Lulu Joins Amazon Marketplace: How to Make Marketplace Work for You!

Back on May 12th, I did a random search on Amazon.com for my book, Stealing Wishes, and found an odd separate listing for my book.  It had no picture and only had one copy for sell by a third party seller.  I promptly clicked on this link only to find the seller’s name was LuluPress.  You can view the listing here, although the copy that was for sale and even the name of my book has since been removed from it.  You can view LuluPress’s profile here. I decided to email LuluPress asking if their authors received royalties for these Marketplace sales.  They replied two days later with a simple “yes.”  So, I left it at that.

For those that don’t know, the Amazon Marketplace is where Amazon allows third parties (you, me, or indie bookshops out there, anyone really) to sell “used” or “new” copies of a book right on the same product page where Amazon is selling it.  They received a lot of flak for it in the beginning because publishers couldn’t believe Amazon would allow used copies of books to be sold right along side brand new copies.  But Amazon didn’t care.

They practically stole the book business from Ebay because they allowed sellers to list books without charging them any fees, they let listings stay live for up to 60 days, and they don’t charge you a fee if the book doesn’t sell.  They make money by taking a commission when your book actually sells. Read more about my own Marketplace business adventure  in the POD Diary. Marketplace business now makes up about 45% of their total book sales per year.  It’s easy money for them too.  No stock. No shipping fees.  They just run the automated email and listing system and charge the credit cards when books sell!

So, back to Lulu.  Today I get the following email from them…

Dear Lulu Author,

Congratulations, your book has been selected for listing on Amazon.com’s Marketplace! As a result, your book will now be easily found on the world’s largest online bookseller. There will be some differences between your listing on Lulu and your listing on Amazon. Amazon charges a fee to list your book, and in order to cover that cost your book will be listed with a 30% markup; however your royalty will remain the same, and your book’s price on Lulu will not change. Furthermore, your book sales on Amazon will reflect in your Lulu account immediately. Lulu is committed to helping you increase your book’s sales and we hope you enjoy the benefits of listing your book on Amazon.com.

Kind regards,
Lulu

You are free to opt out of the program if you are not interested in the benefits associated with having your book listed on Amazon. To do so, please reply to this email with the Project ID of the book you wish removed.

Now, I have a few problems with this email.  First, they don’t even tell me which of my three books was chosen for Marketplace.  Second, they don’t even tell you what Marketplace is or how it works or what its advantages are.  Third, their going to mark the book up 30% but still only give me my same commission.

Let’s do some math!

My book, Stealing Wishes, lists for $14.oo.  I make a 67 cent commission from Amazon sales fulfilled through Lulu right now.  A 30% mark-up is $4.20 making their Marketplace listing $18.20.  So, I listed a copy of my book at this price just to see what Amazon’s commission would be.  It’s $5.07.  So, Amazon’s cut automatically eats up the $3.99 standard shipping credit leaving Lulu with a profit of $17.12.  If a buyer chooses expedited shipping, it’s $6.99.  That leaves Lulu with a sale of $20.12 (Only $1.92 leftover for shipping but they still make the full $18.20 they listed the book for).

So, after Lulu actually prints and ships the book and pays me 67 cents, their probably still making a few bucks at this if they generate any sales at all.  Buying direct from Lulu, they charge me $9.12 per copy of my own book (at no quantity discount) and their cheapest shipping method is $5.85 media mail, but you know this is marked up too.

And at an $18.20 listing before shipping, who is going to buy a copy from them anyway?  I currently have it listed myself for $11.50!  The only thing that would remotely make anyone consider buying it from LuluPress at $18.20 is their feedback rating.  Buyers are given the chance to rate their buying experience with a seller and leave a comment, and believe me, these ratings can make or break you.  I, myself, will not buy from a seller who has three stars or less no matter what the price.  LuluPress currently has a rating of 4 1/2 stars out of 5.  You can even check out their current rating and feedback they’ve received on their profile page.

My only guess about Lulu joining in this venture is that it is a sure fire way for them to go around the Booksurge umbrella Amazon put over them last year. They stand to  make better money doing it because Marketplace stock is printed from Lulu’s suppliers which means no Booksurge printing and shipping fees for Lulu.

In checking the current 3rd party Marketplace listings for Stealing Wishes, LuluPress is not listed at the time I’m writing this.  And I will not be opting out of the Marketplace program despite the lack of information given in the email blast.  But I do advise all authors to invest in copies of you book and list them yourselves in the Amazon Marketplace.  It’s free to list there! Beat the list price or Amazon sale price of the book, and in the comments section state that the seller is getting a “signed first edition direct from the author.”  The lower the price will get you closer to the top of the listings. And include a free bookmark or other “freebie” with each sale and maybe a nice thank you note.  Amazon Marketplace sales do affect your book’s Amazon ranking, so every sale counts!