Someone is selling my book without my permission

[cranes*collections]

I'm a self-published author and my book is sold exclusively by me or on Amazon. However, I found a seller that is selling new copies of my book here on eBay for over twice the price that they are supposed to be sold for. I've tried to contact the seller but I just get a message stating that due to a high volume of messages, this seller cannot accept anymore messages at this time. I want to report the listing but I don't know what to report it as. I'd like to speak to someone from eBay directly about this situation but I can't find a way to do so. Any suggestions?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Yes, it's the same for Beanie babies, Disney videos, and Corningware: asking price is not always a Sold price -- even if the listing says Sold, it often isn't paid-for. But I still want to know where this competing seller sourced the books.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@kabilab wrote:

nocoolnamejane "hit the nail on the head." The infinitives TO LIST and TO SELL  are radically different. Many years ago, Hostess decided to exit the business of using route people. As I sell Little Debbie products, I picked up some of their items to augment my stock. A few folks informed me that Twinkies were selling on e-Bay for $1000. I attempted to explain the situation, but failed and shrugged it off.

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LOL! I remember those $1000 Twinkie listings! 

IIRC, none sold for those prices! 

[escuintla]

Besides the above, congrats!

But you are complaining of something that could have been averted if you "guessed" the right price for your book. It is not an attack against you, but a reminder of a daily routine that may happen to all authors. Some expect their books to sell at a higher price, and others for being newbies estimate them at a lower price because nobody knows them. But then it comes the surprise that the book is a hit, or a miss and authors then realize that their books bought for the price of peanuts are sold for the price of jars or vice versa. 

So, my only advise would be to match the price of the competitor on Ebay. Sign them, and that will throw off that reseller. Unless you want to keep your identity hidden, this is the only advise I consider available. 

Again, congrats!

[bashort]

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@cranes*collections wrote:

I'm a self-published author and my book is sold exclusively by me or on Amazon. However, I found a seller that is selling new copies of my book here on eBay for over twice the price that they are supposed to be sold for. I've tried to contact the seller but I just get a message stating that due to a high volume of messages, this seller cannot accept anymore messages at this time. I want to report the listing but I don't know what to report it as. I'd like to speak to someone from eBay directly about this situation but I can't find a way to do so. Any suggestions?

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I just looked at your sold items and see 49 items that you sold and the original creator got nothing, how is this any different?

[nocoolnamejane]

You mean I’m holding on to my Mystic the Unicorn beanie baby for nothing? 😱

[iart]

It's unbelievable how so many people don't respect the creators and their copyrights. We also wrote a book and so many sellers reprinted it, and undercut our prices, that they probably made more money on it than we did.

Trying to stop them was like playing whack-a-mole.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@iart wrote:

It's unbelievable how so many people don't respect the creators and their copyrights. We also wrote a book and so many sellers reprinted it, and undercut our prices, that they probably made more money on it than we did.

Trying to stop them was like playing whack-a-mole.

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Reprinting someone else's copyrighted material is a whole other animal. And yes, that's infringement.

What the OP is complaining about is not infringement; it's capitalism and totally legal.

[glasser]

If you legally own a copyright you should be able to register it with eBay's VERO program and make eBay do take downs

[buyologist-3]

"Greed"??  She's entitled to her well-earned profits.  I think if the book is selling at a higher price, she should raise her price on that basis.  It's not greed...now there IS greed out there, but not this one.  She's not a shady character.  Books are hard to do---try it to see for yourself.   She's got GUTS. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@glasser wrote:

If you legally own a copyright you should be able to register it with eBay's VERO program and make eBay do take downs

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Once again we're back to the question of whether the other seller is offering legit publications vs making their own copies or other copyright violation. Without knowing their source, it's difficult to back up an accusation.

[chapeau-noir]

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@cranes*collections wrote:

The problem is, is that I'm not receiving any royalties for the copies of my book that they are selling. So no, I'm not being greedy. I'm not getting paid at all. 

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You are being paid royalties if this reseller is purchasing copies of YOUR book and not pirating them, but you're not receiving the royalty payments you could if you raised the price.  If people are willing to pay double for your publication, well, that's great.  And yes, I'm yet another writer, but just a jobsworth who writes for $$$.

[chapeau-noir]

ETA: I guess depending on the royalty scheme you have -  I get paid a percentage of sales amount (i.e., depending on how much the publication is purchased for) as I just sell my stuff.  If you self-publish that will be different.*

*I need to start getting more than 3 hours of sleep at night.

[mind.choices]

You can use "eBay Customer Service" then you will get a better solution for your matter.

[mrmac1903]

Once you list your book for sale on Amazon you have no recourse. They do not need your permission to sell as they can freely buy it on Amazon. Once they buy it it becomes there property to sell. The only way you can stop it is by removing it from sale on Amazon and do all sales by yourself. But even then if someone buys from you they then have the right to sell it for more.

[this*old*attic]

How do you not get your royalties? Wouldn’t that be a portion of the first sale?

If the person has bought the books, when they resell them on its no different than a used bookstore.

Royalities don’t happen with subsequent sales, right?