A very quick post to address Amazon’s new policy of showing print-on-demand books not published through CreateSpace as out of stock. I did a longer write-up on my Ask Alianne blog, if anyone is interested, but here is the gist of it:
Amazon is at its tricks again, changing how products are displayed to encourage shoppers to buy their products over other suppliers’. In this case it means my CreateSpace books all appear to be “In Stock”, while the new IngramSpark versions show as “Ships when available in 1-2 days.”
Here’s what I want to stress:
#1 Both of these are print-on-demand items, which means they don’t get produced until someone orders copies. That means neither is ever truly “In Stock”, but both are always, without issue or delay, available. Processing and shipping time is the same for both, regardless of what label Amazon decides to slap on them. Order with confidence, and if you have any issues whatsoever, please let me know so I can look into it and get it resolved.
#2 Both editions of every book are also available at other online bookstores, and some might even have a discount on the IngramSpark versions, which might turn out to be a way better deal for you than Amazon. I know Barnes & Noble did that a few weeks ago. 🙂 The point is, sometimes it pays to shop beyond Amazon’s stronghold.
#3 Both editions of every book are also requestable through your local library. They might not have them in stock, but if you request them, they should be able to order either one without issue.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled Thursday. 🙂
I read that post the other day on the other blog and was wondering. Did you ask Amazon why they have it labeled as available in a few days? Made me wonder if something was causing the book to delay (that they know of behind-the-scenes) in which case, they’re making sure customers know.
No, I didn’t reach out to Amazon, but I checked other sellers, and my books show up the same as always. No change, no notice of a wait. And this notice of “ships in 1-2 days” isn’t even a delay. CreateSpace books would take the same amount of time. But psychologically it’s the difference between “I can get it now!” and “Man, I have to wait…” And when you have a company that is training its customer base for faster and faster shipment/delivery times, it becomes a problem. That’s what bothers me about it.
I definitely get that “faster, faster” marketing mentality. I was just mentioning this new email marketing gimmick is on my last nerve a lot. You sign up for someone thinking you’ll get quality information once in a while, but they bonbard you every. single. day with sales emails, marketing, “you’re gonna miss out!” Drives me batty. Partly why I decided to cut back on my newsletter. I try to blog daily, but the newsletter will be strictly important information now. Just too much, too fast.
I can’t wait for the pendulum to swing back to patience.
Historically, patience has been slowly going extinct with the advent of new technologies lol It’ll take a wide-spread social rehab to get it back.
That Newsletter stuff… yeah, no lol I send about 4 per year, if that, and already wonder if I’m bugging people too much. That kind of aggressive sales strategies makes me scratch my head.