🧿What it's Like Selling TTRPGs on Amazon
I'm terrible selling the content I make. I'm excited to build cool shit for you, and marketing and sales just can't compete with building you a new subclass.
However,
I hire top tier illustrators for top tier illustrations.
The technical editors make sure the manuscripts have solid foundations.
I need to keep paying the crew, so buy the books on Amazon or leave a review!
Product Listing
You control nothing and will be happy about it.
Page Content
First step is getting your product listing built. There is one listing for each product dictated by your ISBN (if you're registered as a book) or GTIN (Global Trade Identification Number) if you're not a book. This can be further complicated by having your books listed as a game (not a book). Some of the latest D&D books are listed as Game Pieces (go figure), so not a book.
There is a huge advantage to being listed not as a book. You can get what's called "A+ Content". This is the extra space above the reviews with additional pictures and details about your product (as shown below). Books are not applicable for A+ Content, unless...you are large enough and can qualify as a "Manufacturer". In that case you'll get special treatment—this is an ongoing theme.
What others can do, you can not.
You also might need to contend with ownership issues. My products were mistakenly attached to Goodman Games. Joseph Goodman didn't have control of the page, and it was stuck in the abyss for a while.
Amazon's feedback was that I'd need an agreement from Goodman Games to get approval to sell Knight Vision Creative books...
Working with Amazon support is more difficult than keeping the table together.
It took over 6 months to resolve. No one was buying a book from this listing during that time, nor did I have the ability to make any changes to the listing.
Buy Box
The Buy Box is the section on the right of the page where you buy the product. As of me writing this, I still don't have ownership of 50% of the buy boxes of my books.
Advertising
Pay to win at its finest.
Vine
Vine is Amazon's built in review program. You offer up to 30 of your products for review (for a fee). Reviewers are shipped the products, and I had 80% of them leave a review. The reviews get "Vine Customer Review of Free Product". I did this for the first two books.
Paid
When you search for a product on Amazon, even by name, there's an extremely high chance you'll see a bunch of "Sponsored" products first. These are paid ads.
Now that I've been paying for advertising I'm getting a lot more traffic, but so far it hasn't been profitable.
Assuming that the books were free to make, this would still be a loss. A common ratio used to measure advertising success is ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
For example:
- You have a $100 product with $25 profit after paying for everything (manufacturing, shipping, etc.)
- You have a 2X ROAS. For every $100 in ad spend you'd sell $200 worth of products.
- Since the ads cost you $100 and your product costs you $75*2=$150, you lost $50 per $100 spent in advertising.
- So if you spend a lot, you'll lose a lot, even if you're moving products.
- At a 25% profit margin, you need a 4X ROAS to break even.
Hired Help
To navigate these shark infested waters, I hired a company that specializes in selling on Amazon. I had run into a brick wall when I couldn't get control of my product listings.
They were able to build a bundle, get the listings back, get product stocked in Amazon warehouses, run ads, and provide guidance on the many hydras that reared their heads. I wouldn't have been able to do this without them, but I'm also not sure that would be bad.
If I hadn't gotten past that early brick wall I'd always be wondering though.
So far, this has been an expensive learning experience and the main thing I've taken away is:
The only one who guarantees they win is Amazon.
Summary
So, how much did you actually make so far with Amazon?!?!
- Amazon takes a cut storing your products in their warehouse. Their cut increases if you don't sell fast enough.
- Amazon takes a cut with fulfillment.
- Amazon takes a cut for your listings on their platform.
- Amazon takes a cut for advertising on their platform.
- Amazon is a thieves guild.
Since this is a storefront, not a business, balance sheet, this only shows the revenue and costs generated on Amazon. There are other costs (printing, art, etc.) and other revenue (Shopify, Kickstarter, etc.).
What does this say?
- Amazon made $3,307.86.
- I lost $964.45
I was partway into this journey when I read, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.
I wrote an article about how we're seeing this in D&D here:
Knight Vision Creative (Brendan)
You really see the playbook unfold on Amazon. Amazon has an intense monopoly and monopsony.
- Monopoly - Single seller dominates the supply of goods.
- Monopsony - Single buyer dominates the demand for goods.
If you pay for ads, you can move products faster, but you are paying extra to do so. If you don't sell products fast enough, they increase your storage costs. They make money regardless of what you do. It isn't a partnership, it is a gargantuan predator preying on both sides of the platform.
I'll do some tweaks the next couple of months to see if I can make it work. So far it has been a time suck, expense, and feels like I'm only rewarding Amazon.
If you're thinking about experimenting here, I share my experience as a cautionary tale. I was ignorant of how the platform works on the seller side. Knowing what I know now, I likely would have skipped this side quest.
Here's the listings I have if you want to take a look:
Unlock the secrets of summoning with this meticulously crafted guide. Delve into the new summoner class, feats, and spells to summon powerful allies, create dynamic roleplay opportunities with your summoned creatures, and conquer challenges in new creative ways alongside your friends.
Unleash the power of the mind in your adventures. Whether you're forging a new character with the formidable psion class or infusing your existing campaign with psychic abilities from the array of feats, spells, creatures, and other psionically themed content found within; this comprehensive guide is your portal to creating legendary memories.
Ancient artifacts have awakened, pushing humanity to the brink. Reality-warping aberrations stalk the land, spreading corruption. The last stronghold stands against outside forces, yet inside freedom crumbles beneath a suffocating surveillance state. This campaign setting introduces new content for GMs and players with new subclasses, creatures, magic items, and more.
The full 3 hardcover bundle in all its glory!
Where should someone buy your books?
I'd probably rank them in this order:
- When a Kickstarter is live, the more people who back the campaign, the higher the chances of getting featured in a news publication, the more willing someone is to back, and the better the economies of scale. Kickstarter takes a 10% cut, the Pledge Manager takes a cut, and the rest makes it back to Knight Vision Creative to pay for art, advertising, editing, writing, etc.
- The most profitable place is buying direct from my website, but this doesn't generate additional customers outside of the word of mouth of that single individual.
- Buying on Amazon increases the rank of the book, can factor into best seller labels, and has the largest potential for increasing sales. Their cut varies based on whether you have to pay referral fees, advertising fees, etc., but from a profit standpoint this is the worst option.
Have questions I didn't cover? Ask them in the comments!
Talk soon,
Brendan
