Unsold Createspace Books Sold as Used on Amazon

About this video

Dale explains why a brand-new CreateSpace paperback with no sales can appear on Amazon listed as used — it is not piracy and Amazon is not pulling a fast one. The cause is an option authors breeze past during upload: distribution settings after the Amazon US and European marketplaces. Below those are expanded distribution options for bookstores and online retailers (e.g., Barnes & Noble, Walmart.com via Ingram-type channels) and for libraries/academic institutions, but the relevant one is CreateSpace Direct. By enabling it, the author makes the book available to authorized/certified CreateSpace resellers, who can buy at wholesale prices directly from CreateSpace and resell where they see fit. Those resellers post the book as used at either a deeply discounted or an astronomical price. Dale says he does not know why they mark new books as used, but reassures authors they still collect earnings on a reseller sale because the reseller must obtain and fulfill the book through CreateSpace — it is only available there.

Key takeaways

• A new CreateSpace book listed as ‘used’ with zero recorded sales is usually not pirated and not an Amazon trick.
• The cause is the CreateSpace Direct distribution option enabled during upload, which most authors pass without noticing.
• CreateSpace Direct lets certified resellers buy the book at wholesale directly from CreateSpace and resell it where they choose.
• Resellers list the copies as used at prices ranging from deeply discounted to astronomical, for reasons Dale says he does not know.
• Authors still collect earnings on those sales because resellers must source and fulfill the book through CreateSpace.

Episode details: published April 13, 2018 · 4:30 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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