Amazon Marketplace Can Save You Money on Everyday Merchandise
by Bryan_Carey - Written: Apr 03 '06 (Updated Oct 24 '06)
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Amazon.com is one of the most popular web sites in the short history of the internet. It began as a book seller and has expanded to include all sorts of general merchandise from clothing to appliances and more. Amazon.com once sold only new items but the people in charge quickly discovered that a large market existed for selling used merchandise. They decided to tap into this market for used goods, creating the Amazon.com Marketplace, a place for consumers to find products at low prices.
What Does This Service Offer?:
Amazon.com Marketplace is simply a service within the Amazon.com web site that caters to those who want to find used versions of products in order to save money. Also, it provides a means to find items for sale that are no longer in print, like certain books and CD’s that are no longer manufactured.
There is no official link to the Amazon.com Marketplace from the main web site. To get here, you lookup a product you wish to buy. If there are any used versions available, you will see a link that says “xx Used and New Available from yy”, with the “xx” representing a quantity of items available and the “yy” representing the lowest available price. If you click this link, you will be taken to the Amazon.com Marketplace.
Amazon.com’s Marketplace organizes these items by category. Used are listed first; followed by Collectibles and then New. Within each category, the items are listed in order of price, from lowest to highest. You will also see the price of the item; the shipping charge; the condition of the item (“new”, “almost new”, “very good”, “good”, etc.); notes left by the seller detailing any specifics about the condition; the sellers name; the percentage of positive ratings for the seller over the past twelve months; a “star” rating for the seller from one to five; the total number of lifetime ratings; and shipping information that details where it will be shipped from and how long one can expect to wait before the package arrives.
How Does it Work?:
Using the Amazon.com Marketplace is as simple as using Amazon.com itself. You select the items you want by clicking the link to add them to your shopping cart. Then, you proceed to the check out, pay for your items, and wait for them to arrive. If you purchase Amazon.com Marketplace items along with new merchandise from Amazon.com itself, everything will be combined together in one shopping cart and one payment. However, the items will, of course, be shipped separately because the Marketplace item will be coming to you from an anonymous seller- someone who could live next door to you or several thousand miles away.
A short time after you receive your merchandise in the mail, Amazon.com will send you a link and ask you to logon to your Amazon.com account and rate the seller. You will be asked to rate the seller from one star (lowest rating) to five stars (highest rating). You can also leave a comment if you wish. And if you don’t want to give a specific rating but want to leave a comment, you can do that, too. Amazon.com gives the buyer 90 days to rate the seller. After this time has passed, you can no longer rate.
What About Selling?:
For selling, Amazon.com Marketplace is easy to use. There is no need to take pictures or anything like that. You simply find the product category and create a new listing by clicking the link that says “Sell Yours Here”. It is up to you to determine a price level and how you want to handle shipment.
Unless you make a sale, Amazon.com collects no fees. If you do sell, the fees collected by Amazon.com Marketplace include a flat 99 cent charge, a variable selling fee, and a commission. These last two charges vary based on the price level of the item you sell. If you are selling something like a book, DVD, or CD, Amazon.com Marketplace will charge you a flat fee. If you are selling something larger, like a DVD player, you will be charged a fee based on the weight. Commissions are computed as a percentage and depend on the category of the item you sold. If you sell an electronic item (except for a computer), the commission is six percent. If you sell a computer, the rate is eight percent. Musical instruments carry a twelve percent commission while items in the “Everything Else” store will charge you ten percent. All other products will charge you fifteen percent commission.
When you make a sale, the transaction is handled completely by Amazon.com Marketplace. You do not need to setup a Paypal account or other on- line financial account. All you need is a bank account. Amazon.com will deposit the money directly to your bank every two weeks.
Shipping Charges:
Probably the greatest disadvantage of the Amazon.com Marketplace for buyers is the added shipping charges. Almost everything you buy will have a shipping charge added. And, unfortunately, you cannot take advantage of Amazon.com’s free shipping offer on orders of $25 or more. If you are buying from the Marketplace, this and other “free” offers no longer apply.
In the case of individual people offering items for sale, the shipping charges are not too bad. A book, for example, will usually carry a shipping charge between $2 and $4. But with actual merchandisers who sell products in this Marketplace, the shipping charges can be much higher and they vary greatly from item to item.
Final Thoughts:
Amazon.com is my most visited web site ever, in terms of the number of purchases I have made. I have been buying merchandise from this site for almost ten years and it has become a permanent part of my weekly web site visits. I logon to see what new books are coming out, what is recommended to me, and what special deals are available.
With Amazon.com Marketplace, I admit that it took me a little longer to warm to the idea and I didn’t make my first purchase from this part of the site until 2004. The reason for my reservations for so many years were mostly based on settling for used items when I could have new for little additional cost. See, part of the reason I make so many purchases through Amazon.com is because I am constantly receiving Amazon.com gift certificates from other sources. It could be a $20 reward for taking a series of surveys; a $15 award for sampling new software; a $25 reward for taking part in an audio conference; etc. Whatever the reason, I always seem to get these certificates and thus I didn’t see the need to settle for used merchandise when I could get new for a reduced rate.
But the more I checked into this Marketplace, the more I liked it and I finally gave in and made my first purchase two years ago. One thing I didn’t realize at first is that this Marketplace isn’t just a huge garage sale for used items. It includes new items as well, often at a cut rate from Amazon.com’s regular prices. In many ways, this Marketplace is much like Ebay.com. You have individual people like you and me who offer used items for sale and you have actual on- line merchants who use this Marketplace as another way to sell their goods. It makes sense, especially in the case of a lesser- known on- line retailer. Amazon.com gets millions of visits every day so it offers smaller, less established retailers a way to market their goods and gain maximum exposure.
What I like best about Amazon.com Marketplace is that it offers consumers a way to find bargain deals on books, CD’s, and more. Sometimes, these goods can be very cheap and on occasion they can be less than $1.00. Of course, you have to factor in the shipping cost. But even with this added, the bottom- line price is often very attractive and many dollars less than it would cost if purchased directly through Amazon.com or some other site.
The other thing I like about this Marketplace is also one of the key reasons I like Ebay.com: The ability to find goods that are no longer produced. In fact, the first time I ever used the Amazon.com Marketplace was to purchase a music CD that is no longer in print. I knew the internet was probably my only hope to find this CD and I inquired into both Amazon.com Marketplace and Ebay. Amazon.com had what I wanted and I was able to buy it immediately without any bidding, like is often the case with Ebay. Also, it is possible to find special Collectible items and special editions in this Marketplace that you cannot find in other places.
Most buyers in this Marketplace are ethical and will mail you exactly what you ordered in the promised time frame. Here, like Ebay, it is important to check the sellers overall rating and read comments. If the person has a strong history of good service, then your risk will be minimal. I have had no problem using the Marketplace, but I was disappointed once when the item I ordered was no longer available. I made my purchase and waited to receive my CD in the mail but after a few days, I got an e-mail from Amazon.com stating that there were no copies left from my chosen seller. I could live with this, but it meant that I had to go back to the site and search again for the same item, and this time I had to pay a slightly higher price for the same CD.
Even though the base prices in the Marketplace are generally less expensive than those in Amazon.com’s main product section, you have to be careful and remember to add the base price with the shipping. This is especially true with the new items listed in the Marketplace. With the shipping added, the price might increase to a level that makes it greater than Amazon.com’s regular price. And since Amazon.com is usually offering a free shipping offer on orders greater than $25, this can mean that the Marketplace won’t actually save you any money at all. Most of the time, Marketplace is less expensive. But this isn’t true all of the time and this is why it is so critical to check the overall price first before you make a purchase. You also need to keep in mind that newer items and top selling items will often command higher prices in the Marketplace, like you would expect. And this can mean that the Marketplace price is unreasonable, making the regular Amazon.com price the better deal.
This Marketplace has a gigantic selection, like Ebay. But there are a few disadvantages. One is the lack of photos. When you are shopping for a “standard” good, there is no need for a photo because they all look the same. But in the case of a collectible or special edition, a photo would be nice. This marketplace doesn’t offer these things. Another thing that would be nice would be to have a way to sort the items available for sale. When you enter the Marketplace you are presented with the different categories with the items sorted by price within each. But there is no other way to sort. You cannot sort by condition, by seller rating, or anything else. Price is all you get. Yet another big disadvantage is that you cannot apply gift certificates to your purchase. These are not valid on items purchased in the marketplace.
Overall, Amazon.com Marketplace is still a nice place to shop and its greatest advantage is having the ability to find rare or out of print items. Prices are generally low, too, but you have to be careful and always compare the Marketplace price (with added shipping) with the regular Amazon.com price to see if the deal is good or not.
Amazon.com will continue to remain one of my favorite places to shop on- line. I love the product listings, the product information, the customized recommendation lists, and the gargantuan selection. The Marketplace will also continue to be a place I check for bargains and for hard to find merchandise. It offers good deals on many different items without having to place bids.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews of Book- Related Web Sites:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books- A- Million
Mystery Guild
Zooba
Doubleday Book Club
Half.com
History Book Club
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? CD''s
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