Sell Books On Amazon? New Long-term FBA Storage Fees Start August 2011

If you sell books on Amazon using FBA for oversize items then get ready for a another shock! Starting in August Amazon is implementing a whopping $45 per cubic foot surcharge on oversize items.

Apparently, the surcharge applies to items that have been in their warehouse for longer than one year. The details are pretty murky at this time, but they’re promising more details in June.

However, I’m looking forward to questioning them face-to-face at the 2011 Sellers Conference for Online Entrepreneurs (SCOE) in July.

When you sell books on Amazon you expect a certain amount of stability. But this could be a deal killer for some FBA items that sell steadily but slowly. In a nutshell, this is what Amazon’s new policy says:

Effective August 15, 2011:

• An annual Long-Term Storage Fee of $45.00 per cubic foot will be applied to any Units that have been stored in an Amazon fulfillment center for one year or longer.

  The fee is in addition to the regular Inventory Storage Fee and will not be charged if a request has been made to remove or dispose of the Units prior to the fee being charged.

• The per Unit price of a removal for Media and Non-Media Units will be reduced from $0.60 plus shipping to $0.50 including shipping. Alternatively, Units can be disposed of for $0.15 per Unit. (The per Unit price of a removal for Oversize Units will be reduced from $3.00 plus shipping to $0.60 including shipping, or $0.30 for them to be disposed.
• Each seller may maintain a single unit of each ASIN they carry without being charged the Long-Term Storage fee.
• In June 2011, we will be providing FBA sellers with more details about this change.

Now that FBA seems to be reaching critical mass, Amazon is bound and determined to capitalize on its captive audience. Whoever said Amazon FBA was a gentle giant was obviously NOT a third party seller!

FBA is no longer about having a place to sell used paperback books for $4.00 that normally sell for a penny.

Booksellers who sell books on Amazon now have a whole new set of risks to manage as the so-called gentle giant puts on the squeeze.

Amazon’s recent behavior is shockingly similar to eBay before their downward spiral began.

They thought they were the only game in town until Amazon started eating their lunch.

eBay sellers began abandoning eBay in droves, sales were down, and public relations were bad to say the least. Yet eBay continued to pile on the fees. Could Amazon be starting down that same road?

Only time will tell.

If you want to read what little information Amazon has made available to booksellers so far, you can see it here:

FBA Manual 3.3 Inventory Storage Fee

Return To Top: Sell Books On Amazon?
Read this article again.

Return To: Making Money Online Blog
The most informative bookselling blog on the Internet.

Return to Home Page: Making Money Online Selling Used Books
A FREE step-by-step guide for making money online selling used books part-time or full-time from the ground up.