pierzstyx t1_j2en6tr wrote on December 31, 2022 at 6:22 PM

Friendly reminder that Amazon has more small and local business on it, giving you a wider selection of independent booksellers to support at a lower cost to you and a higher profit to them as Amazon takes far less than 30% of sales.

unklethan t1_j2etwcg wrote on December 31, 2022 at 7:08 PM

Amazon has more sellers because it is the only* platform.

Most of the book sellers are Half Price Books or Goodwill.

As of 2021, Amazon charged a 15% fee AND a $1.85 fee for every book sale, left you to cover shipping, and you paid for your own warehouse. So on a $10.00 book, fees are already at 33.5% BEFORE shipping and handling.
Oh wait, there's the cost of goods as well. It's not like you're getting books for free (unless you're Goodwill). Publishers usually charge stores about 40-60% of the cover price.

So my ten dollar book gets me 6.65 before shipping and handling, 2.65 after shipping, 2.55 after storage if I have a great deal on a warehouse, and NEGATIVE $1.45 after I pay the publisher.

A $30.00 book will only net me $7.52 after that. From that money, I need to pay employees and invest in improvements to my store.
Bookshop just hands my store $9.00 on that same sale, and they store and they ship.

*I know Amazon isn't the only platform, but they've dominated to market to the point of monopoly.