Amazon Fulfillment Review

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.

From Another FBA Reviewer…

Amazon is known as the premier marketplaces to order things online from.  Amazon provides consumers with a wide variety of products, but they also offer business services that you may b=not be aware of. One such service is order fulfillment, whereby Amazon handles the process of picking, packing, and shipping products that sell from businesses. This service, called Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), allows sellers to send the products to an Amazon fulfillment center and they will package and ship out your inventory.  Sellers are eligible to list their products with free shipping and be listed on Amazon as an Amazon Prime product.  With this designation the product will be listed above other products in the same category and thus are more likely to be purchased by customers.  Amazon will provide their winning customer service and return services as well as gift wrapping and one day shipping.  Buyers will also be able to combine seller products with general Amazon orders.

Amazon will store your product in their fulfillment centers, they also record the dimensions need for such storage and allows the seller to use Amazon’s tracking system to monitor their inventory.  If you are already a seller with Amazon, it is simple to set up a fulfillment account with them.  There are multiple fees depending on what the product is and how they are fulfilled (through Amazon or other multi-channels like your own site).  There is the ability to preview the fees to try and estimate your costs associated with order fulfillments, but with anything that is estimated this will change depending on circumstances.  The fee amounts vary from less than a dollar to almost three dollars.  The fee system is easy to understand and figure out where the fees are coming; there are no surprises in the amount you pay as you might find with other services.

Fulfillment By Amazon also has resources and tutorials available to sellers to utilize such as a quick start guide, and a user manual so they can make the most out of Amazon’s fulfillment services.  There is also a newsletter sellers can take advantage of that provides the latest news and updates to the service and things Amazon has to offer.  The videos that are available make it easy to comprehend how Fulfillment By Amazon works and the benefits it has to offer.  It is easy to navigate through the resources to find the exact thing you need for assistance.

Because Amazon handles the shipping and customer service, they handle all the crisis’s and problems that can arise during the shipping process.  The services provided by Amazon’s fulfillment centers allow business to limit their work time and help them monitor their inventories from the comfort of their homes or offices rather than having a warehouse to visit.  Because the fees of Fulfillment By Amazon are low cost, Amazon saves business money therefore business can pass those savings down to their customers.  As Amazon handles all the customer service inquiries, it alleviates the stress and frustration small business may feel from trying to handle these issues.  Amazon fulfillment helps business do what they do best, selling their products.