In this article:
Amazon ‘s “textbook apocalypse” email.- Why I believe the two biggest textbook rumors are false.
- My theories as to what is really happening.
- Why this may be limited to New and Like New books.
- Why this may be limited to only three publishers.
- Why
Amazon won’t ban textbooks. - Steps you can take right now.
So what’s happening?
Over the last week,
The email was beyond vague, creating understandable panic among booksellers.
In this article, I’m turning over every stone on what we know, what we don’t, and what I think is to come.
![textbook ban [1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.fbamastery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/books21-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200)
Some context to set the stage:
I just passed my 10 year anniversary selling on
And then a few months later, no one even remembers the drama.
That doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen. It means with
In my decade selling on
With the understanding that developments on
What’s the “Textbook Apocalypse” email?
Here it is:
Analyzing the Textbook Apocalypse email: What’s
It’s unfortunate
The key points we can extract from this email are:
- Certain restrictions will be implemented for textbooks.
- These restrictions will apply to “popular” textbooks.
Amazon is requesting receipts and invoices for textbooks in certain seller’s inventories.
What are the theories about what is happening?
Let’s run down the Top Two things
Rumor #1:
You don’t have to look any further than
(I will give my theory as to what I think that means in a second).
Rumor #2: These are global changes affecting every seller.
Right off the top, evidence is strong this is not a restriction on textbooks for all sellers. I have not (yet?) received the email. And I’ve been in touch with many more who have not received the email (
It’s possibly too early to say, but based on this evidence alone, these potential restrictions are less severe than the DVD restrictions of 3 years ago, which affected all sellers.
It’s hard to say roughly what percentage of sellers are getting this email (or if all sellers will receive it eventually). I’ve corresponded with about 30 sellers about this, and one pattern that stands out is all but one have opened their account in the last two years. So this could be something limited to newer sellers (jump in the comments if your experience differs).
As far as other factors, things like feedback score seem to have nothing to do with it.
Predicting the future hinges on deciphering two words
These are the two imporant words used in the email:
- “Popular”
- “Textbook”
The restrictions center on these two words, and I’m going to spend a lot time discussing them in this article.
But first, digging deeper: Decoding more
Now let’s get beyond
I asked a couple dozen sellers to follow up with
About
(If you missed it, they can be so lazy they’ve been caught copying and pasting FBA Mastery articles in their responses.)
With that understanding, let’s look at what
Will all textbooks be restricted? A: No.
And what should a seller do if they want restrictions lifted?
How does
“Books which may have hype?” Yes these are actual quotes. Zero clarity. Thanks
How do we interpret these quotes?
- Restrictions will only apply to top selling textbooks.
- If a seller is restricted, they can request for the restriction to be lifted (a la DVDs and many other categories).
Based on their broken-English responses, we’re still quite far from a “textbook ban.”
Let’s go even deeper into what this coded language could really mean and see if we can extract anything optimistic.
What does “popular textbook” mean? Decoding
When asked directly, remember
Don’t believe me? Check out this screenshot:
Bonkers.
So I had to do my own research, and I have two strong theories as to what the “restrictions” will mean when all the smoke clears.
Theory #1:
Here is my first theory about what’s happening:
Recently,
- Cengage
- Pearson Leaning
- Mcgraw and Hill
The lawsuits were to force
These publishers also sued other entities in the bookselling business, such as textbook middleman Follett.
Emails from
“In order to prevent the fake products, the restriction has been implemented.”
This language is very telling.
My suspicion: “popular” is code for:
“Textbooks published by the companies who sued us.”
As in,
We’ve seen similar brand-specific restrictions in the past, where the situation was very congruent (
Based on the lawsuit, whatever restrictions come may be publisher-specific. Probably affecting books by Cengage, Pearson Leaning, and Mcgraw & Hill. Nothing certain here, but that’s what the evidence points to.
This isn’t great news, yet hardly devastating: there is no single publisher I could be restricted from that would put more than a dent in my business.
Theory #2: The restrictions might be condition-based
Another theory I’ll float is this will be limited to books in New and Like New condition only.
Here’s some clues:
Last month, many sellers suddenly found they were restricted from listing certain textbooks in New or Like New condition. It seemed to affect only certain textbooks and not others. And when I asked sellers what textbooks were being restricted, 100% of them were published by one of the three publishers who sued
So what we’re seeing now could simply be the “official rollout” of what has already been happening to
The “upcoming restrictions” may be nothing more than what’s already been unofficial practice for the past month already.
If true, all we have to do is keep our listings to Very Good condition, move on, and forget this ever happened.
If so, this is very good news because it simply won’t affect most
And what if Theory #1 and #2 are both true?
Best case (and not implausible) scenario.
If these upcoming restrictions are in fact limited to New or Like New condition and from three publishers only, this week will be looked upon as the most overblown drama in
What is a “textbook”? Decoding
The other operative word from the Textbook Apocalypse email was “textbook.”
Classifying a book as a “textbook” is hopelessly impossible, since “textbook” just means a book used in college. Which is most books at some point.
In the emails I’ve seen from
“Books used for study purposes.”
(Including Harry Potter.)
“Study purposes”? Such vivid clarity. Thanks
Of course
This is why
You can’t really ban textbooks, because “textbook” has no definition. “Textbook” is not defined by a book size, or format, or binding, or anything else. It is simply a book used in college classroom. And just about every book finds its way into a college syllabus at some point.
You simply cannot manage what cannot be defined.
So let’s say
Well there actually is a category on
Here is the total number of books
2,008,102
This (large) figure is actually good news, because we can confidently say
For one, that’s just too many books. You can never say never, but the impact would be so seismic, it’s almost unthinkable. Books are
Two, when you look at what
Basically,
Going further:
As covered, this is all motivated by pressure from big textbook publishers for
Good news: Generally the only textbooks that are counterfeited are very new, very high-demand textbooks.
This is just the economic reality: Counterfeiters are going to put their efforts towards the bestselling, highest value books.
We’re talking about a very small sliver of the textbook pie. I’ve never heard of a textbook being heavily counterfeited that wasn’t steadily ranked in the top 30,000 (usually it’s 10,000 or better). Yes old counterfeit copies can float around and circulate, but if you’re trying to curb counterfeiting, you’re only going after the most well-ranked books.
Remember,
Why right now this looks worse than it probably is
- People are panicking without reading
Amazon ‘s email. It’s understandable to see the words “provide invoices” and freak out. I don’t blame anyone, but panic can cloud soberly seeing whatAmazon is actually saying: “We’re planning on restricting certain popular textbooks.” And the nature of the restrictions has yet to be revealed. It may only be books in New or Like New condition. Or it could go away altogether. Way too early to say. - Recent changes creates negative momentum and makes everything seem apocalyptic. After new FBA fees hit, we’re all a little shellshocked and extra sensitive.
Amazon rolls back restrictions all the time. Remember the panic about retail arbitrage about a year ago?Amazon (mostly) retreated from that pretty quick. And now no one even talks about it.- People relying on frenzied commentary in forums. I’ve said it a thousand times: Sourcing your info from Facebook is a fast way to be paranoid and misinformed. It’s not entirely bad, but it must be approached with extreme caution.
How am I responding to the Textbook Apocalypse email?
I haven’t received the email, but in case I do, I’ve done two things:
- I placed a removal order for my New condition and Like New condition textbooks. Fortunately, it wasn’t many books.
- Placed all my textbooks from Cengage, Pearson Leaning, and Mcgraw & Hill (and their imprints) on “inactive” status. I’m not exactly recommending everyone do this, and this is definitely a paranoid, “better safe than sorry” move. I’m trying to stay off
Amazon ‘s radar.
Note I put them on “inactive” status (removed the listings from being live) – that’s not the same as a removal order. The books are still at the
What would I do if I had received the email (i.e. if I were you)?
We saw this with DVDs. When the restrictions went into effect about 3 years ago, some who acted quickly (unlike me) were able to get full access to DVDs.
So if I had received the email (or if I do this week), I would provide the best receipts I have right away.
I would also open a support ticket and formally place a request with
The takeaways
Amazon is not banning textbooks.Amazon may restrict certain textbooks.- It may only be books from certain publishers.
- It may only be books in certain conditions.
- It may even be books of certain demand.
- No one knows anything.
Or, you know, I could be wrong about literally everything.
Your to-do list
- Don’t accept fear spread in forums.
- Defer to the evidence.
- Remember that it’s never as bad as it seems in the beginning.
- Consider removing books from the aforementioned publishers from your inventory.
- Consider removing textbooks in New and Like New condition.
- Contact
Amazon and request clarification on their vague email. - Send
Amazon the most legit-looking receipts you have. - If you’re in a position to place an order and get receipts from an actual book wholesaler, do it.
Endnotes
- If you’re in any Facebook groups that might benefit from this article, please share it.
- As promised, Part IV of my article on new FBA fees is coming. I’ll be covering how new fees have dramatically changed what your scanning app shows you.
- Get my free book.
- If you’ve receive any revealing responses from
Amazon Seller Support, please post in the comments below. - Post your other insights or theories in the comments below.
- 50% off new tool: Speaking of restricted categories, check out my friend Jordan Malik’s new browser extension “CheckPermission,” that tells you instantly which products you’re approved to sell – live, in real time, as you browse
Amazon . Very cool, and only $15 with coupon code “zen50” at this link.
-Peter Valley
PS: If you’re more of a video person, I made a video of this article. Feel free to share, and subscribe to my You Tube channel (lots more videos coming):
![](<iframe src="//rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?o=1&p=42&l=ur1&category=amazonhomepage&f=ifr&linkID=581ff15955029b80d81e053ef046aa1e&t=fbamastery-20&tracking_id=fbamastery-20" width="234" height="60" scrolling="no" border="0" marginwidth="0" style="border:none;" frameborder="0"></iframe>)
Do you think they will accept amazon order #’s if we are using Zen that is the only invoice we have.
I suspect inventory sourced from vendors who are already vetted by Amazon (i.e. their sellers) will be considered much more legitimate than Salvation Army receipts.
Insightful! I just purchased 6 textbooks this week from those publishers! 🙁
Everything is speculation right now, so give it a few weeks and lets see what happens. May only affect New and Like New condition.
The e-mail asks for invoices for textbooks you have already sold within the last 180 days. Purchasing textbooks now will not meet the requirement specified in the email.
I was just cited for a textbook offered on FBA for having a selling price “too high”. The listing was disabled until I lowered the price. It was one of 3 prime listings and my price was highest. All of the books were used. This is a first for me. I lowered the price and took the hit. Price control is scary and probably illegal?
There is also an option to ignore the high price warning and keep the current price. Just choose that option. I never lower my prices when Amazon tells me to.
Peter,
Would it be better to wait the three weeks to see what is being restricted before sending invoices. “Certain popular products” is so ambiguous.
In this case, Amazon is stating we only have 3 weeks to submit the invoices, “or else…”
I would be very concerned. They just did the exact same thing at the beginning of May for CDs. They sent an email referring to “Popular Music” and requested invoices or receipts. I sent in receipts twice with no response either time. Then 2 days ago I got a final email that said since I did not respond, which I did twice, that I was being gated in the Popular Music Category. Within two hours of that email over half of my inventory, 1,100 CDs were moved to Inactive.
I do not believe Amazon had any intention on approving me for popular music or they would have responded to both of my responses to them when they asked for receipts / invoices.
If I would have known that this was going to really happen at the beginning of May, I would have ran a fire sale to recoup most of my cost.
I can either liquidate the 1,100 CDs or submit removal request at $.50 a pop. Over $500 just to get my inventory back.
May not happen for “Popular Textbooks” like it did for “Popular Music”.
Just my two cents worth.
Sounds like you have good grounds to “appeal” here. Amazon support is a mess and the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.
I was wholly removed from listing any textbooks from the big three mentioned in the article. I had to remove a few from inventory. Since my book business is not ramped up yet this may hurt a bit in the future but overall not a big issue.
Are you a newer seller? I’ve heard of this happening, but only to newer sellers.
These are big publishers, but you’re right, there are simply too many publishers to significantly affect our businesses.
Is this one of those scam emails were there Pretending to be Amazon? Why would they ask for invoices from your supplier??
Maybe to see where your sourcing and what is selling for you?
At first glance, I see this as a SCAM letter/
It’s real.
So are you just closing the listings for the 3 publishers on FBA and then just relist them once the dust settles? I’ve only removed items from FBA never put them on inactive then back to active. Thanks
Its just a gesture to show Amazon “hey, I’m taking this seriously and I’ve taken steps to be compliant.” Just in case I’m ever in a position where I need to apply to have a restriction lifted, I want to show them I’m bending over backwards to comply.
Any way you slice it, it’s another nail in the coffin (if you got the email). The only question is how bad will it be. I’ve only been selling for 18 months and I’ve had to change my work flow/business model half a dozen times between the fee changes, storage fee changes, box content, and now this. Amazon is not a business partner–more of a slave driver.
My guess, like Peter said, is that the changes won’t be as dramatic as most people fear, but just enough to further erode margins and profitability. That book that scans for $125 with a rank of 8,000 will be 100 times harder to sell because I’ll need to post it on Craiglist now or open an Ebay sellers account–great, more work.
Peter–I don’t understand how you think that having these restrictions on ‘only McGraw, Cengage and Pearson’ is not CATASTROPHIC–those three publishers own a majority of the market!
My response to the email? Bought some $5.00 workbooks from McGraw and sent them the invoice. Can’t be any worse that a receipt from Goodwill, can it?!
Getting awfully tired of playing this game…
Good luck to all.
I’ve changed my name in case Amazon reads this and uses my admission with the workbooks against me.
Ann Onimus,
Have you considered selling “buyback” your high-priced titles? Sure, you won’t receive as much cash but you’ll be able to sleep better at night. I’ve been doing this business for over 10 years and part of it is a sliver of buyback. I’m thinking about going at least half with buyback while trying to limit my Amazon listing titles to out-of-print.
Mike
Thank you for your advice. Yes, I have considered selling on bookscouter etc. I find that their prices often have little to do with what you can get on Amazon. Sometimes you can do OK, like the last book I sold there was one of the books Amazon restricted and probably will continue to restrict…I got $33.00 and probably would have gotten $50 from FBA–no complaints there, but for fun I put in books with a MF and FBA price north of $100 and Bookscouter comes back with like $14.23–so that’s kind of deflating!!!
Your theory of “New Sellers Only” getting the textbook e-mail is unfortunately incorrect. I’ve been selling on Amazon for 14 years, maintaining a 99-100% positive feedback rating the whole time, and I got the email. Textbooks make up a small but notable part of my business.
I got this email the same day I got another Amazon email telling me because I hadn’t provided invoices for CDs, my “popular CD” listings (sound similar?) had been closed. In actuality, none of my active CD listings were closed (likely they weren’t “popular” enough) but the next 4 that I listed after receiving the email, one higher-ranked CD listed successfully and 3 with low ranks were not allowed. I need to list more to draw my own conclusions on what’s going through and what isn’t.
I think this is important insight, and indicates Amazon may restrict books with a sales rank of “X or better” as you’re seeing with CDs. Thanks for this.
Update: I spoke to soon. So far Amazon has de-activated 364 of my CD listings – about 20 percent of my inventory. I’ve compiled a list to try to make sense of what the criteria was – sales rank, label, price – and can’t come to any conclusions. Sales rank ranged from none at all to over 3 million. Price ranged from what used to be considered “penny CDs” before the fee increase – most of my de-activated listings were at my minimum price, with only one over $50. Labels (publishers) were all over the board – they even took down a couple Hallmark CDs!
I fully expect more of my listings to be shut down because I have other titles listed by the same label, so if that’s a contributing factor, I would expect them to go too. But from what I can see so far, it must be some magical Amazon algorithm at work, because I can’t see a single determining factor.
If this is the model for textbooks, I’m very, VERY concerned.
One of the clean-up activities that I did was to Delete all OLD INACTIVE listings of products from my inventory. As is true with books, I may have sold books that are on the Amazon hotlist in the past but I don’t want to be flagged by the ‘bots’ if I am not currently selling that book.
This is kind of genius and I wish I’d thought of this. I’m going to do this right now and suggest everyone else do the same. Bots run Amazon.
I also like this idea, but before I do I’m going to download a spreadsheet of all my inactive listings. That may be valuable to have at a later date to analyze my average sales price in the past, etc. You can do so at https://sellercentral.amazon.com/listing/reports You can select the type of inventory for the report in the drop down tab.
Jan,
When you say you deleted your old inactive listings did you choose “Close listing” or “Delete product and listings” from the drop down menu?
JB
I selected Delete product and listing for all those INACTIVE listings of books that I sold in the past.
Thanks for sharing your insights Peter. Normally I’m onboard with your “don’t panic” mentality. However, there is a definite trend here. A trend that is not favorable to most 3rd party Amazon sellers.
We’ve seen a few things back-to-back that create the trend you speak of. however its important to note that third party sellers represent 40% of Amazon’s revenue and they need us as much (or more) than we need them. They can’t afford to lose us.
They need us as much or more than we need them? I assure you that you and I are the last thing on their mind. Sellers are a dime a dozen.
I conceived this business on a Wegman’s lunch table on January 25th 2016 at around 1:30pm. About an hour later I was scanning at a Goodwill. Barrier to entry anyone?
I just don’t think Amazon values their sellers as anything more than a disposable means to an end.
In aggregate, not individually.
Hey there Peter, I got this email and just started using ZA to source textbooks. The few books I’ve purchased are in New condition, so do you suggest I not buy those anymore?
Also, I sent amazon my invoice from them where I bought books from a merchant seller on a different amazon account (my wife’s account, same address) and then to resell on my own account. I don’t know if I should have done that….but whatever, I did it, so was that not the best idea? Let me know, thank you!
As for what receipts to provide, no one really knows and its all speculative. All you can do is either 1. Send what you have, or 2. Make a bulk purchase from a wholesaler right away (though Amazon says they want receipts for inventory already shipped in, so that may not get you anywhere).
As for what to do about New books, its a question of how devastating getting certain textbooks restricted would be for your business. If this is an existential threat, I would say hold off for the moment. But its probably an overly-caution move. All speculation right now.
FYI: I’ve had a seller account since May 2014, and I got the letter. I have very good feedback. I probably have New or Like New textbooks in my inventory from the 3 publishers mentioned.
I would say use your judgement here. If you won’t want to remove anything, I would create a paper trail by contacting seller support and asking if you should to show “hey, I’m trying to do everything I can over here.”
Err on the side of caution! Amazon is trying to protect itself from lawsuits.
My account was banned because of a single complaint about a counterfeit book. I made three appeals and major changes to my account to rectify that, but to no avail. I can no longer sell on Amazon, probably forever.
One issue most of you will have is that you don’t really get ‘Invoices’ from your suppliers. Amazon will want you to prove that you’re buying from a trustworthy source, but that’s impossible to prove. Especially if you buy from other Amazon sellers.
Good luck! I’m sitting on $5000 worth of textbooks, so I guess it’s Ebay time for me.
Sorry to hear that.
I’m doing an article soon on how to spot counterfeits. Very timely.
I would love to see an article about the recent restrictions in the music category. That really hurt me. I had to have over 400 CDs sent back to me. After contacting the reps a lot, one rep told me that the related department said it was a “temporary” restriction. I’d be interested in hear if anyone else heard that, and what people are thinking about doing with the now recently restricted music CDs? Thanks!
Peter’s column today is the ONLY comprehensive, thorough and SANE tactical guide on ‘what to do’. Sellers, ignore all other noise. Thank you Peter.
The Amazon Jedi has spoken.
Jordan, seems like you and Peter have formed a mutual admiration society, lol.
LOL. I won’t speak for myself but Peter’s knowledge of used book sourcing, selling, and Amazon is bulletproof. This sounds overtly gratuitous and kiss-assy, but his knowledge is a gift I’m grateul to receive. Plus he takes the incredibly dry topics (like Amazon’s new restrictions) and writes it like it’s a story within 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace. Incredible.
OK. I got the dreaded email, too. When I contacted seller support and told them most of my textbooks were purchased from Amazon, they told me to contact another “group” at Amazon
([email protected]). Support has no clue. They simply send sellers to another “group” that
supposedly can help. Here is my response to the dreaded email including the email):
Hi,
I just received this notice today about the sale of certain textbooks. I called FBA support and explained to them I buy most of my textbooks from sellers on Amazon
I have made 132 purchases since January, 217. I am attaching a screenshot of my order page showing how many purchases I have made. The 132 does not include
purchases I have made before January. Some of those purchases may still be at Amazon warehouses. I sell mostly FBA, but I occasionally sell Merchant Fulfilled also.
You email states you want copies of invoices from my “primary” suppliers. I don’t have a primary supplier. I have purchased books from MANY different sellers on
Amazon.
Please let me know what I can do to keep from losing my textbook listings. They are an important part of my business. I like selling through Amazon. I don’t want to
use other platforms for these sales. Amazon is the best.
Thank You
Gary Young
—– Forwarded Message —–
From: “[email protected]”
To: “[email protected]”
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 3:09 PM
Subject: Your Amazon.com Seller Account
Hello,
Please read this email carefully. The listing information described below may affect your ability to sell certain products on Amazon.com.
As part of our ongoing efforts to provide the best possible customer experience, we are implementing selling qualifications for certain popular products in the Textbook category.
Please reply to this email within 3 weeks with the following:
— Copies of up to 3 invoices or receipts from your primary supplier(s) issued in the last 180 days for your popular Textbook products. These should reflect your sales volume during that time.
— Contact information for your supplier, including name, phone number, address, and website.
You can send .pdf, .jpg, .png, or .gif files. These documents must be authentic and unaltered. We may call your supplier(s) to verify the documents. You may remove pricing information, but the rest of the document must be visible. We will maintain the confidentiality of your supplier contact information.
If we do not hear from you within 3 weeks, or we are unable to confirm the information you provide, we will remove your listings.
To learn more about our policies, search for these topics in Seller Central Help:
— Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions
— Product Detail Page Rules
— Condition Guidelines
Sincerely,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com
That was on June 20th. No response yet?????
Thanks for sharing. Post their response when they get back to you.
Did you get a response yet Gary? The deadline is tomorrow.
Hey there, fairly new to the game. Thank you for your insights. I got the email and have liquidated a few on discount prices. Question – why would the “like new” category be in jeopardy as well? I get the issue with listing something as “new” without an invoice…but if it’s listed as Used, why would they have an issue with not having legit receipts from a supplier? It’s…used…. just in awesome condition.
Thanks – I appreciate your advice and commentaries!
I think the idea is that Like New can be exploited because it is meant for books that are new but have a slight blemish (like remainder mark). But I’ve long recommended sellers avoid LN condition if all but exceptional cases.
There are a lot of mega sellers that list in like new condition even though books will be brand new. Is that allowed ? Under-grading ?
One ridiculous interpretation of the definition of “textbook” at Amazon, derived from the ESL/mind-numbingly vague, uh, “communicators” who compose those emails, might be, “any bound, printed, paper-filled object that contains text.” (As opposed to, say, an audio book.)
But what would I know …
My seller account started in August 2013 and I did not get the letter.
I have unintentionally bought and sold counterfeit books ( DSM-V and slimier books) on Amazon. I stopped buying them when I realized they were counterfeit. Amazon had put restrictions for those popular textbooks a few years ago. They are expanding the restriction to a lot of more books.
So, I am a new seller (January), and account is in good standing. I did not receive the email. So, I’m wondering if they will automatically gate me from selling textbooks, as I am gated from CD/DVDs. Any thoughts on what it might mean if we didn’t receive the email?
Thanks,
I got the email. I have been selling on Amazon for 3 years. Perfect feedback/metrics. I could find 2 textbooks in my active inventory listed as Like New, one college level, one elementary school; neither from the 3 publishers mentioned above. Seriously, do people really buy used textbooks from an Amazon approved distributor? Who knows what will come down the pike.
Exactly, what distributor/mfg sells USED textbooks? Please dont say remainder books, as they are new.
On a similar note…Ebay is shutting down half dot com.
http://pages.half.ebay.com/help/account/closing.html
So much for easy one hit listing on a lot of books, low commission percentages and unlimited time and number on listings. They didn’t move ’em out like Amazon can but I’ve had good results with them over the years. There were a lot of bots that scanned them for outfits like US government employees. For unknown reasons I’ve had a lot of books those bots wanted.
I always love how they euphemize (or is that euthanize) you with wonderful phrases like:
“We believe we can provide a greater selling opportunity for our selling community, and a better shopping experience for our buyers, by focusing on the core eBay.com platform.”
Does anyone know a really good Ebay consultant so i can move my stranded textbooks and indeed everything else (40k skus) and open up this channel. I have been resisting this for years as always seen it as too clunky and labor intensive, high listing fees. The time feels like now with this announcement
My blocked textbooks were Pearson mainly and some Cengage and McGraw. I also had some Oxford, Wiley, West Law, Human Kinetics and other publishers blocked. Annoying as hell but far from a death knell
How did you know which textbooks were blocked? Were there specific listings that were inactive?
How do you place your books on “Inactive Status?” I don’t see how to do that from the Manage Inventory page.
Thanks.
Click on where it says Manage Inventory, NOT Manage FBA Inventory. After that, check all the books you want inactive. Then click on the Action button on the top left, and click Close listing.
I received the textbook email and I became an AZ seller in May of 2014.
Peter,
What do you do if you get your textbooks for free from doing volunteer work at an organization? I don’t have any invoices.
Its a question everyone wants to know right now. Amazon doesn’t give us any answers, but worth submitting a support request to them.
Thanks for the video Peter. Great advice. In the video you mention getting in contact with Amazon about getting ungated before a gate appears. If you have not received “the” e-mail, would this possibly put you on the radar as you say, or is that just total paranoia?
Yes, I wouldn’t recommend waking the sleeping giant by contacting them if you never received the email.
As I was looking through my listings to make inactive or to request removal, there is a big problem in looking at just the listing title.
McGraw Hill plus other known publishing house names…..question- please clarify if you can. Is it ANY book with McGraw Hill listed solely as the publisher/co-publisher? Or does McGraw Hill have to be in the listing title? I’m not sure how some of these entities are the same or separate from each other and how Amazon will vet these.
Example #1 (I’m calling this “pure” McGraw-Hill)
Listing title says McGraw-Hill
Cover shows McGraw-Hill
Publisher showing as McGraw-Hill
https://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hill-My-Math-ELEMENTARY-CONNECTS/dp/0021150230/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498577006&sr=8-2&keywords=mcgraw+hill+math+grade+4
Example #2 (mixed)
Listing title has no publisher name.
Cover shows MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Publisher shown as McGraw Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Math-Grade-4-Mcgraw-Hill/dp/0021040052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498576371&sr=8-1&keywords=macmillan+mcgraw+hill+math+grade+4
Example #3
Merrill in listing title but not on the cover.
Cover shows Glencoe and McGraw Hill but not in the listing title.
Publisher shown as McGraw Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Student-MERRILL-McGraw-Hill-Education/dp/0076639231/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498577486&sr=8-1&keywords=merrill+algebra+1
Example #4
Listing title says Glencoe
Cover says Glencoe
Publisher is McGraw-Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Glencoe-Algebra-1-Berchie-Holliday/dp/0078651131/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1498577625&sr=8-5&keywords=glencoe
Example #4
Listing title says Glencoe
Cover says Glencoe
Publisher shown as Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Glencoe-Literature-Course-Grade-British/dp/0078251117/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1498577840&sr=8-5&keywords=Glencoe+-+McGraw+-+Hill
Example #5
Listing title says Merrill
Cover shows only Merrill
Publisher shows Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Merrill-Chemistry-Robert-C-Smoot/dp/0028255267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498578091&sr=8-1&keywords=merrill+chemistry
And lastly, there are plenty of listings where a seller has not used the ISBN as the ASIN, and therefore the publisher is not listed as McGraw-Hill or any version of that. What do you think will happen with those listings?
Here’s my most recent response from Amazon support:
Hello,
Thank you for your application to sell certain popular products in the Textbook category. We still need more information in order to continue reviewing your application.
Please respond to this message within 2 business days and provide additional invoices for your popular textbook products that cover at least 10 units and were issued in the last 180 days.
Sincerely,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com
Here is my response:
I wish I could provide you with what you are asking. As I’ve stated in my previous message to you, nearly all of my books were purchased individually from library sales and thrift shops over a period of years. I have receipts that show purchases for “books” but there is no indication on these receipts that refers to the nature of these “books”. Anyway, even if I had specific invoices for individual books by name, you are not telling me the names of these “popular textbooks” to which you are referring. Therefore, it is impossible for me to provide you with what you are requesting. I guess you will have to do what you must and prohibit me from selling these mysterious “popular textbooks”…
——-
I read their message to say “we don’t care what you do or say, we are going to block you from selling the books that we dont want you to sell for any reason that we see fit. These emails from support are complete bs – for the vast majority of booksellers, it makes absolutely no difference what you send them. Probably a real person doesnt even read the message – there is probably a program that searches emails for photo attachments, etc. I’ve seen this all my life and it is indeed the age in which we live: you can either do this or this. Really it makes no difference whatsoever but it gives the appearance that we have a choice. Anyway, sorry to ramble but I’m a bit frustrated over this. I certainly don’t mean to direct any frustration towards you Peter and I hope it isn’t taken that way.
“Sellers who had no textbooks listed in new condition in their inventory did not get the email.
Sellers who did have textbooks listed in new condition got the email 100% of the time.”
I only have a handful of textbooks in my inventory (less than 10) NOT listed as new or like new. I’ve been selling on Amazon since 2015 and I got the letter.
I forgot to mention (in my above comment) my feedback score is 99%
Would you say it is prudent to buy some textbook for invoice purposes to have something to send to Amazon? I am selling only used books, and not very popular ones either. Oh, and I am seller fulfilled. I don’t mind not selling textbook on Amazon, but I don’t want any problems with my account.
I have not received the email (yet), but I just noticed that all of the books in my inventory (100% used) are no longer Buy Box eligible. A quick review of a handful of ASINs suggests that some but not all other sellers are also affected, and the differentiation does not seem to be based on FBA vs. FBM or on any visible metrics. There is no explanation for why I would lose Buy Box eligibility based on the standard criteria, so it is clear that something unusual is going on. “As per checking,” Seller Support was worthless as usual – they have no answer at this time other than copying and pasting the policies on Buy Box Eligibility. The lack of clear, or rather any, communication from Amazon on these matters is maddening.
I decided to throw together a rough demonology of the three plaintiffs’ imprints and subsidiaries in Pearson Education, Inc. et al. v. Does 1-100. It may be a lot larger what anyone wants to see or hear, but bear in mind that it includes the apparently subjective category of non-textbooks. By no means is it comprehensive, either.
1) Pearson:
a) HarperCollins
b) Scott Foresman
c) Prentice Hall
d) Addison-Wesley
e) Dorling Kindersley
f) Harcourt
g) anything bundled with MyLabs
h) Longman
i) Allyn & Bacon
j) Benjamin Cummings
k) Cisco Press
l) New Riders
m) Penguin (but Pearson is only a minority holder)
n) Silver Burdett
o) VangoBooks
p) Que Publishing
q) Sams Publishing
r) Financial Times / FT
s) The Economist
2) Cengage:
a) Thomson
b) Gale
c) National Geographic Learning
d) PAL Publications
e) 4LTR Press
f) Aplia
g) Chilton (even if an auto repair manual isn’t exactly a textbook)
h) South-Western
i) Houghton Mifflin College Division
j) Brooks/Cole
3) McGraw-Hill:
a) Appleton & Lange
b) Random House Schools and Colleges
c) Open University Press
d) ALEKS
e) Glencoe
f) Macmillan
g) Wright Group
Thanks for putting this together. As this evolves, its looking less and less like whatever Amazon does will be related to publisher.
I’ve been selling textbooks on Amazon for two years now. I already had a pre-existing natural distaste for bloated, constantly metastasizing companies like Amazon, but their schizophrenic and selfish behavior with their sellers has put them in a new shade in my perspective.
I realize it’s all about the bottom line, but there are boundaries and standards for being civil when you are the main source from which people feed their families. The combination of reckless and ambiguous between their targeting metrics and communication language really leaves a sour taste that won’t fade from my memory, ever.
I’ve responded as accurately and diplomatically as possible to both Performance and Support. Let’s see if it even matters.
I have sent the books in question to my fulfillment house for now. Can I change the books to the categories below Like New and send them back in, or is this a potential no-no?
Definitely, no reason you can’t do that.
Came across 32 copies of a computer class textbook with a great ranking today at my son’s High School and they want me to take them because they are no longer using it in class. They are profitable, and are actually new but from reading all this, I wouldn’t list them on Amazon as any better than ‘good’. The publisher is Lawrenceville Press. I usually don’t sell books, but these seem like a great profitable book. Do you think it’ ok to buy? Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LTVO6G8/sr=8-1/qid=1503442088/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1503442088&sr=8-1 THANKS!!
Has anyone got ungated by using receipts from Amazon merchant fulfilled?
Here is my latest problem (on Amazon Canada):
On my phone, the Seller App says I can sell a used textbook, just not New or Like New. On my laptop, the Used drop downs say “not available” and the limitations state that I cannot sell New or Used. Should I list as used via phone app? Or try listing under Collectible? Thank you