Writer's Haven > Marketing Loft [Public]
Has Anyone Pulled Their Books from Amazon and Sold Exclusively Outside Amazon?
Post-Crisis D:
Okay, so my Amazon sales haven't been enough to meet the minimum threshold for a check payout and I've just been letting them (slowly) go until they meet whatever the threshold is.
So, yesterday, in the mail, I get a "Notice of Unclaimed Property" with a thing I need to sign to claim the money (which is less than I show they actually owe me) or they'll send it to my state and then I'll have to file with the state to get the money.
So, I log in to my KDP account to see what's what there and, after having to fill out another form with my information as it appears on a government-issued ID and having to give them my phone number which I do not like at all, I check and see that all the money owed has been paid out as of July 6 and 7 using an "UNKNOWN" payment method.
So, the money is no longer there yet they want my bank info. Um, no?
And the amount paid out via the unknown payment method is more than the amount in the Notice of Unclaimed Funds.
Nice of them to give me advance notice or anything. Stupid Amazon.
And, apparently, payment by check is no longer an option because I'm guessing this multi-billion-dollar company or whatever they are can't afford to have checks printed. Poor things.
So, this is all a royal PITA and my first thought is, "Screw you, Amazon, you good for nothing corporate behemoth that should burn alongside Adobe in the fiery pits of Tartarus for all eternity."
So, I'm curious if anyone has gone ahead and just yanked all their books from Amazon and sold elsewhere, including direct or whatnot.
TimothyEllis:
Sorry, but WTF are you getting cheques for?
The thresholds on those are ridiculous, and completely unnecessary these days. With EFT, if I made 15 cents in a store, I get paid that 15 cents.
Are you sure you logged into Amazon?
Because that sounds to me like a phish scheme.
Did you click a link to go there, or type in the Amazon address yourself?
Honestly, no-one these days should be getting paid by anything other than EFT payments.
I've not used a cheque in nearly thirty years.
As far as yanking is concerned, no, but just going wide for me back in 2017 was a disaster.
Post-Crisis D:
I've always done checks. If I remember, the threshold was $125 or something so not too bad.
I don't like these companies having my bank details when it's usually unnecessary. Makes you more vulnerable to data breaches because who knows what lax security companies have. Seems like some corporation is always getting hacked and personal information is then put out on the dark web.
Not a phishing scheme. The letter came via mail and I logged in directly to my KDP account, not following any link.
alhawke:
I use direct deposit. I'm guessing most of us do and you probably are running into trouble because of your different payment method (not to say that it excuses any loss payments). Hope this gets cleared up and they pay you your due.
As far as changing KU to wide, I'm gonna throw out some caution. All the retailers have their issues. Amazon seems to get more issues because they're larger (one current issue is a lag in sales reporting). So, you know, you're gonna run into trouble wide too.
KU to wide? My most successful book was launched with KU four years ago. I had it in KU for their three month period to take advantage of extra Amazon advertising. My title has done fantastic, but part of its success was due to release during covid, I think. And at first, it suffered and languished for a while under wide distribution. You gotta understand that I was already wide.
Another book I released in KU did the same thing. That one is still suffering wide after release versus Amazon. The main reason is that part of a book's popularity is due to its book launch and I believe KU gives an extra boost. That boost is lost in the other markets. That's why I don't intend to launch with KU anymore.
All this is a drawn out way of saying that it's gonna take time to move sales wide if you make this change. You can do it, but it won't necessarily solve problems, particularly with sales.
Lorri Moulton:
You can sell directly from your site or store, but you'll probably have to deal with some type of direct deposit. Stripe, PayPal, etc.
I like Amazon because they seem to like me. I give almost everyone who deals with me 5 stars...so maybe that helps? Anyway, if you're not advertising, not in KU, and you don't have any ranking, Amazon is mainly a reader convenience IMHO.
If your readers are happy downloading an epub (or PDF file?) from you...that will work, too. Maybe even serialize your stories on your blog (or Substack?) if you want to have a paid option. Again, direct deposit for the most part, but there might be some other alternatives.
ETA: When I say I like Amazon, I mean their reps have been very nice. I prefer talking to a person rather than an AI chat.
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