FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Ya’ll,

Well, this blog is certainly about much more than just worship and music. As you may recall from a previous post, I had a 911 Emergency with Amazon.Com and my online business. I’m happy to say that was resolved, but now I have a new issue.

You see, I am an Amazon.Com Marketplace Seller – anybody can signup for this and start listing products to sell. For over a year, I’ve been trying to get approved as an Amazon.Com “ProMerchant” seller through their Business Solutions department. There are many advantages to this over the MarketPlace format. Advantages include:

1. ability to upload your company logo, which makes it stand out more in the listings
2. ability to customize your own shipping rates, as opposed to being restricted to the default, flat rate Amazon pays to Marketplace Sellers (which in many cases isn’t enough to cover actual shipping)
3. ability to sell internationally
4. ability to qualify as a “Featured Merchant” to be displayed on the top of the listings
5. and a few more …

The cost for this is the same as for Marketplace – most everything else is the same. To the end-user, the purchasing experience is identical – they can’t really tell who is a “Marketplace Seller” or a “ProMerchant Seller” except for the fact that a ProMerchant Selller may have a logo next to their listing.

You can have a ProMerchant account AND a Marketplace account – but you CANNOT sell the same items in both. Just so you can see what I’m talking about – I’ve got some separate (but similar) products listed at the links below – look and see the differences. FYI – my SellerID is “hppenterprises”.

13″ Aqua MacBook Case (listed as a ProMerchant – note HPP Enterprises logo, and “Just Launched” … no feedback score, which would go away after my first sell where someone leaves feedback).

15″ Aqua MacBook Case (listed in my MarketPlace account, the one I’ve had for a few years … no logo (no big deal really, I don’t think) and the “94% positive over the past 12 months (325 ratings.) 748 lifetime ratings.”

Here’s the dilemma. In order to convert, it’s like starting all over. You lose ALL of your feedback ratings, lifetime ratings, and “star ratings”. I’d go from a very high, positive 4-1/2 star (out of 5) rating with nearly 800 lifetime ratings to a “Just Launched – New Seller” rating.

It’s a tough decision. If my feedback score and previous ratings would migrate to the new “ProMerchant” portal, it would be a no-brainer. I’ve wanted to get accepted into this “more elite” level of sellers, but not that I’ve received approval, I’m having a tough time letting go of that feedback reputation and starting all over – it took me 2+ years to earn that much feedback. Of course, I can always start buiding a new feedback score.

If you’re e-business saavy, please let me know your thoughts … and if you’re not, please pray for God’s wisdom. I really appreciate it. It’s a critical time to make these decisions, just prior to the big Holiday Season.

God bless,
Fred