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Is this legal? An unauthorized person is selling my book on Amazon as a new item

by BillyBee
11 replies
I sell a physical book as part of my info product package, and I noticed today that a few people are selling the book at double or triple the price that I sell it for on my website.

Let me be clear --- they are not reselling a used book in "like new" condition. They are listing the book as a new item.

I have never authorized anyone to sell my products.

Sure, I understand that my customers can resell my product as a used item on Ebay or Amazon . . . but to copy the image photo from my website and sell it on Amazon as if they are the distributor?

Can't be legal, can it?

What should I do?

Thanks for your help.
#amazon #book #item #legal #person #selling #unauthorized
  • Profile picture of the author SE0Master
    If I were you I would try contacting Amazon by either telephone or e-mail and explain to them that someone is selling your goods who isn't authorized to do so.

    You are also entitled to the money that they make from selling your goods. I would also look into protecting your goods some more.
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    • Profile picture of the author BillyBee
      Thanks, SE0Master. The interesting thing is the high price they're selling it at. Maybe I don't want to tell them to stop because it raises the perceived value of the same product on my website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    People sell my books on there too, and on Craig's List. As long as they buy them through the proper channels (you in this case), as long as they're selling them as an individual seller I don't think there's anything you can do about it. They have a right to sell their own property, and once they buy it, it's their property. Now, if they were printing your book themselves that would be a different matter.
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    • Profile picture of the author BillyBee
      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      People sell my books on there too, and on Craig's List. As long as they buy them through the proper channels (you in this case), as long as they're selling them as an individual seller I don't think there's anything you can do about it. They have a right to sell their own property, and once they buy it, it's their property. Now, if they were printing your book themselves that would be a different matter.
      Dennis, yes, but can they sell them as a NEW item? Wouldn't they have to sell it as a used item that is "like new"?

      I'm confused on that.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
        Originally Posted by BillyBee View Post

        Dennis, yes, but can they sell them as a NEW item? Wouldn't they have to sell it as a used item that is "like new"?

        I'm confused on that.
        My books come shrink-wrapped. As long as the shrink-wrap is intact it's technically still new. I don't know if yours are shrink-wrapped or not, but if not maybe they are technically misrepresenting your product.

        Do you know if they have actually sold any copies? Just because someone puts a high price on something it doesn't mean anyone is willing to pay that price. I've never paid much attention to those selling my books, so I don't know if there's a way to find that out or not.

        As you said, maybe they are raising the perceived value of your book . . . and so maybe you should test raising your price to see if it sells better. I've raised prices on items before and found that I sold more copies at a higher price.
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        • Profile picture of the author BillyBee
          Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

          My books come shrink-wrapped. As long as the shrink-wrap is intact it's technically still new. I don't know if yours are shrink-wrapped or not, but if not maybe they are technically misrepresenting your product.

          Do you know if they have actually sold any copies? Just because someone puts a high price on something it doesn't mean anyone is willing to pay that price. I've never paid much attention to those selling my books, so I don't know if there's a way to find that out or not.

          As you said, maybe they are raising the perceived value of your book . . . and so maybe you should test raising your price to see if it sells better. I've raised prices on items before and found that I sold more copies at a higher price.
          Interesting, Dennis, thanks. My books are not shrink-wrapped.

          I don't know if they have sold any copies, but I will look into that.

          The only review of the book came in at 4 stars and was a nice write-up, so I liked that for obvious reasons.
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          • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
            If they are buying it from you, why would you care what they are doing with it? Hell, hit them up and ask if they want to buy them by the truckload.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    How about leave it alone and link to the sale from the sales page on your site? It might turn out to be something good for you, maybe even a chuckle for visitors to your site.

    Something like "I don't know what this guy is doing but it looks like you can double your money with this book!"
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Or - you could sell on Amazon at your regular price. Then no-one would buy the others anyway!
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      • Profile picture of the author Tom Brimeyer
        Tthese people sounds like perfect affiliates to me so think of ways that you can work with them to make some extra money.

        They probably know what they are doing and that it is a very gray area in some respects so if you blow the whistle on them, they'll most likely drop your book and replace it with something else.

        If I were you, I would contact them directly and tell them that you're glad that they are selling your book and that you'd like to discuss some ways that you can all work together so that everyone profits even more.

        If you're using your book to make money then use it to your advantage.

        Cheers,

        -Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    SE0Master is WRONG! You aren't entitled to all the money! They ARE misrepresenting, which can be seen as illegal. And it MIGHT hurt your reputation. Otherwise, I don't think you have any case. Of course, IANAL! It isn't like you had them sign an NDA.

    HEY, did you hear about APPLE!?!? Some of the people that bought ipads are selling them on ebay for ten times the price! When the handsprings sold, THEY cost like 5 times the price. And PB USED to sell computers, and was shut down when the FTC said they couldn't use USED parts in "NEW" systems, and sell them as NEW!

    Steve
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