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Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

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Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#11

Post by lepus »

sparky_z wrote: post #9

Before getting pitchforks out, I'd like to see what this person considered "damaged". If - and I know this is a big if - but if it's something extremely minor, such that almost anyone would consider it to be in "like new" condition, then frankly that would be a case of Amazon doing the right thing, rather than pulping a perfectly good book and printing a new one. The fact that this person is apparently not providing…

It's implied that he gets paid 0 times for either the return or the resold book. There's more discussion on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/joabaldwin.com/post/3khrp64a5pw22

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#12

Post by hunter2_ »

OJFord wrote: post #5

The way this is said makes it seem like they're expecting to be paid twice for two orders, one returned. I assume what's being left implicit is that they're actually not paid for the 'KDP printing order' if it ends up returned? So then when someone else orders and receives that one and doesn't return it, there's a printed copy that was never paid out for?

> The way this is said makes it seem like they're expecting to be paid twice for two orders, one returned.

Are you referring to the Dec 30 tweet text, the Dec 28 tweet text, or the paper note in the Dec 28 tweet's photo?

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#13

Post by pbnjeh »

They also ship books in oversized boxes with no padding. If you're "lucky", they combined your book order with your order for something hard and heavy that can help beat the book up while the box tumbles.

Not always, but often enough that if I order a book from them, I try to remind myself to to wait to order until nothing else I've ordered has yet to ship. Then wait after I've ordered the book, until the book has shipped, before I order anything else.

I don't order that much from Amazon, but my orders often "cluster". For a recent example, the Christmas holidays. I got a beat up book cover because they upped the delivery date of the book by about a week (newish best seller), while in the meantime I'd ordered a heavy object that always ships the next day and that I didn't want to wait a week plus for. So, jacketed hardcover arrives loose in the oversized space next to big, heavy, sharp edged object, with no padding whatsoever inside the box.

I guess if I'd returned that book, it simply would have gone -- damaged -- to someone else.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#14

Post by washadjeffmad »

gumby wrote: post #10
lepus wrote: post #2

> Of note: if a customer orders a copy from Amazon, and a damaged, returned book is shipped to them instead, no new KDP printing orders kick in. This means I don’t get paid at all, because they only pay me when a book is printed.

That statement jumped out at me too, but I'm not sure what to think about it. I also hate to say anything that might seem sympathetic to Amazon, a company I consider somewhat unethical. These two statements below should be uncontroversial: 1. If Amazon prints a defective book and rejects it in QC then Amazon should get no revenue nor should the author. It should be recycled. Another copy should be printed and shipped…

The contention, to me, is if returned or refurbished items are being labeled and sold as 'new', then Amazon may be running afoul of FTC truth-in-advertising laws.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#15

Post by sparky_z »

lepus wrote: post #11
sparky_z wrote: post #9

Before getting pitchforks out, I'd like to see what this person considered "damaged". If - and I know this is a big if - but if it's something extremely minor, such that almost anyone would consider it to be in "like new" condition, then frankly that would be a case of Amazon doing the right thing, rather than pulping a perfectly good book and printing a new one. The fact that this person is apparently not providing…

It's implied that he gets paid 0 times for either the return or the resold book. There's more discussion on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/joabaldwin.com/post/3khrp64a5pw22

But is that any time a book is returned and resold, or is it just for a few "author's copies" that (I would guess) weren't eligible to receive a royalty in the first place?

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#17

Post by beanjuiceII »

sparky_z wrote: post #9

Before getting pitchforks out, I'd like to see what this person considered "damaged". If - and I know this is a big if - but if it's something extremely minor, such that almost anyone would consider it to be in "like new" condition, then frankly that would be a case of Amazon doing the right thing, rather than pulping a perfectly good book and printing a new one. The fact that this person is apparently not providing…

looks like author responded https://twitter.com/joabaldwin/status/1741202134845247606

"That’s one page out of 600+, I returned 14 books: one was cut to the wrong size (actually cutting the text, like an inch smaller), others had totally bent covers and pages, others were printed beyond the bleed area (offset too far from the max allowed), or printed at an angle."

to me it seems a bit dramatic, if a customer felt that was an issue they'd just get a refund from amazon

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#19

Post by pcurve »

Recently Amazon has been sending me items that were clearly returned and poorly repackaged or damaged in the last year. This isn’t something I encountered or noticed prior to 2023.

Their screening policy for returned items may have changed.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#20

Post by ajross »

sparky_z wrote: post #9

Before getting pitchforks out, I'd like to see what this person considered "damaged". If - and I know this is a big if - but if it's something extremely minor, such that almost anyone would consider it to be in "like new" condition, then frankly that would be a case of Amazon doing the right thing, rather than pulping a perfectly good book and printing a new one. The fact that this person is apparently not providing…

It's not even that big an if. Every vendor of every product receives returns. And every vendor of every product has some kind of process for deciding what to do with them. A few product areas have specific regulation, but in general if you get an unused return that is still in new condition you're going to resell it. It's no different for Amazon than your corner bookstore, who does exactly the same thing.

Basically this author did a bulk order of his own book from Amazon[1], found something wrong, deliberately returned them and then laid a deliberate trap just to generate exactly this buzz.

[1] Pretty weird to begin with. Marketing copies of your own work are normally part of your contract with the publisher. Why is he getting them retail?

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