Fulfillment Service Reviews

Amazon Fulfillment Review

Posted on July 20, 2011 with 1 Comment

As Amazon are basically sticking their finger into every online pie that can generate them some cash, it is unsurprising to note that they are getting in on the book selling act. Fulfillment is their latest literary venture and involves sending books to Amazon who will then sell them for you. With thousands of people all over the world in possession of dozens, if not hundreds of books they no longer need or want, this appears to be a win-win situation. It may also be an avenue for prospective writers who either failed in their attempts to get signed by a publishing house or could not be bothered to go through the long drawn out process which getting signed entails.

What Does Amazon Fulfillment Do?
They store your merchandise in their warehouse until a customer purchases the book. At this point, Amazon sends the book to the customer on your behalf. Amazon also deals with complaints/issues brought up by the customer. All you are required to do is go through Amazon’s FBA process which helps them set things up quickly. Once books become cluttered up in your garage, they become very hard to get rid of for any price with a profit almost impossible.

Pros
Once you sign up for Fulfillment, you are automatically qualified for Amazon Prime. This is a program that enables consumers to save on shipping. For example, 1-day shipping costs just $3.99 with 2-day shipping available for free. Another Amazon incentive includes free shipping for any order that is worth more than $25.

One of the big bonuses of Fulfillment is the possibility of having your listing on one of the first pages of Amazon. This is possible because of the propensity of Amazon to rank listings based on their cost. The lowest cost is 1 cent with a $3.99 shipping fee. With Fulfillment, you can charge $4 with free shipping. The customer still pays only $4 for the book and your listing ranks high on the list because it is seen as $4 while those who are not part of Fulfillment will have their listings seen as 1 cent offerings despite the shipping charge.

Cons
One disadvantage of Amazon Fulfillment is that you need to be a registered Pro Merchant account holder or an Advantage member. Pro Merchant sets you back $39.95 a year while Advantage costs $10 less per annum. Advantage account holders are limited in what they can sell and will only have orders on the Amazon website fulfilled.

Verdict
This appears to be an excellent way selling books for those who appear to have no other outlet. Having Amazon store the books, sell them and deal with any customer issues is as much as you could possibly expect from their end. Also, their fulfillment service allows far greater exposure for your books. The one downside is that you have to pay up to $40 for a Pro Merchant account to get the best from this offer. However, for those with a horde of books to sell, this is a price well worth paying. With the power of Amazon behind you, any books you want sold will eventually find their way into the hands of customers.