Books and other media products needing approval
I make absolutely no apology for posting another thread on this subject. There are at least 6 or 7 threads on the same subject but even though various mods seem to understand the problem nothing is ever done.
Just to summarize the problem. Sellers of used books , records , CDs etc are being increasingly plagued with a "you need approval to sell this item" type of message. This happens either when trying to list an item for the first time or when the item has already been listed for some time. Used items like books may be on the catalogue for a long time and it is ,to say the least, annoying when you get a message for a book you listed 3 years ago saying it has been removed because approval to list needs to be obtained. I have had 3 books removed just last week. Others have reported many more than this.
There are several points that need to be urgently addressed .
1 Why do we need approval to sell second hand media items? Numerous sellers have pointed out that we don't
2 If we do need approval why do amazon give us a tick list of things that we need which are absolutely impossible to achieve?
3 When this problem first started 9 or 10 years ago I used to apply for approval without a tick box. If I remember correctly I quickly got a reply from Amazon saying something like " because of your good track record you are approved to sell Penguin books". Why can this system not be reinstated?
TO AVOID NESTED REPLIES I WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF ALL REPLIES ARE DIRECTED DIRECT TO ME. PLEASE KEEP REPLIES SHORT .PREFERABLY JUST SOMETHING LIKE "AGREE" AND PLEASE PUT IN MORE MOD NAMES. THE MORE MODS THAT SEE IT THE BETTER
@Manny_Amazon
@Cooper_Amazon
Books and other media products needing approval
I make absolutely no apology for posting another thread on this subject. There are at least 6 or 7 threads on the same subject but even though various mods seem to understand the problem nothing is ever done.
Just to summarize the problem. Sellers of used books , records , CDs etc are being increasingly plagued with a "you need approval to sell this item" type of message. This happens either when trying to list an item for the first time or when the item has already been listed for some time. Used items like books may be on the catalogue for a long time and it is ,to say the least, annoying when you get a message for a book you listed 3 years ago saying it has been removed because approval to list needs to be obtained. I have had 3 books removed just last week. Others have reported many more than this.
There are several points that need to be urgently addressed .
1 Why do we need approval to sell second hand media items? Numerous sellers have pointed out that we don't
2 If we do need approval why do amazon give us a tick list of things that we need which are absolutely impossible to achieve?
3 When this problem first started 9 or 10 years ago I used to apply for approval without a tick box. If I remember correctly I quickly got a reply from Amazon saying something like " because of your good track record you are approved to sell Penguin books". Why can this system not be reinstated?
TO AVOID NESTED REPLIES I WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF ALL REPLIES ARE DIRECTED DIRECT TO ME. PLEASE KEEP REPLIES SHORT .PREFERABLY JUST SOMETHING LIKE "AGREE" AND PLEASE PUT IN MORE MOD NAMES. THE MORE MODS THAT SEE IT THE BETTER
@Manny_Amazon
@Cooper_Amazon
31 replies
Seller_ZVAz3d5lZuGid
@Seller_AlYpsVHv0gj21 As you rightly say, there are numerous threads already on this topic, and nothing is ever done, despite mods saying thye are looking in to it. Amazon needs to understand the 'first sale doctrine' rule, which has been quoted endless times to mods. Tagging in more mods !! - hopefully at least one of them with look into this again.
@Julia_Amazon@Roberto_Amazon@JiAlex_Amazon@Abella_Amazon@Spencer_Amazon @Ezra_Amazon
Seller_RAXEWLxQ2dbmN
I believe a lot of these heavy handed gating issues in books and media are due to Amazon bots mistaking certain publishers and labels for other brands with similar or identical names.
It is actually a lot harder to get approval with DVDs and CDs. Amazon now demands current invoices for most studios and labels, even for long out-of-print discs.
I understand up to a point that there is a need to combat piracy (and pirated discs have long been a problem on Amazon) but I would have thought that long-standing sellers with good track records and no history of complaints of 'inauthenticity' should be given the benefit of the doubt.
This is especially the case for sellers listing single copies of used items rather than multiple new copies.
Piracy is less of an issue in books and it is hard to see why some publishers are gated. Why for instance are old used paperbacks from 'Sceptre' now being gated? Could it be confusion with another brand with the same name that manufactures monitors and TVs?
Seller_AlYpsVHv0gj21
I would love to know what the person who has given me a "downtick" objects to. If I have something factually incorrect please let me know.
Seller_AlYpsVHv0gj21
Jilly
Thanks for all those extra mods
Number 6
I quite agree that the Amazon bots are a likely source of the problem. I have long thought that some sort of genuine problem occurred years ago. The bots were then probably badly programmed to stop that problem occurring again but unfortunately the bots went "over the top"
I have long thought that the whole business of blocking certain publishers is led by Amazon and not the publishers
Seller_AlYpsVHv0gj21
Brian and Allen
The more information we get the more worrying it becomes. I have a few Poyser titles. I am imagining an Amazon bot slowly going through every title in the catalogue until it comes to my Poyser. Then it goes round again until it finds another banned publication and so on and on.
Seller_5BmbL9wJF7d3W
Is it actually legal for Amazon to do this?
Seller_19xPhE8YgkmxW
Hi dunsterville34,
I've just done an upload... and one of the books, published by Orbit, needed approval - invoices within the past 180 days etc., but I have 1 copy currently listed (better condition, higher price) and 3 others previously sold, but I can't list now...
Draw your own conclusion...
All Best
Brian
Seller_AlYpsVHv0gj21
I've just done an upload... and one of the books, published by Orbit, needed approval - invoices within the past 180 days etc., but I have 1 copy currently listed (better condition, higher price) and 3 others previously sold, but I can't list now..
Draw your own conclusion...
Hi Brian
I think it just shows that there is no human input into what is going on. It's all badly programmed robots
Seller_RAXEWLxQ2dbmN
There definitely was a problem a few years ago with certain dodgy sellers listing lots of pirated rare DVD and CD titles as 'new'.
These were titles that were out-of-print and fetching premium prices until the fakers came along. A quick glance at their feedback made it obvious they were selling pirated discs but I believe they were also getting negative FBs removed, possibly with inside help.
There was (is?) also a problem with pirated books, especially academic titles coming from countries where piracy is fairly common but again. Some of them were blatant.
It was ages before Amazon took action against them.
So I can understand Amazon being maybe over-cautious with new-ish sellers listing 'new' discs in quantity, but applying the same strict gating rules to established sellers listing one-off used discs and books seems a bit OTT.
Seller_AlYpsVHv0gj21
@Spencer_Amazon
Hi Spencer
3 weeks ago you were going to ask for updates from the "appropriate team".
We still have nothing.
I had a further 3 books deactivated because I "need approval" last week. This may not sound a lot but after a while it gets a bit soul destroying. I put a lot of time into listing my books - talking photos - writing an accurate description etc. It's a bit hard to take when amazon removes them without telling me why. Just to rub salt into the wound I notice that on a lot of the older listings that Amazon has removed they have kept my photo of the book on the detail page.
