Evidence that Used Books as a category won’t be eliminated anytime soon:
The top 100 Amazon Sellers (by feedback volume) as of September 19th contains 5 used booksellers at positions 4, 29, 30, 31, 68
That’s amazing when you factor in that less than 10% of all 3p sellers on the U.S. site even carry books in their storefronts; used book sales volume on Amazon is MASSIVE
There are usually at least 3 used booksellers in the top 100 at any given time, even more during “textbook seasons” & Q4
This doesn’t mean Amazon won’t restrict smaller sellers from the category, but we need to examine the reason behind Amazon no longer allowing Used Toys to be sold on their site:
-----------High Liability Issues ----------
- Many manufacturer warranties are void upon reselling toys as used
- Used toys may lack safety guidance / user manuals
- Aged / Vintage toys may contain harmful chemicals / materials
- AI might not be capable of widely enforcing the Collectible Toys requirements; sellers loophole the policy; closing the category might be easier and less costly than policing the policy
- Used Books have next to zero potential to physically harm a child; Toys are far riskier
Additionally, buyers of used books spend the money they saved from buying used books instead of new in other categories; especially textbook buyers.
I would not be surprised if Amazon eliminated the Collectible Category in Books, mainly for the same toy category policing reasons
I also expect Amazon to get even more draconian with High Pricing Errors in the Used Books Category; we might need to route those titles to other venues
Apologies if this reply is too much or over explained, but I hope I’m right about this and that other booksellers understand that while Amazon is extremely neglectful to their used booksellers, our products and volume still matters to Amazon customers, and therefore, to Amazon in general
- Muse