Amazon’s policies toward first-time sellers seem to be shifting. We have increasingly heard stories from first timers that Amazon holds funds for several months prior to the first payout.  The length of time seems to vary, but may be exaggerated by the sale of more risky items, like CDs, DVDs, or electronics, that can easily result in refund requests. This probationary period may be influenced by the volume of sales made in the first several weeks as well. If you are experiencing higher then average sales volumes for a new seller, then you should expect to experience this delay. As a general rule, it may behoove new sellers to prepare for a slower start than in the past. Here’s some tips on how to maximize revenue and speed up the process.

With this in mind, we are recommending that new sellers concentrate on listing higher quality, higher valued items first. By approaching your listing in this way, you will minimize the risk of refund requests and hopefully put some decent money in your account at the end of the review period. This approach should also allow the new seller to build up stock while learning the ropes. When the review period is over you can list all of the book stock that has been accumulating, and your sales should go through the roof, (relatively speaking, that is).

If you have experienced this, or have thoughts on the subject, please leave a comment.