It’s March. The month of St. Patrick’s Day and the beginning of spring (if you’re in the south). Unfortunately, March 2017 kicks off the hike in Amazon’s fees for its used media marketplace. We posted earlier about the fee increase and its impact on several parties– the publisher, seller, buyer, and Amazon itself.
As word spread about the subject, we came across one blogger who claims that the fee increase will put 80 percent of marketplace media sellers out of business by June. JUNE. Granted, this is not fact. It’s a projection, but this fee may be a threat to many bookselling businesses.
Textbooks cycle through the marketplace due to college semester turnover and the release of updated versions. Since textbooks normally sport higher prices, the new fees will diminish profits, but sellers will most likely remain in business. The new fees will basically eradicate one cent books.
Most Amazon customers are not aware of the fees which will result in price hikes. They may not even care when they find out. Amazon’s culture of convenience has locked in many of its customers, especially the Prime members. Simply take a look at Amazon’s Seller Central feedback page, and you’ll see that many FBA sellers are not pleased with the change in Amazon’s fees. This change may lead to a drastic shift from FBA to FBM. The forecast that 80 percent of marketplace media sellers will be out of business by June may seem drastic, but we’ll see.
