Amazon Refunds

in_one · Mar 3, 2012

I have been excited about taking the plunge into e-publishing and finally submitted a book six days ago. The sales have been steadily rising, but today I had two units refunded. I'm wondering if someone could explain is it normal to have some refunded because of Amazon's policy or should I legitimately be reviewing my ability as a writer. I know that sounds petty, but I am knew to the publishing game entirely. Any advice would be appreciated!

Thomas White

EngineerTiger · Mar 3, 2012

Hi Thomas. I'm pretty new to this business too. I had a free book returned which I thought was kind of funny. It may be that it speaks more to an error in a purchase than anything.

Until you start to get some kind of feedback or reviews, I recommend that you just hold on and not start second-guessing yourself as a writer until you have a lot more data. I've worked in retail and returns are just a normal part of that and can be based on many things that have nothing to do with your writing ability.

brainstorm77 · Mar 3, 2012

It's just one of Amazon's policies. E books can be returned for a full refund within 7 days after purchase. It's impossible to know why anyone returns a book unless you get direct feedback.

in_one · Mar 3, 2012

Thanks guys, I am just really nervous about all this. I haven't received reviews one way or the other yet, but my book just hit 72 in the fantasy - wizards and magic category, so I guess thats good. Thanks again for the advice! This process is driving me crazy!

micahcannibal · Mar 3, 2012

My friend returned a book within the return policy not because he didn't like it(he loved it) he just didn't want to be charged for it. So he used the bookstore as a library to read something new and returned it.

So like it was said above, i wouldn't let it get you down just yet. Now if it was 200 then i can understand

Becky Black · Mar 3, 2012

Don't get hung up on things like this. There's no possible way for you to know why they were returned, so don't waste time worrying about it. Fretting about stuff like this will drive you round the bend, when you should be spending your thinking time working on your next book, and promoting this one.

pfinucan · Mar 3, 2012

Phoenix Sullivan blog has a good run down of the returns on amazon. There typically run 1% or 2%.

http://phoenixsullivan.blogspot.com/2012/02/return-to-sender-e-book-return-policies.html

The whole blog post is worth reading but for free books there is this:

Some customers read a lot of free books, and some of them aren't quite sure how to delete a book off their Kindle once they're done with a book they're pretty sure they don't want to read again. So they return it to make room for more free books.

In addition, some readers don't take the time to sample free books when they go on a download spree. They'll hoard a day or two's worth of free books, then go through them and choose the ones that they're really interested in. The rest get returned to free up space for more free books.

Some readers also see a book that's been returned to the paid list advertised for free on an old email or post, click through, then don't pay attention to whether the book is actually still free or not. When they find they've been charged, they return the book.

Some readers may see a book they've bought within the past 7 days now offered for free. They return the purchased book and download a free copy instead.

Pistol Whipped Bee · Mar 3, 2012

in_one said:
...but today I had two units refunded. I'm wondering if someone could explain is it normal to have some refunded because of Amazon's policy or should I legitimately be reviewing my ability as a writer.
Thomas White

Amazon allows a customer seven days to return the ebook for a full refund, which means that basically - they let people read the book for free.

Thankfully, most people don't read and return.

TJ Amberson · Aug 19, 2013

Adding to an old thread...

Just in case it helps someone, like me, who recently saw a unit refunded on Amazon Kindle's site for the first time (gasp!), and wondered if it was a sign of bad things to come...

From my research, all of the above is correct. A lot of people game the Kindle system regularly: buy the book, read it, return it.

I would add is that, occasionally, there are Kindle formatting errors or styles that a reader doesn't like, which leads to the person returning the book to get $ back.

J. Tanner · Aug 27, 2013

TJ Amberson said:
A lot of people game the Kindle system regularly: buy the book, read it, return it.

While this happens, I don't think it's widespread enough to use the term "a lot". Amazon is known to crack down on serial returners by eliminating their return privileges or canceling their account. So they don't tend to get away with this for long.

Another common reason for returns is mistaken one-click orders and wrong formats (paper instead of e). I've done both myself.

Also, anecdotally, return rates seem highest for erotica so those writing in the genre should be prepared for higher than average returns.

sarahdalton · Aug 28, 2013

My return percentage is about 2% of sales sold. I think this is about average for most genres.

HM Ward mentioned that in romance she gets about a whopping 10% returned! You would think that a percentage that high shows a problem with the book, but this is HM Ward a million book selling author with thousands of 5 star reviews.

WriterBN · Aug 28, 2013

I had my first return last week, after about 6 months on the market. I guess it was about time...

WeaselFire · Aug 29, 2013

I have returned books to Amazon twice. Once I found I owned it in paperback already (actually, my wife reminded me, vociferously...). The second I clicked a 1-Click buy on the wrong item.

So yeah, it's probably that your writing sucks.

Just forget about sales for now. You have that second book to finish and publish.

Jeff

PrincessFiona · Sep 7, 2013

I agree not to get too worried about it. Someone may have purchased the book accidentally or returned it within the 7 day period for a refund.

Amazon Refunds

in_one

EngineerTiger

Writing HF Again, Thank God

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

in_one

micahcannibal

I am a Cannibal :)

Becky Black

Writing my way off the B Ark

pfinucan

Are we done yet?

Pistol Whipped Bee

Now what?

TJ Amberson

Author

J. Tanner

sarahdalton

WriterBN

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

PrincessFiona