Support for Indie Authors discussion

Do you accept returns?
I know booksellers do not like to buy books that they cannot return. I'm also aware that self-published authors must absorb the printing costs of returned books. I have been reluctant to allow returns on books sold through Ingram because of this. But looking at all the money I've spent on promotion (Facebook posts and some print and IBPA advertising; I hate to say how much) and how little I have to show for it, I am reconsidering. I would like to hear from self-published authors who accept or have accepted returns from booksellers. How have you sold to them? How large have your initial orders been? What percentage of your books have been returned? Have you been able to stay in the black despite returns? FYI, I offer the standard 40-percent discount off list through Ingram and sell POD books, only. Buyers pay shipping costs. (Should have clarified this earlier.)

@Stephen,
I am pretty sure, they work w/ Baker & Taylor. I had a Baker & Taylor account from 1999-2003 and just could not deal with it. It's too labor intense + yeah, self-publishers end up with freight costs.

Please note:
a) this was a children's book, maybe it's different for books for YA & adults.
b) this was NOT POD, I had the book printed off-set, myself.

Result: I got back so many damaged returns, this did not work for me. Smudges, bent corners, or just worn ... certainly these books were not sell-able. Dozens of kids must have checked them out in stores.

Basically, I paid for shipping to B&T (at the time one had to ship with Fedex or UPS, don't know how it's now), paid the return shipments, and the books were kind of ruined too or just worn.

Plus, there is also the bookkeeping. It's labor intense. I'd rather not sell twenty to thirty books then having to deal with that again.

I thought Baker & Taylor just sold to libraries. I wouldn't expect them to return books. Plus, I only do POD, so I don't pay to ship books; the buyers pay the shipping.

@Stephen

Honestly, I don't know. I am with CS b/s they deliver faster in Europe where many of my readers are located.

However: (from their website)
Baker & Taylor is the world's largest distributor of physical and digital books and entertainment products. We serve retailers, from big-box and specialty stores to independent shops and Internet merchants, around the globe.

Who'd you mean w/buyers?
The bookstores? No, they get weekly deliveries and your book may be among them or not. Bookstores will only order your book if your book has media coverage and if your book's BookScan looks good.

Obviously, that can be regional. So, if your book sells well in the West but not so good in the East, only bookstores in the West would order it. They'd attribute your book selling well in the West to a blogger mentioning your book or some kind of media coverage that just does not get seen in the East.

Thanks, Gisela. I went to B&T's website and read their description. But it is my understanding that B&T is the primary source of books for libraries.

This was a huge fear for me for awhile. Until I learned that you had to be ordered by the bookstores for them to want to return your books. Haha.

So he's my take on it. I set my books up through IngramSpark as returnable, and then set it so they return them to me (not destroy). That way if something does get returned, it comes to me and there's a chance for me to sell it later on.

I've had my books ordered by a couple B&N, but it was nothing outrageous. Just two of each at one store. I have yet to see them be returned. There was however returns from another order before that, so essentially I ended up breaking even. Still in the black.

Over all, it's not too scary as long as you're not calling up every B&N in your state and asking them to stock your book. That would lead to disaster. If you let it happen organically through setting up book signings or even at the request of someone going into the store to buy them, then you're likely to be A-OK.

I'm a newbie author just now setting up POD accounts with IS and CS (and an ebook account with Amazon/K), so this is a relevant thread.

For the seasoned pros, 1) what wholesale return rate do you see with IS? I think the industry standard was 30%? 2) It seems that CS doesn't allow wholesale returns unless the book is actually damaged. Is that right?

Stephen wrote: "I thought Baker & Taylor just sold to libraries. I wouldn't expect them to return books."

Actually, I'm quite positive they do return books. I currently work at a library and we order in large amounts of books for the Summer Reading Program every year (and multiples of each book). After the program is over and finishers have chosen their prize book we always have lots of books left over. The teen and children's librarians/department heads will look over the left over books and possibly chose a few to add to the library's collection or replace the existing copy; however, even after that there is still unused stock left over. This more than likely gets returned to B&T.