It’s exciting to publish your book and wait for those first sales. Setting up your book with a publishing/distribution company can be complex with so much to do, remember and decide. One aspect that can slip by is deciding whether to allow booksellers to take your books on consignment that what they might mean for you, the author.
We will use Ingram Spark as an example. Not that we want to make an example out of them.
The Three Choices
When you put your book on Ingram Sparks, you make many decisions throughout the process. One decision can be very expensive. Book returns. Book returns of paperback and hardback copies. eBooks are different.
Bookstores like to pack their shelves with books that they do not own. When you walk into a bookstore, all the books you see lining the shelves are on consignment. That means the bookstore orders the books, puts them on their bookshelves, pays for what they sell. They return what they don’t sell at the author’s expense.
When you set up your Ingram Sparks account, you choose between three options:
- Books are non-returnable
- Book are returnable – Deliver – please send book not sold to the author
- Book are returnable – Destroy – please destroy returned books
Let’s look at each one.
Books are non-returnable
You can choose this as an option. That means if a bookstore wants your book, they must buy it upfront. If they don’t sell it, that’s on them. Problem here… Bookstores won’t buy books that are non-returnable. If you choose Ingram Sparks because booksellers buy books from them, that means this option won’t work for you.
Authors have to choose to either shut down the opportunity to sell books in bookstores. Or, they must take the losses as they come.
There is no point in publishing through Ingram Sparks to get into bookstores and then choosing the books are non-returnable option.
That means if you publish through Ingram Sparks and want the option to have your book in bookstores, you must choose one of the following two options.
Books are returnable - Deliver
If you choose this option, any books not sold will be returned to you, the author, at the author’s expense.
Sounds okay, right? Maybe.
For every book that is returned, you pay the wholesale cost and you pay shipping. The wholesale cost is what the bookstore would have paid for the book if they had purchased it. That money goes to Ingram Sparks. They do not assume any financial risk. If books are returned, they get the wholesale price paid to them from you.
On top of being charged the wholesale fee, returns to US addresses cost $2.00 shipping, per book. So if your books are returned to you, you don’t make money from the book; you pay the wholesale cost; and you pay shipping of $2.00 per book.
You have the books in hand. You can sell them on your own. Can you sell those books and still make a profit? Maybe. But *you* are selling the books. At conferences, book fairs, and other events. Or on your website.
As an example, let’s say the wholesale price of your book is $10.00 and you have 10 books coming back to you. That means you will pay $12.00 per book, $10 wholesale price plus $2.00 shipping. You will pay $120.00 to receive the books that the store doesn’t want.
Note that you don’t choose how many books a bookstore takes on consignment. A large chain with 20 stores could take 20 books each. That’s 400 books. That could get expensive.
It may or it may not be worth it if you live in the USA. You’ll have to work out your potential losses for yourself and decide.
If you are *outside* of the USA, Ingram Sparks charges shipping of $20.00 per book. What? So this option is definitely not worth it if you live outside of the US. I’m not even going to do the math on that one.
Books are returnable -Destroy
In this scenario, they charged you the wholesale price of the book and then they destroy the book. So if 10 books were returned and the wholesale price on each book was $10 dollars, Ingram Sparks would charge you $100.00. Then, they would destroy the books, no option to resell them.
0You lose money with this choice. However, if you live outside of the United States, this is the least expensive choice since you are not paying $20.00 shipping per book. Yes, you lose money, but then again, you will lose money on the expensive shipping in the other option – Return and Deliver option.
Know Your Options Before You Hit Publish
If you live in the USA, consider the Return and Deliver option. Although you pay for the books, you at least get the books back and you can then sell or give them away. They are yours to do with what you want.
I have seen authors in Canada have to pay for destroyed books which, honestly, have broken their hearts. But if you are outside the US and you want to offer your books on consignment to stores, this is the risk you take.
I have also seen authors who have boxes of books they have had to pay for that they couldn’t sell. They gave them away, which was not part of their plan.
The moral of this story. If you are selling through Ingram Spark, be aware of options and choose the one that works for you, taking into consideration the consequences of offering your books to stores on consignment.
Have you ever had books returned? Tell us your story!
– Keep writing
Melody Ann
Author Nation is your go-to resource for becoming a successful nonfiction author, from planning to promotion and everything in between. Download the resource for the stage you are in.