Will Lightning Source ship to Amazon Advantage?

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erob41

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I've been searching for an answer to this question, and I haven't found a good one. Maybe it's glaringly obvious, and if so I apologize in advance.


Background: I will be setting up a title on Lightning source in the near future. I know that Lightning source as a POD with Amazon is problematic because of the "out of stock" messages or "2-4 week" delay messages.

But I am wondering if I join Amazon Advantage, could I have Lightning Source ship my books to the Amazon Advantage site when Amazon tells me they need more books (assuming I am fortunate enough to sell them :))?

Based on my reading of the info. at Lightning Source, it seems that if I choose the "print to publisher" option, then this would not be a problem. But the rules and guidelines at Amazon are very specific about packaging and shipping of incoming books to the Advantage site.

Or would I have to have Lightning Source ship to my location so I can turn around and ship them to Amazon?

Does anyone have experience with this? Again, my apologies if this has already been discussed around here. I suppose you could just point me to the thread.
 

Brian Lewis

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No, you can't ship directly from LS to Amazon

Sorry this thread wasn't answered sooner. I just saw it, and I can share my experience, but it's not good news.

Since Amazon requires specific packing slips with bar codes, I asked my LS account rep this exact question, and the email response was:

Unfortunately, we are unable to include provided packing slips with orders. We include a packing slip in each order. There is only 1 packing slip regardless of the number of cartons. If you order is only 1 carton it will have the slip inside. As an available option, you may choose to enter a PO number when placing the order that could include information required by Amazon.

You may also choose to have orders shipped directly to you, then assemble the packing slip and forward to Amazon. This would most likely be more costly but is an option.
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So, the official answer is that you can't ship directly from Lightning Source to Amazon.

However. (There's always a however.)

Unofficially, if you address your shipment correctly to Amazon Advantage and include your PO# in as many places as you can possibly think of, Amazon is really efficient at figuring out where the order goes. It's not recommended, it definitely slows things down when the books get to Amazon, and you may incur additional processing fees, so you have to decide how determined you are to avoid double-shipping the books according to the official and supported process.
 

K.B. Parker

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Literateparakeet said:
Why not publish your book with Lightening Source AND CreateSpace? Then you would have the best of both worlds.
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This.

Since you have to have your own ISBN to publish through LS, you should go ahead and setup a createspace book, using that same ISBN. Once it's setup, turn off all distribution channels except Amazon. Also make sure LS doesn't distribute to Amazon.

I'm not sure why you're wanting to go through advantage anyway. That's for publishers mostly who have inventory. Unless you are trying to take advantage of the loophole using Advantage to set up a preorder?
 
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