What the F**k is wrong w/ Amazon.com

[mark4man]

Let me see if I have this straight...

You have a new CD release...you want to sell it on Amazon.com.

Your two choices are...you can enter into an "Advantage" program, where they charge you an annual fee of $30...but then take a mere 55% of the cost of each CD...

...or you can enter into a "Pro Merchant" program, where they charge you $40 a month; & also take a mere 6 to 15% of the cost of each CD.

Am I missing anything...is there some other program whereby they don't RAPE YOUR TEENAGE DAUGHTER???

Who in the F_CK do these robber barrons thing they are??? ADVANTAGE program???...who gets the fu_kin' advantage, Amazon?

I wouldn't sign up for this shit if I had to stop making music & go work at a gas station...what frickin' nerve out of these people.

That's all.

mark4man

There's other options out there. iTunes, for one. Not sure how much they take out, though.

www.GarageBand.com is another good one. Popular site and ways to promote your music by banner ads, submitting to radio stations, etc.

or www.SoundClick.com - not sure how well your stuff would sell there unless it gets really high on the charts.

There's others too, but it's a shame to hear that about Amazon.

[mark4man]

Danny...

Thanks; & thanks for the tip on garageband...I'd forgotten about them.

We're doing iTunes digital distribution thru CD Baby. We've done the MySpace thing & the SonicBids EPK thing...it's just that the band members were looking forward to selling on Amazon, that's all.

Thanks again,

mark4man

[grn]

cdbaby.com... that is the best distribution hands down. no one can compete. retail stores can order your cd (the big ones) if they so desire, you're on many many digital services, and you can get a cheap bar code. they are the best for independent musicians. if you had your own booking agent and hired a promotion team. there would be no reason for you to ever sign to a record deal because cd baby has all the distribution you need.

[FALKEN]

Last time I looked at amazon it was a much better deal? Like they took 25% and that's it. I think maybe they might still have that program. Its the one where they send the order to you and you ship it out yourself. Similar to selling used stuff on there. In fact, you might be able to sell your cd in that section. Unless things have changed, I haven't looked at it in a couple years.

[asulger]

It looks like CDBaby has an arrangement with Amazon - my CD's are all there and I didn't open an account. I don't know what the financial arangement is through CDBaby because none of them so far have been sold through Amazon.
Art

[mark4man]

Falken, asulger & grn...

Sorry it took me so long to get back, man...forgot all about this thread.

If what you guys are saying is correct...I did a dumb thing...I signed up with Amazon under a Pro Merchant account to get my CD listed...& I'm already w/ CD Baby (& had forgot that Amazon may be part of their digital distribution chain.)

With Amazon (exclusively)...you have to enter into a Pro Merchant account in order to list your CD; & if you don't sell (I think) $40 worth of merchandise per month, for the first two months, they let you convert back to a basic (cheapo) account. The Pro Merchant account is $40 per month; & they take 15% of the sales plus 70 cents per transaction, I believe.

I'm going to e-mail CD Baby right now to see what's goin' on w/ Amazon on their end. [Our CD was replicated by OasisCD...but they had just ended their contract w/ Amazon about a month before we released...so we missed out on that deal.]

Thanks,

mark4man

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by mark4man

Let me see if I have this straight...

You have a new CD release...you want to sell it on Amazon.com.

Your two choices are...you can enter into an "Advantage" program, where they charge you an annual fee of $30...but then take a mere 55% of the cost of each CD...

...or you can enter into a "Pro Merchant" program, where they charge you $40 a month; & also take a mere 6 to 15% of the cost of each CD.

If you mean for physical CD sales, if they are doing the warehousing/shipping, then getting 45% to 94% is actually incredibly good. In book publishing, getting 30-35% after printing and channel costs is very typical. That's why authors who sell copies to friends and family can get away with selling them at half price and still make more than they would through a bookstore.

If they are not doing the warehousing/shipping, I would agree that those rates are extortionate. You'd be far better off selling on eBay, and we all know how much of a screw job that is.

If you mean for digital downloads, the "pro" rates are excellent assuming you sell a high enough volume to do better than break even. The other rate would be remarkably bad for a digital download service.

Two words: CD Baby.