Myths, rumors and (some) encouraging truths about the future of DVDs on
Everyone wants to know right now: What’s the deal with selling DVDs on
Bad news is that some of what’s being said is true.
Good news is that one of the biggest rumors isn’t.
Let’s get into it…
Some background on the
I forget when it was, but sometime in the fall
After years of DVDs being an “ungated” category, it went the way of clothing and jewelry, and become a private club for the elite who
Although, it didn’t become entirely gated. Only “partially gated.” They didn’t kick everyone out, and didn’t prevent them from selling all DVDs.
Sellers who had not sold any DVDs on
Sellers who had sold DVDs on
Why did
It’s kind of boring, and
No one really knows what went on behind closed doors, but
One thing I know: It would be colossally foolish to say
My journey through the
I got the
Fortunately. I had these invoices, submitted them to
It was smooth sailing for about two months.
Then sometime in January, I got another alert from
This time, I decided I wasn’t playing their game. Three things were clear to me:
Amazon was making all of this up as they went.- I wasn’t going to reward
Amazon ‘s capriciousness by jumping through yet another hoop. - The entire DVD category on
Amazon was a mess.
So that’s it. I had 40 or so DVD listings that immediately went dark. (If you want them, you can find them on eBay.)
I don’t know if everyone got this repeat-demand for another round of DVD-order invoices. Maybe I did something wrong. But it didn’t affect enough of my
Where does that leave us? The DVD category on
But there’s good news
A lot of people aren’t very sensitive to details. Or they just like spreading doom and gloom on the internet. Whatever the case, some of what you’re hearing about selling DVDs on
Rumor #1: You can’t sell DVDs without approval.
True and false. If you are a new seller, or haven’t sold DVD’s between September 2013 and September 2014, you do have to get approval to sell any DVDs on
Everyone else is grandfathered in (if you pay for the Professional Selling Plan,as anyone who does any volume should).
In theory, getting approval should be allowed for anyone who places wholesale orders of DVDs from a legit distributor, and presents them to
In practice, the actual criteria appears to be fuzzier and more capricious than that. As my current situation is evidence of.
Rumor #2: You cannot sell DVDs for more than $25 on
No. No. NO.
Almost no one is getting this right at the moment. I can’t say it enough times: Almost everything everyone says on any internet
This is the truth:
You can sell any DVD on
What does that mean? I don’t know and I don’t really care, but I know it applies to relatively few DVDs on
This restriction only affects DVDs that the producer somehow communicated to
What’s better, most larger film companies compete on price, and don’t price their DVDs above $25 – unless they are box sets. (Criterion Collection DVDs, unfortunately, are one exception.)
So this should not profoundly affect the average inventory for the average
When the hammer came down, well under 50% of the DVDs I had priced over $25 were affected. Why? Because they didn’t have an MSRP. They weren’t made by Warner Brothers. They weren’t made by Sony. They were niche titles from boutique production companies, and they were unaffected.
To end on a high note: If you’re hearing rumors that you cannot sell DVDs for more than $25, someone better alert
So go ahead with investing in that used copy of the Building Psychic Rapport With Dolphins DVD, and listing it at $100. You’re fine.
Also, claim your free book:
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Great information as always! Thanks
Peter
I was half way through the process to get ungated in DVD’s
Amazon requested I gather “larger qtys to sell ”
While ordering and waiting for my “larger qty ” orders to arrive
The entire DVD category was shut down
I called Amazon told them I had just bought 100’s of DVD as they requested. The did not care told me the DVD category was shut down.. They are correct…If is not even listed anymore as a section to apply for approval in.
So they are on e bay same as yours sell one once in a while..
Looked into Half.com that is not a place for 3rd party sellers they give everything away an that site no chance for profit.
Just finished reading Blind profits great read .
Keep up the good work always enjoy reading everything you write.
Thanks for everything you have taught me so far
Rock on
Pat G
Just double-checked, because my info might be a couple weeks old, but at least as far as Amazon’s public statement on this, they are still accepting requests for approval:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/201607580
Can you post what they sent to you so others can see?
Peter,
Thanks for the great info. Seems like most of the suspensions I’ve heard about in the last couple of years have been related to DVD sellers. I’ve started being very careful about what I list, and have pretty much stopped sending any DVDs to FBA. It’s good to get the facts. The Amazon forums are such a zoo and can leave one more confused than ever at time. Thanks for clearing up some of the misinformation.
I applied this week using a reputable wholesale supplier that supplies thousands of Amazon sellers with dvds. They rejected all my invoices. They said that they had new criteria for approving invoices which they could not reveal to sellers for legal reasons. I made several inquiries and received the same answer from three different reps. Most of the dvds I purchased met the under $25 msrp criteria. I’m selling the rest on Ebay and waiting for the dust to settle. I fully expect Amazon to send out an email clarifying the new guidelines in the near future. After all, they want to make money.
This is my experience, and everything I’m hearing. They realized it was too “easy” to get approved using orders from wholesalers, and tightened the restrictions further. I think they’re watching Amazon forums, listening to whatever loopholes people are recommending there, and rejecting applications that follow this advice wholesale (no pun intended). More reason to avoid the crowds and find your own way in through the side door.
I produce my own instructional and documentary DVDs. Some have been broadcast on PBS in the U.S. I had been selling them for $31.99 on another Amazon account that I have since closed. I opened a new seller account and Amazon won’t allow me to sell MY OWN independently produced DVDs – even though they are pressed and packaged professionally by DiscMakers. I had to lower my MSRP from $31.99 to $24.99 to get past the gatekeepers. For successful niche DVDs that I produced. They are available to stream on Amazon Prime, though – fun.
Robert – I am late to the FBA party. Have been producing how-to DVD’s since 2002 and finally decided to sell them on Amazon in Feb 2016. What a nightmare of hoop jumping and endless non-info. At this point, should I… A) give up on FBA and just sell my inventory off via other channels or B) is there some way to get Amazon to allow me to sell my own DVD’s and CD’s via FBA? Just want to know if I am spinning my wheels.
Robert–I don’t know how this might affect other factors in your business model, but in my experience, buyers don’t give a rip about MSRP. The price is the price, is the price. What the price once was supposed to be (or vaguely imagined to be) has no bearing on sales.
As to selling DVDs for more than $25, sellers still often don’t get it. I tried explaining it in the Amazon forum, but got a lot of push-back from people telling me I was wrong. Peter does a much better job of explaining it, but my bet would be that they would argue with him, too.
Meanwhile, I’m still selling DVDs all the time for $40-70, with occasional spikes. If that’s ‘doing it wrong,’ I don’t know what else to say!
Bravo.
Just to also clarify, if you’ve been grandfathered in to sell DVDs with MSRPs under $25, you don’t need a professional seller account. I had been casually selling off my kid’s old DVDs in the right time period and was grandfathered in because of that. I’m not quite up to the point where it makes sense to get the professional account. And, yes, there are DVDs out there that have appreciated well over their original MSRP.
Does the same information apply to CD’s? I used to sell CD’s on Amazon a few years ago, but have been inactive since 2015.
if anyone has an amazon seller account they want to sell and that is ungated to sell in the dvd category, please contact me at [email protected] with your asking price.
I only have a few sets of DVD’s all of them in redline category. That said, the author is a very fun writer. and that is always worth the time. Oh … and the information? … revelatory.
My son sold off his video game store on Az & eBay and all that’s left is 3000 movies. I tried finding him a un-gating service for DVD’s and found one that quoted $1200 plus supplies (product bought for invoices) is this reasonable or even worth it? Any guesses as to how much the product will be that she’s talking about?
they don’t do anything you can’t do for yourself. Check out http://www.mountainviewmovies.com/sell_dvds_on_amazon
I am confused. I tried to list used DVD’s last fall and was firmly rejected. Most would have been in the $10-20 range. In reading all of the above, I don’t know whether I should apply again or take them all to Goodwill…
Amazon Sucks – no reasons given – no help given . MY OWN DAMN PRODUCED DVDS