Amazon Marketplace cutting off low-volume sellers

I don't know if this is illuminating, but here it goes.

I still have fifteen items active on my seller account.

I went to add the 1994 Atlantic CD of AC/DC's '74 Jailbreak. It posted without incident.
Then, I tried to add the 2003 Epic/Sony CD of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I got a message saying that I needed approval coupled with a "Request Approval" button. (I didn't. I cancelled the post.)

Same artist. I can only figure that Sony's digital rights to AC/DC are still in force while Atlantic's are not.

None of the CD's that I have in my inventory are of the versions that Amazon is currently selling. Maybe one is the same digital mastering for their MP3s.

 

After having all but 21 out of 102 items removed, I just deleted the rest. Seller account is still open. I have everything posted on Discogs, but I have only sold 4 CDs there so far.

 

I just tried to add any version of '74 Jailbreak; none were available.

I can add in-print titles sold by a small upstate New York folk label run by an English friend, but cannot add a title that he and another English folk recorded for Folk Legacy, an independent (and much larger and long-established) label in Connecticut.

The small upstate New York folk label sells through CD Baby, which sells them through Amazon. He makes much less from Amazon than either directly or through CD Baby.

 

What if some of the items you sell are not CDs (say, flower seeds). How could they close accounts full stop if some of the items are allowed to be sold?

 

They're not closing accounts. Or at least, they are not closing accounts because of changes in the music section. You can certainly get your account closed for other reasons (bad metrics, fraud, etc.). A lot of people can't sell some/much/all music, but their accounts are still there.

 

I was actually thinking about listing CDs on Amazon again. Guess I'll need to look at eBay instead.

 

Not mine, read post #4. I was cut off for low/nonexistant listings. Nothing to do with music changes, I mostly sold books. I hadn't listed anything in about a year, but specifically asked the rep when I was trying to get it reopened if I'd done anything "wrong" (fraud, metrics, whatever), and he said I had not.

 

Interesting...I didn't know they ever closed seller accounts just for general lack of use.

 

Just checked, my seller account is gone as well. I'm not surprised, I didn't sell much because Amazon's fees were to high.

 

wow what a shock. amazon shooting themselves in the foot

 

“The artwork, packaging and inserts are carefully copied in fine detail. The untrained eye would not even be able to identify them as counterfeits.”

Bad joke #1: ...so what's the problem here?
Bad joke #2: Concord needs to take a few tips from Chinese pirates in pressing CD-R OJC titles

Joking aside, does anybody know if this applies to just new CDs or new and used? I suppose used CDs can be counterfeited and sold just as easily. If so the used CD market on amazon would nearly dry up and die.

 

i think its used as well. if you look at the used listings now there aren't as many. use to be dozens for each cd

 

Wow... first example I pulled up was Frank Zappa Apostrophe. Cheapest used cd is now $9.99. It's now cheaper to buy new from UK sellers. That makes no sense.

I could see adopting this policy for top 40 titles, but this kind of heavy hammer approach smacks of a solution where there wasn't really a problem.

 

yup they screwed me with several used cd's i was going to buy that are just gone

 

Lots of used copies, starting at $1.85 (plus shipping):

Frank Zappa - Apostrophe - Amazon.com Music

 

23 is not a lot and $1.85 is for a junk copy. it quickly jumps to about $8.00 for a copy with the shipping

 

Plus that's for the 1995 remaster... I was looking at the current 2012 Ume version.

 

yup I pulled up the full list and saw most of the other releases don't have really cheap used copies

 

Postponed a Discogs order I had waiting last week to grab a rare CD off Amazon before the seller account got shut down. Not sure if it happened yet, but I didn't want to take the chance. Well, bye Amazon. I'll miss being able to find good deals.

 

Same, here. I have not gotten any notice and everything seems fine on my account. My account is 98% vintage vinyl, and I have 100% five star performance. Maybe vinyl sellers with high priced good that sell are not being targeted? I sold 1,300 CD my first 3 years on the site, and barely any CDs since (last 3 years).

 

Wow! This is probably the reason some third party sellers have had to resort to listing a particular title under a different version and in turn, the buyer receives a different version from what is advertised in the listing. Glad I already bought all of the Sony versions of the AC/DC discs.

 

Here we are 'down under' with prices that make importing from Amazon UK cheaper than local ebay and keenly waiting for our Amazon AU to open.
Well............
It's looking like a game of 'how to get hit'.

 

Is it legal (for Amazon) to get into bed with Sony, and then fire the private sellers that are selling used goods in order to control prices (and profits)?

 

Yes.

 

It's despicable, but there's money, so they don't care.