Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Amazon effect part 2

Ok, so maybe Amazon isn't the way to go. Things have changed since the New Year and it is much more difficult to sell or list comics entertainment collectibles or collectible books. Check this link out:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.blah blah blah

Or don't...anyway, what they eventually say is that you must be an approved seller and you can only list one at a time (no runs or sets). Plus most of the info on Amazon Services seller central is not comic book specific, but geared more toward collectible books.



Here's the list of questions I posted a couple of weeks ago:
  • Do I set pricing? In other words, do I have to send a spreadsheet with prices for over 5000 individual issues?
    • Yes, I do, and yes I do
  • Can I sell runs or sets?
    • Nope
  • If they set pricing, do they factor the condition into the price? (no I don't have any CGC thingies and won't ever. Ugh.)
    • They would prefer I use CGC - they even offer direct access with a discount
  • Is there a comic book issue template for uniformity of listing? (there doesn't appear to be when you search on the site)
    • Nope
  • How long will they hold stuff in inventory? (Will they keep Animal Man #42 in perpetuity?)
    • They'll hold it as long as you want as long you pay their warehousing fees
  • And of course, the cost of doing business with Amazon (which frankly is not a major concern, as long as I get mine)
    • Big huge percentage for Amazon
Now, I am not knocking Amazon. They can run their business anyway they see fit. They just haven't really taken advantage of the fact that Ebay is vulnerable and people are looking for an option.

So now what? Craigslist? I don't know. Has anyone had any luck getting anything other than laughably low offers for your stuff? Yeah, yeah, free market, etc. I know how it all works. I just don't to be bothered dealing with guys who want to give me $10 a long box. There's a full run of Nexus in there dammit!

Maybe I'll get a table at the upcoming comic show...that should be interesting.

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