The first chapter in Book Patrol’s new biblio drama:
“Are you really a bookseller?“
In a new Business Week online article Jeff Bezos talk all about the advantages of their new fufillment program and then uses an unnamed marketplace bookseller as an example of the potential fruits of the service.
I have no problem with Amazon offering their fulfillment services to businesses that sell their goods on Amazon and for many it is a wise and easy choice to make but for a legitimate used, rare and out of print bookseller it could be a potentially fatal mistake.
First ask yourself these two questions:
1. Have you ever ordered a new book from Amazon and been completely satisfied with the packaging? No, I never have.
2. Have you ever returned a book to them because it was damaged in transit? Yes, more than once.
Successful fulfillment for the used bookseller must be a primary component of their business model and to simply turn it over for convenience sake cannot be an option
Beside the potential for “feedback suicide” you are forfeiting half of the marketing possibilites of the transaction.