August Sales Weak or Strong?

I had to wait one whole year for August 2014 to come along.

I actually began selling Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) in mid August 2013 and I had heard prior to that change in business model from merchant fulfilled to FBA that August can be good.

I ran the business as non pro-seller until March when I turned up the screws a notch opting to pay the $39.99 per month  pro-seller fee. This followed three months of selling more than thirty nine books per month, at an average of 45 sales per month in the first three months of the year I was paying more than the pro-seller fee anyway at $0.99 per sale.

After April sales fell to an average of 35 sales per month but I stuck with the pro-seller fee and still do.

July was on the good side, especially the last few days of the month. Slightly above average sales with an increase in the average selling price of books from $11.87 to $12.42.

Does August Live Up to Expectations?

Bearing in mind we have not yet reached the end of August, but indications are that this month has blown away all planned and budgetted sales.

I was expecting a high thirties sale month.  So far over 50 books have been sold.

Averages sales have been around the $400 gross mark.  August gross sales are $680+

Our current stock level dropped from 760 books to 750 books this despite sending three shipments of books this month already.

What Sold?

During August we continued to sell our normal mixture of books, some fiction in hardcover and paperback, self help and crafting books. These sold at normal levels which would have given us our planned for average.

The additional sales came from a variety of college textbooks,  student advice books and possible assigned texts. 

As foreseen before the summer when I advised getting textbooks to the fulfilment centers, see Textbooks Anyone,  textbooks need to play a part in your late Summer business plan.

How Does This August Set the Plan for Next Year?

The experience of this August does alter my business plan for next year slightly.

• I will actively seek out more recent and high quality textbooks and additional reading books from my sources.
• I will maintain minimum levels of these textbooks at fulfilment centers until April or May 2015.  these books can be large and impact on storage fees, however minor those charges seem. 
• I need to plan more effective re-stocking to maintain levels during such high demand seasons.

August 2014 has taught me a lot about selling FBA. I hope some of this report on my experience may help you.

Please feel free to comment on this and other posts in the comment section.

Textbooks Anyone?

As we draw towards the end of May, it is time for FBA sellers to think of going back to school and college.

Well not for FBA sellers themselves, but for their customers.

In about seven or eight weeks, students will begin looking for their new college and school textbooks.

You will need to be thinking of getting those books into the fulfilment centers in June and early July to catch the new crop of students.

Students can be demanding in that they want their textbooks very quickly so the FBA system is really great. If they want 24 hour shipping, you don't need to worry, amazon has that covered.

Students are happier with FBA sellers for the purpose of getting the book in their hands on time.

Make particularly sure though that the book description is correct. Students often don't check a books edition number. This means the probability that the book is returned, ok if the student bought early and sends the book back quickly. A pain if they wait a week or two and you are left holding a textbook until after the New Year, that is also a very good textbook selling period.

If you are thinking of selling a few textbooks for the first time here are a few tips:

• Buy the most recent editions that you can. If a textbook is on its 8th Edition and you see the 3rd Edition not matter how cheap leave it alon.
• Check the publication year on the front piece. Again get the most recent publication date. Anything earlier than ten years prior to the school year is probably too old.
• Beware the old non core curriculum based textbooks. Most schools are changing curriculum in the next couple of years so current textbooks are nit going to have a long shelf life.

• Invest in some label removing fluid like Goo Gone It works wonders at removing old used college bookstore labels. A bottle can cleans several dozen books and you can upgrade your listing from acceptable to good or better if the book is unmarked.

With all that, the next few weeks are the biggest opportunity for sales before the Holidays. Good Luck and have a great back to school season.

April Came in Winth the Speed of a Slug

April was certainly a slow month to begin  with.

It was the second lowest sales month of the year so far.  Only just over $370 for the whole month.

Sales figures show this month to have only been marginly better than February with $317 in total sales, and remember February has ltwo less days than April this year.

It is not a surprise though, in retail for April there was a lot of competition, from gift sellers, remember Easter and all that lovely chocolate was in the mix.

I did get a boost in sales over Easter too. Selling several religious books and a few childrens books like "The First Easter Egg" over that week-end.

That is a thing to remember, whatever your business model, you can always benefit from cross-over sales.

Slow Sales

There is a lot of talk on the amazon seller forums in recent days of slowing sales. People say that they saw very high sales throughout January until March, now those sales levels have fallen off a cliff.

I saw very high sales levels too in the  first quarter of the year.

It was actually those sales levels that pushed me towards switching over to a pro-seller account on April 1.

People often see a fall in sales as a result of something either they are doing wrong or something that someone else is doing to disrupt their business, but I do not feel that is the case here.

The first quarter saw very poor weather across the U.S. people spent well at Christmas and the amazon gift card was a common purchase. All that money has to go somewhere before it gets lost at the back of a drawer. So people shopped at amazon.

I have been in the retail business for thirty some years and the period from March to late May was alwys a tricky period to call. It always saw a fall in sales  even in England, a nice spike for me in my newsagent/sweet shop was an April Easter, lots of chocolate to sell then. Today with books it is not so easy.

Anyway we have funds to continue our stocking plan to have over 1,000 items in inventory by the 31st August this year.

Ups and downs are all part of life and this is just one more down.  Without downs would we even know what up is?

Goodbye Packing Slip

Over the weekend I was preparing a couple of boxes  to send to the amazon fulfilment center, when I came across a problem. Or so I thought.

There was no longer an option to print a packing slip!

I hunted and searched everywhere. No print option.

Then in small print, in a greyed out box, in grey print, a note said,

:Packing Slips No longer required."

Err? Last week I needed one?

For a year I've needed one.

Now suddenly, without warning, no big song and dance as they usually  do, after all for three months now they have been telling me they are updating the FBA shipment procedure. But on packing slips nada, nothing, silence. They let it slip away without fanfare, but  not without half an hour of frustration and irritation on my part as I searched fruitlessly for a packing slip print option.

In the end it is  nice not to have to print that extra piece of paper, a mere barcode, it is probably nice for amazon not to have to dispose of that piece of paper too.  Can you imagine that paper mountain?

So goodbye and farewell packing slip. I for one brief moment did suffer at your loss.

How Soon Do Items Post After Being Received at a Fulfilment Center?

I have found a wide range of times for my items to post in my storefront after delivery of a shipment.

I always set up a delivery alert with UPS to tell me when a shipment has been delivered to the dock area of the Fulfilment Center. This alert generally comes to me within a few minutes of the actual delivery.

Amazon itself also informs me of the delivery, but this can be several hours later. Remember the Fulfilment Center may have received hundreds of shipments allof which take time to leave the dock area.

I have had occassions when amazon actually tell me of the delivery first. But it generally takes up to six hours, that was in late November during the pre-Christmas rush.

After delivery amazon say it can take up to 48 hours for a shipment to process. I have had all shipments even at the busiest times process well within that time.

On average I see items posting about twelve hours after the amazon delivered notice arrives.

One time however I received a delivery notice from amazon and all the items were up on my storefront two hours after delivery was confirmed by UPS. Now that is very fast. I can only guess my shipment was last off the delivery and so on top of the pile and processed first.

Cheap Packing for Your FBA Shipment Boxes

When packing boxes with your items for shipment to an amazon fulfillment center there are often small spaces which can allow shipped items to shift and become damaged.


Having spaces happens all the time with my book shipments. No matter how carefully I pack similar sized items a small gap remains and I am searching for a packing item.


Amazon doesn't allow packing peanuts and bubble wrap or plastic air bags are expensive when you are building a business. By all means put these items to one side when you received them and recycle used portions of bubble wrap and air bags.


An addition to your armoury of packing materials can be the thin plastic carrier bags that you may receive at the supermarket.


Roll these into a tight ball. you can fill one bag with two or three others to make a large packing filler. Tie the handles around the ball or sausage shape and use this to fill those small area.


Remember preventing slippage and damage will mean less items are damaged in transit. Less damages mean better prices for you.