I just signed up with Amazon and realised yet another glitch in dealing with them from outside their specific countries of presence: they can only pay me by check (which I presume becomes a cheque by the time it reaches me here in Australia
).
Now I don't doubt Amazon, but it's been a long time since anyone told the that the cheque was in the mail. My mind automatically comes up with questions like: What if they send it by sea? What if it gets lost in the post? Just how long might such a mix-up take to resolve?
I guess that, realistically, I am probably not talking about amounts that I'm likely to miss very much. But, still, it's not really something I was expecting.
So let's summarise the situation: For sales in my own country they're going to give me 35%; they're going to withhold 30% of all royalties (unless I get an ITIN, and then it's only 5%); they're going to hold onto the result for up to 90 days (60 days from end of month of sale); they're going to pop the result in the post and cross their fingers. And when I get that cheque it looks like my bank is going to charge me $15 to deposit it!
Obviously this is not all Amazon's fault, but it's quite frustrating from where I'm sitting.