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Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

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Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#21

Post by beanjuiceII »

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

why would he get paid other than the initial buy of a book?

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#22

Post by bombcar »

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…

Amazon "checks" them hardly at all. I ordered a warehouse item (and I recognize this risk) for a Chicco stroller holder and received a Chicco box with a broken Gracco stroller in it.

That's not very checked. And there's not much I can do but return it (they don't even have a "you got scammed, idiots" option to tell them to check again).

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#23

Post by sparky_z »

washadjeffmad wrote: post #14
gumby wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If I go into a physical bookstore, buy a book, walk out with it, walk back in and return it still in good condition, should they not just put it back on the shelf? Would that be fraud? It's technically no longer "new" at that point.

True this was returned as "damaged" but how damaged was it? We aren't told and there are no photos.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#24

Post by buro9 »

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…

I received a book that had been written all over, full of notes and scribbles... it was sold as "new".

I complained, and they sent another.

That too was scribbled all over, notes on every page.

The book wasn't that expensive, I was a bit annoyed, but it's a rounding error to me, so I just ordered another thinking no way would this happen again, and because I did need it quicker than I cared to go through the service desk again.

The third was also marked on every page.

I complained, and they gave a refund for the 2nd one but not the 3rd... all of them were ruined though, none of them could be gifted (which was my intent), and ultimately I just sent it to landfill / recycling / incineration.

I keep learning, if I actually care about what I receive I avoid using Amazon. They're fine for some things, but the list of things they're fine for seems to be ever decreasing.

All of this was UK btw, YMMV elsewhere and with different categories of goods, etc.

Also, when I got the refund, which took about 20 minutes of my time, the tone was weird "congratulations, we're able to offer you a refund today"... this wasn't a prize, it was crappy goods and you weren't even fully setting me good, I dread to think of the number of refunds for obviously damaged goods are not honoured such that this was worthy of congrats.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#25

Post by sparky_z »

ajross wrote: post #20
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 t…

> Marketing copies of your own work are normally part of your contract with the publisher. Why is he getting them retail?

Because he's self-publishing. I can't imagine printers would offer that perk to self publishers, because then you just become a free vanity press.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#27

Post by Dylan16807 »

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…

Whether the author gets paid is a very important issue too.

The math is simple. Books sent to customers minus books returned from customers equals royalties paid. And apparently that's not happening here.

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#29

Post by morsch »

ajross wrote: post #20
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 t…

Going by the bsky thread posted elsewhere, he's using Kindle Direct Publishing, so he is getting them from his publisher, Amazon. And the books he returned were author copies, sold to him at print cost.

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G7BBN68RYX5UMDZF

Re: Amazon allegedly resells damaged books

#30

Post by kevingadd »

pcurve wrote: post #19

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.

It may be more common now, but I've had this problem with them before in the past. In one notable case I bought a new game console from Amazon.com and received a box that was so obviously used (seals broken, shrinkwrap missing, etc) that I didn't even bother opening it, I just returned it. Despite the price of the item they raised no objections, so they're probably used to this happening and just assume that most customers won't notice.
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