Marketplace selling. Have you tried listing any other books, besides the one that was blocked? That would tell you if it's just that particular book, or something more general. The error message you got, that you "aren't authorized" to sell the book, leads me to think that the publisher of that particular book doesn't want it to be resold. Look inside, at the title page and copyright information, and see if there is a note forbidding resale. We pay for a professional account because we are a small business, trying to sell a self-published book through Amazon fulfillment. It's been a very frustrating, expensive journey, and I'm a bit salty about the whole thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) I don't know if this is the same issue you're encountering, but I used to list my son's used curricula on Amazon and other sites for resale after we finished with it. I've never sold more than a handful of books a year, so it definitely isn't a business for me and I don't make a profit. Anyway, several months ago, I got an email from Amazon that said they now require all sellers to provide US Tax Identity information: "provide Amazon the appropriate tax identity in the form of a W-9 or W-8BEN form". And this was also in the email: Quote I am not going to come close to hitting the reporting threshold. Why does Amazon require my tax identity? It is Amazon's policy for sellers to provide taxpayer identification information to Amazon to comply with state and federal income tax reporting regulations. Since I had grown tired of paying Amazon's high selling fees anyway, it was an overreach I wasn't willing to comply with, so I let them close my seller account. But I was never charged a fee to list with Amazon. The fees applied only when one of the books was sold. For me, eBay has lower fees and I sell more used books there than I did with Amazon. Edited June 3, 2019 by TarynB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Yes, this has happened for years to me when I attempted to sell 'more recent' textbooks. I sell items that receive that error message on eBay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 I had the same problem last time I tried to sell on Amazon. I gave up on Amazon a few years after I gave up selling on eBay. Amazon has adopted many of eBay's unfair-to-sellers policies and increased their fees to ridiculous amounts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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