FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) was introduced on September 19, 2006. For the first time, small businesses could take advantage of Amazon's order fulfillment and customer service infrastructure. This allowed customers to visit Amazon’s site and purchase products supplied by 3rd party companies, delivered by Amazon.
This changed the used book market and led to a large portion of used book sales taking place online. As a result, brick-and-mortar operations had to compete with online one-click shopping. Before FBA, most online sales were handled by third-party sellers who stored and dispatched inventory. FBA offered sellers the option to forgo in-house fulfillment. As an added benefit, Amazon handled returns and customer service. Sellers can now devote more time to other tasks such as sourcing, operations, and business development.
Amazon Prime, a membership that provides free two-day shipping, was introduced in 2005. Prime comes with the ‘A-Z guarantee’ - which ensures quality assurance and refunds for unwanted items. These benefits, along with 2-day (sometimes same-day) shipping, made the FBA marketplace a strong market for books. Customers were willing to pay a premium for FBA items. This phenomenon is referred to as the Prime Bump.“In other words, Prime offerings sell for a higher price than Merchant Fulfilled (MF) offerings. Customers generally accept the price difference and prefer to buy products that are eligible for Prime.
The fulfillment and logistics process Amazon pioneered is arguably the most efficient in the world today. Their systems rival and compete with those of UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Watch the video below to learn how Amazon ships items.
There are many stories from booksellers selling on Amazon during the early days of Amazon Prime. Often, people refer to the time as the “golden age” of bookselling. At the time, there was a very small number of sellers on Amazon and the fee structure meant that just about any book was profitable as an Amazon FBA listing. As FBA became more popular, large, well-resourced organizations started participating. Today organizations such as Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and Non-Profit Organizations choose to sell their own items online. Despite the changing market, there are still a lot of opportunities available.
In the coming sections, we will talk about strategy, how to find books to sell online, how to process and ship books to Amazon, as well as how to build an eCommerce business in today’s business environment.
Getting Started To begin, you need an Amazon seller account. The process of signing up is straightforward and can be accomplished in... Read More
Introduction to Sourcing Analyzing data is a critical part of sourcing. Let's begin by talking about data analysis and using software to identify... Read More
How to find Used BooksLibrary and Estate SalesLibraries and estate sales are excellent places to find used items and books. Libraries receive book... Read More
What should you pay for books?Cash flow is crucial to the health of any business. The more cash the company has, the more flexibility it has. In... Read More
Sorting/TrackingSorting books is an important step in the operations process. When correctly executed, you will have a greater processing efficiency... Read More
Should I clean Books?A number of viewpoints exist concerning how to clean books. Some sellers prefer to avoid this process to save time. However, if... Read More
Grading / ConditioningGrading the books is a central part of the operations process. During the grading process, make sure to take note of these... Read More
Use Software to List your Books QuicklyMany new FBA sellers choose to use Amazon Seller Central to list and price items. This was our original... Read More
Labeling Labeling should be one of the easiest processes in your operations flow. After submitting your listings, you can sign in to your Amazon... Read More
How Box Content WorksBox content was developed by Amazon to track the movement of inventory through their distribution network. This gives Amazon... Read More
ShippingHow frequently should I ship to Amazon?If possible ship at least once a week. As products have been received by Amazon, there is typically... Read More
Customer Service PrinciplesCustomer Response TemplatesHere are some general guidelines for responding to customer inquiries. You will not receive... Read More
Hardware Supplies As you embark on your Amazon FBA journey, you’re going to have to get some hardware along the way. This is our... Read More
This information was last updated, February 2023.
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