So, those books/CDs/whatever on A/\/\azon that priced at 50¢...

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...what's the deal with that?

I just bought a couple of items on Amaz0n that were priced at 23¢ and 50¢, and then about $15 for shipping. Am I right in supposing that the shipping fees are inflated to make up for the laughable prices?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

$15? That's crazy. I've bought $1 CDs and books that had $2.50/$3.50 shipping charges, but I've never seen much more than that.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)

I'm in Canada and the seller isn't. So I guess that makes a difference.
Subtotal: $0.50
Shipping: $9.79

ORDER TOTAL: $10.29

1 of [Audio CD]
[$0.23]

Shipping & Handling: [$5.49]
Your Total: [$5.72]

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

So how are these people making it worth their while?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

i think amazon get a percentage of the price but not the postage costs. it is worth the people's while because the postage costs aren't $15, a bunch of that is profit, profit that amazon don't get a cut of.

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

Inflated shipping costs. Media mail costs $1.10 plus maybe a quarter for packaging so if you sell enough things for 50 cents you come out ahead.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, your're basically paying for them to keep the stock, post it on amazon, and then to actually package it and give it to the postman.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:31 (twenty years ago)

You get a £1 postage back from Amazon on a CD, I guess more for books. I made £3 by selling a Fiery Furnaces CD on Amazon.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

Over here a 1p book costs you £2.76, I guess the seller gets about half in the end.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 8 September 2005 17:54 (twenty years ago)

I've been selling "on the river" since last October. Here are some of the shipping credits to 3rd-party sellers:

Book, standard non-expedited shipping: $2.26
CD, standard shipping: $1.84
Book or CD, international shipping: $4.95
Book or CD, domestic expedited shipping: $3.85

Single CDs are great for 3P sellers, because they can go 1st Class usually for $1.06 to $1.29, netting a few more cents' profit. Single CDs going to international buyers are good, because "Air Letter Post" tops out at $4.00, netting almost an extra buck. Domestic expedited is break-even, since $3.85 covers most Priority Mail. What you don't want to do is offer international or expedited shipping for heavy books: shipping costs will eat into earnings.

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 8 September 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

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