Crosslist from AbeBooks to Amazon

On this page

• Why a Bookseller Lists on Both
• Which Books Suit Amazon
• Books With No Identifier
• Collectible Copies on Amazon
• What You Check Before Publishing
• Translating Condition Grades
• Sales and Stock: What Happens Automatically
• Setting It Up, Step by Step
• Fees on Both Marketplaces
• Sources and verification
• Related guides

Why a Bookseller Lists on Both

Many secondhand and antiquarian dealers treat AbeBooks as home. The site was built for book people: the listing is yours, the description is yours, and buyers who arrive there often know the author, the title and sometimes the exact printing they want. AbeBooks is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, and it has operated as its own marketplace since Amazon acquired it.

Amazon works on a different model. A book on Amazon is a product page. Every seller holding a copy of that edition adds an offer to the same page, and the shopper chooses between offers by price, condition, delivery and seller rating. The shopper may not be a collector at all. They might be a student who needs a set text, a reader replacing a lost paperback, or someone buying a gift.

That is the case for listing on both. The same shelf of stock meets two kinds of demand. The copy that waits months for the right AbeBooks collector might also be the cheapest Very Good offer on an Amazon page that a casual reader lands on. The opposite also applies: the signed first that a collector would pay a premium for may be a poor fit for a page where it sits beside ordinary reading copies.

Listing on both only pays if you can manage the stock honestly. A one-copy book sold twice means you have to cancel an order and disappoint a buyer. The rest of this guide covers what to crosslist, how to describe it for Amazon, and the one manual habit that keeps a single copy from selling twice.

Which Books Suit Amazon

Not every copy on your AbeBooks shelf belongs on Amazon. Before you select anything in FLUF Connect, run your stock through three questions.

Question one: does the book have an identifier?

Amazon’s own seller guide describes the ISBN as a product identifier used specifically for books, alongside the UPC and EAN barcodes used for other goods. The identifier is how an offer is matched to the right catalogue page. According to the same guide, if the product already exists in the Amazon catalogue you can add an offer to it, which is why the ASIN of an existing page is useful when your copy has no printed number.

Older stock is where this bites. The 10-digit ISBN was published as international standard ISO 2108 in 1970, growing out of the Standard Book Numbering scheme of the mid-1960s. Most books printed before then carry no ISBN, and some private-press and self-published titles since have none either. An ISBN identifies a specific title, edition and format, so the number printed in a 1985 paperback does not describe the 1962 hardback first of the same novel.

Question two: is it a used or new book you can grade on Amazon’s scale?

Amazon’s condition guidelines for Amazon.co.uk set out what it will not accept for books: mouldy, badly stained or unclean copies, unreadable copies or those with missing pages, and promotional books including advance reading copies. Uncorrected proofs are prohibited. A copy you would describe as Poor on AbeBooks because of loose or missing pages has no place on Amazon.

The same document says a book with markings, or one marked “Bargain” or “Remainder”, may not be listed as New. If you stock remainders as new books on AbeBooks, list them as used on Amazon and note the remainder mark in the comments.

Question three: is it a collectible copy?

Signed copies, first printings and scarce editions are where many AbeBooks dealers make their margin. Amazon handles these under separate Collectible rules, covered in its own section below. For now, set them aside in a separate pile.

Books With No Identifier

The “Check first” pile usually needs one of three routes.

Route one: look again at the physical book

Many books carry the ISBN in more than one place: a barcode on the back cover, the number on the copyright page, or on the rear flap of a dust jacket. If your AbeBooks listing was created without an ISBN, check the copy itself before you assume it has none. Add the number to the product in FLUF Connect so it travels with the book.

Route two: find the right page on Amazon

If there is no printed number, search Amazon for the title and author and look for the page that matches your copy’s publisher, year and binding. The ASIN appears in the product details. Be strict here. A first UK hardback, a US hardback and a later paperback can each have their own page, and an offer on the wrong page is a description the buyer will dispute.

Route three: accept that some books stay on AbeBooks

Amazon does let sellers apply to list items without a product ID. Its guide to selling generic products describes ticking “I don’t have a product ID” and applying with images of all sides of the item and its packaging, and says you need a separate approval for each product category. That route is written for unbranded goods, not for antiquarian books, and the guide warns that once “generic” is set as the brand name it cannot be changed. For a rare book with no Amazon page, AbeBooks is usually the better home.

Collectible Copies on Amazon

Amazon’s condition guidelines treat collectible books separately. To qualify, a book must be signed, a limited first edition, out of print, or have other qualities that could reasonably be assumed to increase its value to a collector, and you get the chance to say why. First editions and first printings qualify, as do signed, inscribed or scarce copies and advance reading copies or uncorrected proofs of out-of-print books.

The same guidelines exclude former library books, remaindered books, book club editions, and uncorrected proofs of in-print or not-yet-published books. A dealer used to AbeBooks’ broad “collectible” search filters should read that list carefully: a scarce book club edition may sell well on AbeBooks but cannot be a Collectible on Amazon.

Amazon’s Collectible grades are also stricter than their used equivalents. Collectible – Good and Collectible – Acceptable exist, but the guidelines state that books in Good condition are generally not considered collectible grade, and that for all but the rarest items Acceptable copies are not either. In practice that means a Collectible listing on Amazon should be Like New or Very Good.

Amazon says in its condition guidelines overview that some product categories need approval before you can list in them. Whether your account needs to apply before it can use the Collectible conditions is shown in Seller Central when you try to list. If Amazon refuses a listing, FLUF Connect shows you the refusal so you can decide whether to apply or keep the copy on AbeBooks.

What You Check Before Publishing

An Amazon offer carries far less of your own work than an AbeBooks listing. The page title, author, publisher and cover images belong to the catalogue page. What the buyer sees from you is your price, your condition and your comments. Before you crosslist a batch, check each of these:

• The edition matches. The identifier on the product in FLUF Connect points to the page for your publisher, year and binding, not a later reprint.
• The Amazon grade is one you would defend. Use the table in the next section and grade down when in doubt.
• The condition comments stand alone. A description that reads well on AbeBooks may lean on AbeBooks conventions. Put the jacket state, any inscription, and any flaws Amazon’s guidelines ask you to note (such as a remainder mark) in plain words.
• Edition points are in the comments. The catalogue page will not say “first printing, full number line”. If it matters to the price, say it in your comments.
• The price works after fees. A price that makes sense against an AbeBooks Premium subscription may not cover Amazon’s closing fee on a cheap copy. See the fees section.
• Quantity is one for one-off copies. Most antiquarian stock is a single copy, and a single copy is exactly the stock that can oversell.

Test with a handful of books from different condition tiers first. Look at how each offer appears on its Amazon page next to other sellers’ offers before you send the rest.

Translating Condition Grades

AbeBooks’ own guide to used book conditions sets out the familiar collector scale: As New, Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor (Reading Copy), with plus and minus modifiers and a note that criteria vary by seller and region. Dealers commonly describe the book and its jacket separately. Amazon’s used scale for books has four steps and no separate jacket grade.

There is no official conversion between the two. The table below is a cautious starting point based on the wording of each marketplace’s own guidance. You make the call for every copy.

Two differences cause most disputes. First, Amazon’s Good grade expects the dust cover to be present if the book was issued with one. A Good book with a missing jacket fits Acceptable better. Second, Amazon’s Very Good says the spine remains undamaged, which is stricter than many AbeBooks sellers’ reading of VG. When you are unsure, choose the lower grade and describe the copy fully in the comments. A buyer who gets a better copy than promised rarely complains.

Sales and Stock: What Happens Automatically

The two directions on this route behave differently. Know this before you put single copies on both marketplaces.

If you sell more on Amazon than on AbeBooks, build the habit into your dispatch routine. Mark the book sold in FLUF at the point you pull it from the shelf to pack it.

Crosslisting, inventory sync, order sync and bulk operations are on every FLUF plan. Relisting, offer management and smart pricing come with the plans above Starter, but FLUF does not support any of the three on AbeBooks or Amazon. On this route you set and change prices yourself on each marketplace.

Setting It Up, Step by Step

1. Have a seller account on each marketplace. An AbeBooks seller account on your chosen selling plan, and an Amazon seller account on the Individual or Professional plan for each Amazon marketplace you want to sell on.
2. Connect AbeBooks in FLUF Connect. Follow the on-screen connection steps. No browser extension is needed.
3. Get your books into FLUF Connect. FLUF does not import a catalogue you already listed on AbeBooks outside FLUF. Add your books to FLUF Connect as products, or bring them in from another connected channel, and list them to AbeBooks from FLUF. If a book is already live on AbeBooks from before, end that old listing when you relist it through FLUF so the same copy is not on AbeBooks twice.
4. Connect Amazon. Follow the on-screen steps and choose the Amazon marketplace you sell on. No browser extension is needed here either.
5. Sort your stock into piles. Use the three questions above: identifier, acceptable condition, collectible status.
6. Run the pre-publish checklist. Edition match, Amazon grade, stand-alone comments, price after fees, quantity.
7. Crosslist a small test batch. Check each offer on its Amazon page, then crosslist the rest of the “Ready” pile.
8. Mark Amazon sales sold in FLUF. Every Amazon order, every time.

Fees on Both Marketplaces

7 days for £1, then from £9/month, then plans from £9/month. Starter at £9/month covers everything this route uses: crosslisting, inventory sync, order sync and bulk operations, with unlimited listings.

Automatic relisting, offer management and smart pricing are included from Seller upwards. Starter covers unlimited crosslisting, inventory sync and order sync without them. Yearly billing is charged once a year. There is no free plan. New accounts get 7 days for £1, then move onto a plan.

Marketplace fees come on top. Both marketplaces publish two selling plans, and the right choice depends on how many books you list and sell.

AbeBooks seller fees

Sources: AbeBooks UK sell books page and AbeBooks.com seller fees page.

Amazon seller fees for books

Sources: Amazon UK selling fees and Amazon US selling fees. Amazon UK notes that referral fees are calculated on the total sales price, including delivery charges.

What that means for a cheap reading copy

Take a $10 book sold in the US, before delivery charges. On Amazon it costs $1.50 in referral fee plus the $1.80 closing fee, or $3.30, with a further $0.99 if you are on the Individual plan. On AbeBooks Basic it costs $1.50 in commission plus the $1.00 per-item fee, or $2.50. The closing fee is a fixed amount, so the cheaper the book, the larger the share it takes.

For a higher-priced book the balance shifts. AbeBooks Premium caps its commission at $40 per item (£22 in the UK), but adds a processing fee and a monthly subscription. Work through a few of your own books on both marketplaces, at the plan you are on, before deciding which copies go to Amazon.

Sources and verification

• AbeBooks UK: sell books — Basic and Premium plan fees in GBP.
• AbeBooks.com: seller fees — Basic and Premium plan fees in USD.
• AbeBooks: a guide to used book conditions — the As New to Poor grading scale.
• Amazon UK: selling fees — plan fees, 15% Books referral fee, closing fee on media.
• Amazon US: selling fees — plan fees, 15% Books referral fee, $1.80 media closing fee.
• Amazon.co.uk condition guidelines (PDF) — used, new and Collectible book grades, exclusions and prohibited copies.
• Amazon: condition guidelines overview — categories that need approval before listing.
• Amazon: product IDs and GTINs — ISBN as a book identifier; adding offers to existing catalogue pages.
• Amazon: selling generic products — listing without a product ID, per-category approval, the permanent “generic” brand name.
• International ISBN Agency: what is an ISBN — an ISBN identifies title, edition and format.
• Wikipedia: ISBN — ISO 2108 published in 1970; the earlier SBN scheme.
• Wikipedia: AbeBooks — acquisition by Amazon in December 2008; headquarters in Victoria, British Columbia.

What we could not verify: the amount of Amazon UK’s closing fee on books, which the public pricing page does not list. Whether a given Amazon account must apply for approval before listing Collectible books, which Amazon’s public pages do not state and which Seller Central shows per account. We have not given a conversion rule between AbeBooks and Amazon grades because neither marketplace publishes one; the grade table is guidance based on each marketplace’s own wording.

Related guides

• Sell on AbeBooks — the complete seller guide
• Sell on Amazon — the complete seller guide
• Crosslist from AbeBooks to eBay
• Crosslist from Discogs to Amazon
• All crosslisting routes
• All marketplace guides
• FLUF Connect pricing