Amazon Textbook Support

Back to school: Successful Order Fulfillment 101

The busy back-to-school season isn't far away! Here are some best practices for timely and accurate order fulfillment:

• Keep up with increased orders by checking the Manage Orders section of your Seller Account daily.
• Students need their books and supplies fast!  Avoid listing items that you can't ship right away, and update your inventory daily if possible to avoid cancelled orders.
• Offer expedited shipping, and remember to check the shipping speed requested for each order.
• Keep buyers informed about their orders. This is easy with Charge When Ship. Simply ship your orders on time and confirm shipment promptly through your Amazon seller account - buyers can track orders in their account.  Learn more about Charge When Ship.
• Provide tracking information. It's not required, but based on buyer feedback, we highly recommend using shipping method that supports tracking. You can enter the tracking info when you confirm shipment of an order. Amazon provides all of the shipping information to the buyer in their Amazon.com account as well as in e-mail.

Good fulfillment practices go a long way to e satisfaction for buyers and good performance ratings for you!

Buy postage in Manage Orders to save time and money!

Did you know you can buy United States Postal Service® postage using the Manage Orders tool in your seller account?

• Automatically pay for postage safely and conveniently with your Marketplace Payments account. Postage fees ($0.07 per postage purchase) appear as "Postage" on the "Transaction Details" Payments page in your seller account.
• Discounts
  • Delivery Confirmation is free for Priority Mail®.
  • Delivery Confirmation for packages sent via First Class Mail®, Parcel Post®, or Media Mail® is $0.19.
  • Buy insurance through Stamps.com, discounted from USPS rates for coverage under the Parcel Insurance Plan (PIP).
• Print domestic and international postage-paid shipping labels on your standard printer. Shipping labels for international shipments include customs information.
• Request free Carrier Pickup instead of taking your packages to the Post Office.
• Set a default ships-from address so you won't have to type or write it for each shipment.
• Request a postage refund if you decide not to use the shipping label within 48 hours of printing it (requires the use of delivery confirmation and is dependent upon approval by USPS).

This service is easy and fun to use. Go to Manage Orders to get started, or read step-by-step instructions.

Note: The postage service and related information is provided to you by Stamps.com, which is solely responsible for any errors or omissions in connection with the services or information it provides. You are responsible for any errors or omissions you make in using these services (for example, providing incorrect product weight or dimensional information). Amazon provides payment processing services in connection with your use of the Stamps.com services and charges a transaction fee for such services (subject to applicable fee waiver policies).

Shipping options and delivery expectations

Sellers are expected to ship textbook orders within two business days of the date the order notification is made available by Amazon. When you offer a certain shipping option, you can deliver your order using any carrier and method, as long as the buyer receives their package within the expected timeframe for the shipping service they selected.

All sellers are required to offer standard shipping. You may also elect to include priority expedited shipping; many buyers appreciate expedited shipping during textbook seasons!

Below are the available shipping options and delivery expectations. You can select any of the options on an item-by-item basis when listing or editing single listings.

Domestic Standard
The buyer should receive their order within 4-14 business days from the shipment date (up to 21 days in some cases).

Domestic Expedited
The buyer should receive their order within 2-6 business days after shipment.

Two Day Domestic
The buyer should receive the order within 48 hours after shipment.

One Day Domestic
The buyer should receive the order within 24 hours after shipment.

Standard International
The buyer should receive their order within 3-6 weeks, though it may take up to 8-12 weeks depending on customs delays

Expedited International
The buyer should receive their order within 3-7 business days, though it may take longer depending on customs delays.

Choosing a shipping carrier and method

Amazon.com sellers receive a standard shipping credit of $3.99 for each book they sell, whether the book is a small paperback, a heavy textbook, or a book set. Credit for expedited shipping is higher. Learn more about our Shipping Rates and Services.

You can use any carrier and method of shipping you prefer as long as the order arrives at its destination within the delivery expectations provided to the buyer. Ship within 2 business days and keep in mind that a standard domestic order should be received within 4 to 14 business days after shipment. Domestic shipments include addresses in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Protectorates as well as APO and FPO addresses.

That said, the standard domestic shipping rate for books should cover the cost of shipping most 2- and 3-pound items. The 2-3 pound range is based on current U.S. Postal Service rates for Media Mail packages. For items in large envelopes, First Class rates may also be less than $3.99.

You can calculate shipping costs using the tools on this Web page: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

To determine the cost of shipping an order, describe your shipment (package or large envelope), provide the weight, and then enter your zip code and the buyer's zip code. To estimate shipping costs when listing your item, use the weight listed on the product detail page to construct a hypothetical shipment (for instance, if you're in California, enter a "buyer" zip code for an east-coast city).

Amazon doesn't provide a table of standard shipping rates by item weight, shipping method and carrier, but this is something you can research online for all order types, whether you're offering standard, expedited, or international shipping. Our Shipping Resources page has some helpful links.

Selling Textbooks: Protecting Your Investment

For book sellers, few other times of the year generate as much revenue as Textbook Season, when students everywhere search for the best deals on books they need for their classes. Here's some advice that will help you maximize your profit potential during this time.

List your textbooks appropriately!
Lost Books = Lost Revenue!
Damaged Book = Potential Monetary Loss!
Textbooks are heavy!

1. List your textbooks appropriately! Mis-listing your books could result in a "Materially Different" A-to-z Guarantee claim being filed against you. To avoid losing funds for a claim or incurring costly return shipping costs, always do the following:

Find the right page for your book. Search by the ISBN to find the right book, then scroll down the Amazon catalog page and check the edition you're holding against the edition listed in the section marked “Product Details.” Match the edition and publication date on the page against the information in the book. Even if the edition is off by “just a little,” (you have a 3rd edition and the page is for the 4th), don't list it on that page. Instead, find the page for the correct edition and list it there.

List your book with the right condition. Check the book for notes in the margin, highlighting or underlining on any of the pages. Is the binding intact? Is there residue from stickers on the cover? Follow our Condition Guidelines for Books and assign your book the correct condition to avoid disappointing a buyer and possibly incurring a claim.

2. Lost Books = Lost Revenue! Many sellers rely on the US Postal Service's “Delivery Confirmation” as a means of informing their buyers when an item has arrived. But Delivery Confirmation only tracks when a package arrives at the Post Office in the destination Zip Code. While this is great information, Delivery Confirmation alone is not proof that your package has reached the buyer. Anything can happen between the post office and a dormitory!

Consider Signature Confirmation. This a fantastic way to ensure that the books you send actually get to the buyer. Signature Confirmation does cost money and buyers can't be invoiced separately for it. So if you use Signature Confirmation, price your books a couple of dollars higher. (Signature Confirmation is less expensive if purchased from online sources.)

Insure your packages. Insurance is cheap and simple when purchased through online sources, and it can be crucial to your ability to mitigate your loss should a package disappear between point A and point B. Again, you may want to consider raising the price on your books a bit if you insure them.

3. Damaged Book = Potential Monetary Loss! Package your books well to avoid damage in transit. No matter how pristine your book was when it left your hands, almost anything can occur on the way to Collegeville, USA. If you listed the book in New condition, and it arrives bent, scuffed and dirty, you may be held liable for a claim or may incur a loss for refunding a portion of the cost.

Wrap your books well. Placing a cardboard shell on the top and bottom of a book before binding it with bubble wrap can add some rigidity to a soft cover or protect the corners of hardcover texts. Reinforce your packing envelopes with tape, especially for large books.

4. Textbooks are heavy! Amazon.com charges buyers a flat rate for shipping books. This means that for larger books, the credit you receive may not be enough to cover the expense of getting the book to the buyer.

For textbooks, always check the shipping weight on the Amazon detail page before you set your price. A good rule is to add 115% of the shipping cost for that weight to your price. If it will cost you $10.00 to ship, add $11.50. This will cover both the shipping cost and the commensurate increase in the commission you pay Amazon.com.

Selling Safely on Amazon

Amazon wants to be the safest place online to buy and sell textbooks.

Only ship orders you can find in your Seller Account.

Amazon sends you "Sold, ship now" e-mails if you've enabled Order Notifications in the Settings section of your seller account. However, you might also receive phishing e-mails (sometimes called spoofed e-mails) that look like Amazon e-mails but do not actually come from Amazon.

"Sold, ship now" e-mails (from Amazon):

• Sold, ship now" e-mails provide an order number that exists in your seller account. Confirm the order number in Manage Orders.
• "Sold, ship now" e-mails do not include a shipping address; it is necessary to obtain the shipping address from Manage Orders. If a "Sold, ship now" e-mail contains a shipping address, it is not from Amazon.

Phishing e-mails (not from Amazon):

• Phishing e-mails may look identical to "Sold, ship now" e-mails, except for having invalid order numbers. Check your Seller Account for the orders.
• Phishing e-mails often direct you to websites that look similar to Amazon websites, where you might be asked for your password and other sensitive account information. Amazon.com never asks you to verify sensitive information via e-mail. Submit such information only when completing an order on our website, registering for Marketplace Payments by Amazon, or contacting us directly through our online forms.
• Learn more about Identifying False (Spoofed) E-mails.

Remember: Only ship orders you can find in your seller account, and that are in a shippable status. Once an order is in a shippable status, the confirm and cancel buttons will appear in Manage Orders and the order will appear in both the Order Report and the Unshipped Orders Report.

Additional safety guidelines for smart Amazon sellers

• Only accept payment through Marketplace Payments by Amazon for your orders. Transactions that are conducted outside of the Marketplace Payments by Amazon system are not protected by the Amazon.com A-to-z Guarantee.
• Ship orders only to addresses provided to you by Amazon. If a buyer asks you to ship a book to a different address, cancel the order and ask them to place a new order with the preferred address selected.
• Change the password on your Seller Account regularly.
• Consider setting up a separate bank account for disbursements from your Marketplace Payments account.

 

Reduce the Cost of Shipping your Orders to Amazon.com Customers Today!

As part of our commitment to help you succeed as a textbook seller, we are pleased to offer the following services designed to reduce your cost of shipping orders to Amazon.com customers.

1. Amazon Marketplace Shipping Service
   • This new service allows sellers to purchase United States Postal Service® postage and print shipping labels directly from the Manage Orders page of their seller accounts!
   • Save money on Delivery Confirmation and request free Carrier Pickup instead of taking your packages to the Post Office.
   • Learn more about this new service by visiting our Buy Postage & Print Shipping Labels Help page.

2. Amazon Marketplace Savings Program
   • Sellers can now receive special savings on select FedEx Express® U.S. and international and FedEx Ground® services!
   • Save up to 16% on select FedEx Express® U.S. services.
   • Learn more about this program and sign up now by visiting our Amazon Marketplace Savings Program Help page.

Be sure to checkout our Shipping Rates and Services Help page to learn more about the shipping options sellers can offer customers when listing their textbooks on Amazon.com.

Manage your textbook orders effectively

The first two weeks in January are the peak selling times for the Winter/Spring Textbook Season on Amazon.com. Order volumes can increase rapidly during this time.

To manage your orders effectively, use the tools in your Selling Account and follow these best practices:

Check your Seller Account daily 

• Don't rely solely on "Sold, ship now" e-mails to let you know you have new orders.
• Keep up with your orders by checking the Manage Orders tool in your Seller Account every day. The Manage Orders tool provides up-to-the minute views of orders.
• If you have a Pro Merchant subscription, download Unfulfilled Orders Reports regularly to stay on top of order fulfillment.

Ship orders quickly

• Get in the habit of shipping your orders right away. Students need their books fast!
• Consider offering expedited shipping. Over 25% of textbook buyers request expedited shipping last year. Remember to check the shipping speed requested for each order.
• Orders may arrive sooner if you use the nine-digit ZIP Code associated with the buyer's shipping address. You can find the extra four digits for any U.S. shipping address at www.usps.com.

Package orders carefully

• Prepare a professional, clean package. Wipe away dust or debris that may have collected on the item while in storage. Use new shipping/packing materials. Seal all shipments tightly.
• Include a packing slip in the package. You can print one from the Manage Orders page.
• Use the complete shipping address. You can cut an address label from your printed packing slip and attach it to the package.
• Use a complete return address, typewritten or printed in a neat and legible manner, on all packages.

Always remember to confirm shipment!

• Ship orders within two business days after Amazon makes the order available to you.
• Confirm shipment promptly through your Seller Account.
• Provide tracking information when available. Once you’ve confirmed a shipment we display the shipping information in the buyer's Amazon.com account, and we also send the buyer an e-mail notification with all of the shipping information.
• Keep buyers informed about their orders. Students are often anxious about their books arriving on time, and may contact you frequently to ask where an order is.

Process order cancellations promptly

• Sellers should update inventory daily and make sure to have sufficient inventory on hand to immediately fulfill all orders. However, occasionally it's appropriate to cancel an order: 1) when you can't ship an item within 2 business days, or 2) when a customer asks you to cancel the order.
• In the rare case that you cannot ship an order on time, be sure to cancel it right away. Cancelling an order promptly will give the buyer more time to find the book elsewhere before class starts.
• Keep in mind that buyers can leave feedback on cancelled orders. Customers who receive prompt notice of an order cancellation are less likely to leave negative customer feedback.

Handle returns and refunds professionally

• All Amazon.com sellers must accept returns even if the order was fulfilled correctly. Impress buyers by handling returns smoothly.
• When you receive the returned item, immediately issue the appropriate refund. You can make refunds through the Manage Orders tool.
• When you provide good customer service by handling returns smoothly and refunding promptly, buyers are less likely to leave negative feedback.

Good fulfillment practices go a long way to promote satisfaction for buyers and good performance ratings for you!

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Fulfillment by Amazon: You sell it, we ship it!

Did you know that you can simplify order fulfillment by sending your new and used textbooks to Amazon? With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you store your products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. FBA orders are eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping & Amazon Prime, which can mean savings for students and a competitive edge for you.

You can add Fulfillment by Amazon to your existing seller account and get started today! For more information, click here:

Textbook sellers, be sure to check out the FBA EasySell option.

Part II: Handling Post-Order Problems

Continuing from our last post, we'll look a little further down the order fulfillment timeline to another common post-order problem:

The buyer hasn't received the item they ordered.

As you might expect, textbook buyers are often anxious to receive their orders and will contact you by e-mail to check on the shipment status. How you respond will depend on when you shipped the order, what shipping method you used, and the estimated delivery date that was provided to the buyer at the time they placed the order.

In many cases, the shipment isn't late but may not have arrived as early as the buyer hoped. It's possible that the package didn't arrive at the earliest estimated date. Amazon gives buyer an estimated delivery range for Marketplace shipping. For example, we tell buyers that a book sent using standard shipping may take 4-14 business days to arrive.

In the case of "slow" packages, you will often need to politely explain the delivery timeframes when buyers ask, "Where's my order?" Here the Seller Help page where we post Delivery Expectations. Here's the page for buyers: Marketplace Shipping Times.

In rare cases, a shipment may be lost or delayed in transit. Although you may feel you can't do much once you've put a package in the hands of your shipping carrier, keep in mind that you are responsible for the order from the time you receive shipping information in your account until the buyer receives the item they paid for.

In the case of a "lost" item arriving in an empty box, you should contact the shipper to report the issue and ask about the options available to you. For a "late" item that may be lost, you may want to engage your carrier for assistance in locating the package and moving it along.

But if the outside delivery date has passed, the best solution is to refund the buyer. Compensating buyers for lost shipments is simply a cost of doing business. If the buyer does receive the item later and e-mails you to let you know everything worked out, you may ask the buyer to contact Amazon directly to authorize repayment.

For an item that never arrives and is truly lost, you may be still able to recover your costs if you purchased insurance originally. You will need to determine your own level of acceptable loss when deciding to insure packages.

We'll return for a final installment next week. In the meantime, you can find more information in our Handling Orders FAQ.

Choosing a standard shipping method

Amazon.com sellers receive a standard shipping credit of $3.99 for each book they sell. This credit is the same whether the book is a small paperback, a heavy textbook, or a book set. 

A common post-order decision for new sellers is which shipping service to purchase.

We want you to be successful selling on Amazon and avoid incurring excessive shipping costs. At the same time, we all need happy buyers in order to keep on selling, and that means delivering the goods on time.

You can use any carrier and method of shipping you prefer as long as the order arrives at its destination within the delivery expectations provided to the buyer. Ship within 2 business days and keep in mind that a standard domestic order should be received within 4 to 14 business days after shipment. Domestic shipments include addresses in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Protectorates as well as APO and FPO addresses.

That said, the standard domestic shipping rate for books should cover the cost of shipping most 2- and 3-pound items. The 2-3 pound range is based on current U.S. Postal Service rates for Media Mail packages. For items in large envelopes, First Class rates may also be less than $3.99. 

You can calculate shipping costs using the tools on this Web page: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

To determine the cost of shipping an order, describe your shipment (package or large envelope), provide the weight, and then enter your zip code and the buyer's zip code. To estimate shipping costs when listing your item, use the weight listed on the product detail page to construct a hypothetical shipment (for instance, if you're in California, enter a "buyer" zip code for an east-coast city).

Amazon doesn't provide a table of standard shipping rates by item weight, shipping method and carrier, but this is something you can research online for all order types, whether you're offering standard, expedited, or international shipping. Our Shipping Resources page has some helpful links.