I am an Amazon seller and I do not offer international shipping -- I will happily ship internationally, but not through Amazon. I am in the US, and when someone overseas wants an item and Amazon's system won't let the buyer check it out, I am usually contacted by the frustrated buyer who makes the transaction through PayPal.
When I sell an Amazon listing off-site, I don't lose 10-30% in commission and fees. I also ship cheaper off-site, because most of my items will ship 5-10 days First Class Mail for $8.65, compared to the rate required by Amazon for $11.95 (this more expensive Priority Rate to UK and Western Europe also arrives in 5-10 days.) I can also offer a lower price. Some of my items I have to mark up to offset the commissions and fees, and some items I can't sell on Amazon at all because this would make them prohibitively expensive by comparison to other sellers' prices. Amazon's commissions and fees are really difficult reality to deal with, but as a bookseller I'm leaving money on the table if I don't list things with Amazon. I know many other sellers who feel the same way.
Okie dokie. So if you want an item from an overseas Amazon storefront but don't want to be charged more than the price of the item for shipping, then contact the buyer and offer to buy it off-site through a service like PayPal. I've found that many sellers are willing to do this, the smaller the better. Be advised, though, that you lose Amazon's sales policy when you do this. If you get stiffed then you've no recourse and you take responsibility for the loss.
I buy many more books that cds. Whenever I find a book I'm interested in via amazon or abebooks I always contact the shop directly. I've been doing this for years whether or not the purchase is from "overseas".
I do always mention that I found the shop/book via amazon or abebooks. Fair's fair after all.
Not all of Amazon's market sellers are as willing. I wanted to buy 8 books from one seller, but I hated that I was being charged 8 x the postage & handling. So, I contacted the seller to see if I could arrange for the same purchase and just pay what the postage would be for those items being sent in one shipment. They weren't interested, even though I said that if it wasn't possible the same purchase worked out cheaper from Amazon direct. Well, that's where I ended up going in the end. This isn't the first time a marketplace dealer, including those in the U.S. where Amazon.Com informs us they won't ship outside of the North America. We're in England. Maybe it is because the protections work both ways?
One dealer I regularly find myself purchasing from is just down the road from here, but they won't deal direct, no shop front.
creative ways to sidestep Amazon's postage
creative ways to sidestep Amazon's postage
This morning I remembered a thread started a few weeks ago, discussing good websites to buy trad CDs considering the high cost of Amazon's international shipping rate:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/19657/comments
I am an Amazon seller and I do not offer international shipping -- I will happily ship internationally, but not through Amazon. I am in the US, and when someone overseas wants an item and Amazon's system won't let the buyer check it out, I am usually contacted by the frustrated buyer who makes the transaction through PayPal.
When I sell an Amazon listing off-site, I don't lose 10-30% in commission and fees. I also ship cheaper off-site, because most of my items will ship 5-10 days First Class Mail for $8.65, compared to the rate required by Amazon for $11.95 (this more expensive Priority Rate to UK and Western Europe also arrives in 5-10 days.) I can also offer a lower price. Some of my items I have to mark up to offset the commissions and fees, and some items I can't sell on Amazon at all because this would make them prohibitively expensive by comparison to other sellers' prices. Amazon's commissions and fees are really difficult reality to deal with, but as a bookseller I'm leaving money on the table if I don't list things with Amazon. I know many other sellers who feel the same way.
Okie dokie. So if you want an item from an overseas Amazon storefront but don't want to be charged more than the price of the item for shipping, then contact the buyer and offer to buy it off-site through a service like PayPal. I've found that many sellers are willing to do this, the smaller the better. Be advised, though, that you lose Amazon's sales policy when you do this. If you get stiffed then you've no recourse and you take responsibility for the loss.
# Posted on November 25th 2008 by gravelwalks
Re: creative ways to sidestep Amazon's postage
I buy many more books that cds. Whenever I find a book I'm interested in via amazon or abebooks I always contact the shop directly. I've been doing this for years whether or not the purchase is from "overseas".
I do always mention that I found the shop/book via amazon or abebooks. Fair's fair after all.
- Chris
# Posted on November 25th 2008 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: creative ways to sidestep Amazon's postage
Not all of Amazon's market sellers are as willing. I wanted to buy 8 books from one seller, but I hated that I was being charged 8 x the postage & handling. So, I contacted the seller to see if I could arrange for the same purchase and just pay what the postage would be for those items being sent in one shipment. They weren't interested, even though I said that if it wasn't possible the same purchase worked out cheaper from Amazon direct. Well, that's where I ended up going in the end. This isn't the first time a marketplace dealer, including those in the U.S. where Amazon.Com informs us they won't ship outside of the North America. We're in England. Maybe it is because the protections work both ways?
One dealer I regularly find myself purchasing from is just down the road from here, but they won't deal direct, no shop front.
# Posted on November 26th 2008 by ceolachan