bizarre royalties

potetjp · September 10

The screen capture below shows the top part of my sales for August 2019.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030295/uploads/editor/p3/ul1ql4mf8xno.jpg

There are a couple of things I simply do not understand.
1) Baybayin (6x9", 240p) costs €20.00, and earns €3.37€ of royalties with Amazon US (Vs €10.36 with Lulu), while Ancient Beliefs (7.44x9.68", 656p) costs €35.00, and earns €2.17 of royalties also with Amazon US (Vs €12.76 with Lulu).
2) Ingram GB sold 2 copies of Ancient Beliefs, but the royalties amount to €0.00!

Am I correct when I guess I should sell Ancient Beliefs at a higher price to get royalties proportional (€5.89) to what I get from Baybáyin?
Does the €0.00 mean that the payments for the books have not been cashed yet?

TheJesusNinja · September 10

Doesn't seem right. I've been having trouble with my Amazon sales on one particular book. I'd check with support.

A_A_Cain · September 11

I had zero dollars on three print book sales throughout Amazon and Barnes&Noble. On investigation, it turns out that their print cost plus their "handling fee", totalled together, exceeded my book sale price so my margin disappeared.

The only thing I could do was increase the price so that any future sales might give me a buck or two. What that means, of course, is that folk are even less likely to buy a POD book - they won't spend $2 to buy the ebook version.

The $0 is probably correct - Amazon take the money, you get nothing. It's no wonder Bezos can launch cars into space.

Seamus · September 11

That was Musk, wrong ridiculously rich white guy with a thing for rockets

TheJesusNinja · September 11

A A Cain you do realize when you publish the books there is a price wizard. When you price your book it will show how much each site will pay you for sales. If you price a book and the wizard shows no profit then you need to raise the price. I'm sure you knew this but some people don't depending on how new they are here. I always price my book then look down at each site below to see what each will pay me per sale. Then raise or lower it accordingly. The wizard will also show how much the distribution process will take out for their cut and what you get left.

potetjp · September 11

Thanks for your remarks. I always pay attention to the wizzard's suggestion, and see to it that I receive royalties.

potetjp · September 11

A_A_Cain said:

I had zero dollars on three print book sales throughout Amazon and Barnes&Noble. On investigation, it turns out that their print cost plus their "handling fee", totalled together, exceeded my book sale price so my margin disappeared.

Thanks a lot. This is amazing if not absurd. Should we believe them? Whatever, the only solution is to raise my prices.

TheJesusNinja · September 12

If this is the case then the raised price of printing etc should be reflected in the wizard. If not then we will see mistakes like this in the future. Not really fair losing money because someone raised the price of printing. Don't know if this is the case but just saying. I priced my books to give me $1.00 profit per sale. The eBooks I make from $1.15 to $1.80 per book. I sell cheap and price according to books listed with mine on Amazon. I've thought of raising the price but afraid they wouldn't sell then.

potetjp · September 12

I have asked support to enquire about my 0.00 royalties.

A_A_Cain · September 14

TheJesusNinja said:

A A Cain you do realize when you publish the books there is a price wizard. When you price your book it will show how much each site will pay you for sales. If you price a book and the wizard shows no profit then you need to raise the price. I'm sure you knew this but some people don't depending on how new they are here. I always price my book then look down at each site below to see what each will pay me per sale. Then raise or lower it accordingly. The wizard will also show how much the distribution process will take out for their cut and what you get left.

Yes, I knew that. The wizard doesn't cope with rapid changes in exchange rate, which was the main factor that buggered up my pricing. I priced in Oz dollars, which then dropped 10% or so against the USD really quickly, thus eating the very thin margin. I wanted to make the POD price "look about right" by comparison to similar sized books priced here in Oz, and that didn't leave much margin through the non-Lulu outlets.

It wasn't until the sales were made that I twigged to the effect of exchange rates.

Just Kevin · September 15

Lulu have announced a price hike, which means I will have to check all of my books to make sure it does not eat my 'Everywhere Else' profit, again.

The pricing can be a bit frustrating. As just one example, in order to make just $0.60c 'Everywhere Else', I have to set the price at $8.99, at which if a sale is made here at Lulu I make $4.40, and I have to say that $8.99 for a 112 page A5 paperback is too much. But what can one do about that? Nothing, unless one removes the ISBN to sell it at just a little above cost here.

Thank goodness for e-books.

potetjp · September 19

French-speaking Wouter of Lulu, has enquired about my 0.00 royalties, and found out it was a bug. He has just e-mailed me that my royalties (€ 4.58) have been restituted - one more proof that Lulu has a very good customer-support service.

Skoob_ym · September 20

Just Kevin said:

Lulu have announced a price hike, which means I will have to check all of my books to make sure it does not eat my 'Everywhere Else' profit, again.

The pricing can be a bit frustrating. As just one example, in order to make just $0.60c 'Everywhere Else', I have to set the price at $8.99, at which if a sale is made here at Lulu I make $4.40, and I have to say that $8.99 for a 112 page A5 paperback is too much. But what can one do about that? Nothing, unless one removes the ISBN to sell it at just a little above cost here.

Thank goodness for e-books.

You can manipulate the price on Lulu through "discounts" thus keeping up the price "Everywhere else."

Just Kevin · October 3

Lulu's discounts, those you set yourself, do not carry across to other sites, unfortunately. It's why it's always a mistake to add extra on, just to discount it here, as some do. As I once did myself too!

bizarre royalties

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