What’s the deal with restricted textbooks on Amazon?

Do you now need approval to sell textbooks on Amazon? Are textbooks restricted? My analysis of the latest round of Amazon’s restrictions.

Is Amazon now considering certain textbooks restricted?

Recently, many Amazon sellers suddenly found certain textbooks in their FBA inventory placed on inactive status. They were unable to relist them, and were forced to either place a removal order and try to sell the books somewhere else, or have the books destroyed.

Other sellers found textbooks they were previously allowed to sell, suddenly restricted.

Some booksellers found hundreds of textbooks restricted just after textbook season, putting a huge dent in their businesses. So what’s going on?

Why is Amazon restricting certain textbooks?

The story is this: Several years ago, Amazon (and many sellers) got sued by three textbook publishers:

1.  Cengage
2. Pearson Leaning
3. Mcgraw and Hill

Prior to this lawsuit, there was no such thing as a “restricted textbook” (or any restricted book at all). After the lawsuits, Amazon imposed the first round of textbook restrictions. While these restrictions weren’t something to celebrate, they weren’t too severe.

Then more recently, Amazon restricted an even larger amount of textbooks. This latest round might accurately be defined as “severe.”

Which textbooks are Amazon now restricting?

We don’t know the exact formula Amazon is using to decide which textbooks you need approval to sell, and which you don’t. Here’s what we do know:

1. Amazon is primarily restricting textbooks from three publishers.

2. Amazon is primarily restricting moderate to high-demand textbooks (better than 500,000, on average)

3. Amazon is restricting textbook titles for some sellers, but not others.

I took a sampling of 65 ISBNs that sellers reported to me were suddenly moved to “inactive” status, required “approval to sell,” and couldn’t be relisted (i.e. “restricted.”)

Of the 65 textbooks (again, totally random sampling), we can learn some things (I’m posting the list below).

1. Approximately 90% of the restricted books are from three publishers.

And, no coincidence, they are the exact publishers who sued Amazon:

1. Pearson
2. Cengage
3. McGraw Hill

The breakdown of the restricted books I looked at was (very roughly) 30% for each publisher (or publishers owned or distributed by them), and some restricted books from random publishers that seem to have no relation to these three.

2. The restricted textbooks are all high-to-moderate demand textbooks.

I have yet to see a restricted textbook with an average Amazon sales rank of worse than 800k.

Are all textbooks from these three publishers restricted?

Not even close.

The formula appears almost random (though it certainly is not), but the majority of titles from these publishers do not require approval to sell, and are not restricted.

And it doesn’t even run along “best seller rank” lines either: There are high-demand textbooks from these publishers that are not restricted, and relatively moderate demand books (in the 800k range) that do require approval to sell.

What’s my theory about why Amazon is requiring approval for some textbooks and not others?

You didn’t ask, but I’ll share my theory anyway: The restricted textbooks are those for which proven counterfeit copies have shown up on the Amazon Marketplace.

I have nothing to base that theory on except that’s its the only one that explains the seeming randomness of the restrictions.

A Sampling Of 65 Restricted Textbooks (by ISBN)

What follows is a list of textbooks reported by readers of FBA Mastery as requiring approval to sell, aka restricted.

Pearson (or Pearson owned imprints):

0321945522 Pearson
0133026183 Pearson
0321821718 Pearson
0132742934 Pearson
0205750524 Pearson
0137071329 Pearson
0133059510 Pearson
0132742934 Pearson
0321733606 Pearson
0840028547 Pearson
0324589980 Pearson
0321870026 Pearson
0205600565 Pearson
0133444791 Pearson
013502434X Pearson
0205203981 Pearson
0205914128 Pearson
032190673X Pearson
205779646 Pearson
136157750 Pearson
013651068X Pearson
0205831915 Pearson
135109787 Pearson

McGraw Hill (or McGraw-owned imprints)

0133084043 McGraw Hill
0078034639 McGraw Hill
0078035155 McGraw Hill
0073535109 McGraw Hill
0073524255 McGraw Hill
0077632893 McGraw Hill
0078035317 McGraw-Hill
0078035503 McGraw-Hill
0078028930 McGraw-Hill
0324589980 McGraw-Hill
0078024226 McGraw-Hill
007802899X McGraw-Hill
0077862562 McGraw-Hill
0078023165 McGraw-Hill
1259545474 McGraw-Hill
007242298X Mcgraw-Hill
1259187012 McGraw-Hill
0803637047 McGraw-Hill (Jaypee Medical)
0803640927 McGraw-Hill (F A Davis)

Cengage (or Cengage-owned imprints)

1305633725 Cengage
1305577418 Cengage
1305500849 Cengage
128586039X Cengage
0538475161 Cengage
128516590X Cengage
049581220X Cengage (Wadsworth)
0495599743 Cengage (Wadsworth)
1111833397 Cengage (Wadsworth)
1133492010 Cengage (Wadsworth)
0495915297 Cengage (Wadsworth)
1133952844 Cengage (Wadsworth)
1285075404 Cengage (Brooks/Cole)
840054572  Cengage  (Brooks/Cole)
1285065352 Cengage (Brooks/Cole)

Restricted books from random publishers

785120513 Hachette Book Group Us Agency
1581109261 American Academy of Pediatrics
031248688X Bedford/st Martins
1464106037- Macmillan
0312857675 MacMillan
0323086780 Elsevier
323072070 Mosby
0761908943 SAGE Publications
538466251 South-Western

What should you do with textbooks that require approval to sell?

Good news and bad news.

Good news is, if they are restricted, that’s a sign they almost certainly have demand and value.

Bad news is, there is no other platform that will come even close to offering the value of Amazon. And certainly none that will allow you to command FBA-level prices for your inventory.

Option #1: Ebay

My first bit of advice is as boring as it is simple: sell the textbooks on eBay.

You’re probably thinking: “Ebay? What is this, 2008?”

I know I know…. But if Amazon is literally not an option, and you need to convert inventory you’ve invested in into cash, eBay remains the second best option.

Books do sell on eBay. It’s not a no-man’s-land with tumbleweeds blowing through it. Not as good as Amazon, and you can’t command FBA-level prices, but not the end of the world.

Option #2: Cash Buy Back Site

Submit to a cash buy back site.

There is a very good chance that one of the 30+ cash buyback sites out there will give you cash for your restricted textbook.

The basic idea of cash buyback sites is this:

1. Go to BookScouter
2. Enter the ISBN
3. BookScouter shows you which site is offering the most amount of cash.
4. They give you a prepaid shipping label.
5. They pay you via PayPal or check when the book arrives.

The catch here is that cash buyback sites are going to be offering you an amount that is less than the true market value for the book, so you’re sacrificing profits for the sake of risk-free cash and not waiting for a sale.

Scan 30+ textbook buyback sites here

Option #3: Sell through a book consignment service

Consigment services are companies that will take your textbooks (and any book), sell them on Amazon for you, and keep a percentage of the sale.

You’ll almost certainly get more for your textbooks than from a cash buyback site. And probably more than eBay (if you’re an FBA seller).

The downside is that there’s lots of mixed reviews about the few consignment services that exist. My experience with them as been neutral at best, and I would hesitate the throw my endorsement at any of them right now.

Do your research and due diligence, and if you find a consigment service that is both transparent and pays on time, this is a great way to liquidate restricted textbooks.

Takeaways

1. Textbook restrictions largely affect three publishers and their imprints.
2. The majority of textbooks (even from these publishers) are unrestricted.
3. This primarily affects higher demand textbooks.
4. You have several options to liquidate textbooks that are restricted on Amazon.

-Peter Valley