How Amazon kills its competition

Yar-PocketBooker · 08-23-2010, 05:19 PM

Hey, folks, I just had very unpleasant experience with Amazon.com... I'm selling PocketBooks at Amazon.com website as well and recently there was a little out-of-stock situation with PB301, as you may know... The delivery times were delayed in some cases up to 10 days. I communicated with every buyer and even upgraded their packages from "Stanard" to "Comfort" as a little compensation for this delay.
Amazon.com first suspended my account with the request to "review shipment terms and provide a viable plan". OK, I kinda agreed with that - it was our PocketBook fault with the out-of-stock... So, I did everything what Amazon asked for, sending them revised terms and plan. In return I received a communication from Amazon.com that they are closing my account permanently. In this manner as it seems to me, Amazon is killing competition of its Kindle e-reader, not allowing other e-readers sell on Amazon.com. I know that other do sell PBs on Amazon, as I did before, watch out for any 'guilt' - they may close your accounts as well, as did with mine.

Dulin's Books · 08-23-2010, 05:42 PM

I was surprised they let you go as long as they did

Maybe you started selling too many

AnemicOak · 08-23-2010, 06:26 PM

And this is an eBook reader specific thing for sure? Seems to me I've read of them doing this to other 3rd party vendors as well (such as DVD vendors that were relying on dropshippers and having shipping delays).

tvpupsik · 08-23-2010, 06:38 PM

Yar, I am sorry to hear about what happened with your Amazon account but I don't think it is related to the product you were selling. Amazon has very strict policy in order to make their marketplace one of the most trustworthy. Amazon doesn't allow to list products for sale that you don't actually have in stock even if you offer a compensation to buyers and they agree to wait. According to Amazon policy you must ship any order within predefined period of time (2 business days) and if it doesn't happen for a few orders your account is automatically a candidate for the closure.
I also sell PocketBook readers on Amazon and when I started Amazon ran all kind of verifications to make sure I was an authorized dealer of PocketBook and I wasn't going to sell some fakes on their marketplace. Amazon gives less flexibility to sellers comparing, for example, to eBay but on the other side it cares much more about buyers protection which is definitely a good thing.

krish · 08-24-2010, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvpupsik

Amazon gives less flexibility to sellers comparing, for example, to eBay but on the other side it cares much more about buyers protection which is definitely a good thing.

This is my personal experience as buyer also. Amazon is all about customers.

Marcy · 08-24-2010, 01:54 AM

It had nothing to do with you selling ebook readers, despite what you might want to think. Amazon is very strict about customer satisfaction. I buy extensively from them and if you complain about a seller they take it seriously. In fact if you complain about *them* they take it seriously. Every time I've called/emailed about a problem, not only have they resolved it, but for anything more than trivial they've also given me a $10 credit on my account.

One seller was very snotty to me about returning an item and insisting I pay return shipping for a defective item. I told him that he could send me a label or I'd complain to amazon since he was violating their return policy for defective merchandise. I received the label via email less than an hour later.

I'm not a big fan of Kindles because I don't like being locked into the mobi format, but I ♥ Amazon. They treat me like a valued customer unlike most merchants today.

-Marcy

HarryT · 08-24-2010, 03:41 AM

Sorry, Yar, but I have to agree with the previous posters here. You have violated the terms of your contract with Amazon by accepting orders for products that you are unable to ship. It's not a matter of "killing the competition"; it's about customers being able to trust that Amazon merchants will ship when they say they will.

Yar-PocketBooker · 08-24-2010, 11:37 AM

I could have agreed with all of you guys, but the thing was that AFTER they suspended my account (which was correct, allright), they asked specific things to be done, and I did them all. And they did not re-instate the account, though everything was done as they asked.

krish · 08-24-2010, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yar-PocketBooker

I could have agreed with all of you guys, but the thing was that AFTER they suspended my account (which was correct, allright), they asked specific things to be done, and I did them all. And they did not re-instate the account, though everything was done as they asked.

That is most likely their professional way to clear up all the existing problems and then shut the door.

Fbone · 08-24-2010, 11:22 PM

One of your customers filed a grievance with Amazon and Amazon is required to follow through as per their T & C. Your responses to their inquiry was a formality I'm afraid. As it appears you couldnt deliver the merchandise within the specified contractual terms Amazon had to let you go.

Hopefully those customers will purchase their ereaders from other vendors.

Mr. Dalliard · 08-25-2010, 01:24 AM

So, in short: no sympathy for Mr. Yar here?

Marcy · 08-25-2010, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Dalliard

So, in short: no sympathy for Mr. Yar here?

Sympathy, sure. But agreeing that Amazon specifically targeted him because he was selling ebook readers? No. Once he knew about the problems with the PB301s he should have pulled the listing off Amazon until they were shipping again.

-Marcy

Addendum: Plus I just checked amazon. There are other vendors selling Pocketbooks, so it's not like Amazon stamped them all out. Not only that, there are also Bokeen products, Jetbooks, Sony Readers, Libres, eslicks, Bebooks and believe it or not, Nooks, also being sold. There just isn't a conspiracy. Time to put away the tin foil.

Logseman · 08-25-2010, 06:53 AM

The approach has been the wrong one. Instead of complaining that they give him a deadline and when he meets the criteria they slam the door shut on him, Yar has gone the conspiracy route. However, I'm sure this can be fixed, as long as reasonable approaches are attempted.

Yar-PocketBooker · 08-25-2010, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logseman

The approach has been the wrong one. Instead of complaining that they give him a deadline and when he meets the criteria they slam the door shut on him, Yar has gone the conspiracy route. However, I'm sure this can be fixed, as long as reasonable approaches are attempted.

Somehow it happened that I met all their deadlines and criteria... I totally would accept any mistake from side, but I checked everything - I responded very fast and what did what they wanted me to do. I don't know why they are doing this to me. The most interesting thing is that there is nobody to TALK to - no telephone numbers are present and they are not responding to my emails anymore. How not to think about a conspiracy theory here?! Though I don't like all those conspiracies... I'd rather got a clear explanation from them where I was wrong if I was, than look for any theories.

tvpupsik · 08-25-2010, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yar-PocketBooker

The most interesting thing is that there is nobody to TALK to - no telephone numbers are present and they are not responding to my emails anymore.

Yar, did you try "Talk to Seller Support by phone" option from this page? They claim "Provide your phone number and Seller Support will call you right away."
Hopefully it will help.

Tatiana

08-23-2010, 05:19 PM	#1
Yar-PocketBooker Fanatic Posts: 589 Karma: 6976 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: New York Device: PocketBooks and Onyxes and anything E-Ink...	How Amazon kills its competition Hey, folks, I just had very unpleasant experience with Amazon.com... I'm selling PocketBooks at Amazon.com website as well and recently there was a little out-of-stock situation with PB301, as you may know... The delivery times were delayed in some cases up to 10 days. I communicated with every buyer and even upgraded their packages from "Stanard" to "Comfort" as a little compensation for this delay. Amazon.com first suspended my account with the request to "review shipment terms and provide a viable plan". OK, I kinda agreed with that - it was our PocketBook fault with the out-of-stock... So, I did everything what Amazon asked for, sending them revised terms and plan. In return I received a communication from Amazon.com that they are closing my account permanently. In this manner as it seems to me, Amazon is killing competition of its Kindle e-reader, not allowing other e-readers sell on Amazon.com. I know that other do sell PBs on Amazon, as I did before, watch out for any 'guilt' - they may close your accounts as well, as did with mine.

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08-23-2010, 05:42 PM	#2
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	I was surprised they let you go as long as they did Maybe you started selling too many

08-23-2010, 06:26 PM	#3
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	And this is an eBook reader specific thing for sure? Seems to me I've read of them doing this to other 3rd party vendors as well (such as DVD vendors that were relying on dropshippers and having shipping delays).

08-23-2010, 06:38 PM	#4
tvpupsik Addict Posts: 203 Karma: 502 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO Device: PB 360, PB 602, PB IQ	Yar, I am sorry to hear about what happened with your Amazon account but I don't think it is related to the product you were selling. Amazon has very strict policy in order to make their marketplace one of the most trustworthy. Amazon doesn't allow to list products for sale that you don't actually have in stock even if you offer a compensation to buyers and they agree to wait. According to Amazon policy you must ship any order within predefined period of time (2 business days) and if it doesn't happen for a few orders your account is automatically a candidate for the closure. I also sell PocketBook readers on Amazon and when I started Amazon ran all kind of verifications to make sure I was an authorized dealer of PocketBook and I wasn't going to sell some fakes on their marketplace. Amazon gives less flexibility to sellers comparing, for example, to eBay but on the other side it cares much more about buyers protection which is definitely a good thing.

08-24-2010, 01:54 AM	#6
Marcy Guru Posts: 903 Karma: 950683 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kobo Libra2	It had nothing to do with you selling ebook readers, despite what you might want to think. Amazon is very strict about customer satisfaction. I buy extensively from them and if you complain about a seller they take it seriously. In fact if you complain about them they take it seriously. Every time I've called/emailed about a problem, not only have they resolved it, but for anything more than trivial they've also given me a $10 credit on my account. One seller was very snotty to me about returning an item and insisting I pay return shipping for a defective item. I told him that he could send me a label or I'd complain to amazon since he was violating their return policy for defective merchandise. I received the label via email less than an hour later. I'm not a big fan of Kindles because I don't like being locked into the mobi format, but I ♥ Amazon. They treat me like a valued customer unlike most merchants today. -Marcy

08-24-2010, 03:41 AM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Sorry, Yar, but I have to agree with the previous posters here. You have violated the terms of your contract with Amazon by accepting orders for products that you are unable to ship. It's not a matter of "killing the competition"; it's about customers being able to trust that Amazon merchants will ship when they say they will.

08-24-2010, 11:37 AM	#8
Yar-PocketBooker Fanatic Posts: 589 Karma: 6976 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: New York Device: PocketBooks and Onyxes and anything E-Ink...	I could have agreed with all of you guys, but the thing was that AFTER they suspended my account (which was correct, allright), they asked specific things to be done, and I did them all. And they did not re-instate the account, though everything was done as they asked.

08-24-2010, 11:22 PM	#10
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,318 Karma: 103930826 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	One of your customers filed a grievance with Amazon and Amazon is required to follow through as per their T & C. Your responses to their inquiry was a formality I'm afraid. As it appears you couldnt deliver the merchandise within the specified contractual terms Amazon had to let you go. Hopefully those customers will purchase their ereaders from other vendors.

08-25-2010, 01:24 AM	#11
Mr. Dalliard Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 35 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Osaka, Japan Device: Kindle 3	So, in short: no sympathy for Mr. Yar here?

08-25-2010, 06:53 AM	#13
Logseman Orisa Posts: 2,001 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	The approach has been the wrong one. Instead of complaining that they give him a deadline and when he meets the criteria they slam the door shut on him, Yar has gone the conspiracy route. However, I'm sure this can be fixed, as long as reasonable approaches are attempted.