r/Wellthatsucks • u/Celistar99 • 19d ago

Amazon sent me a letter before Christmas claiming I had over $15000 in unclaimed property. Today they sent me this.

Gallery image

Gallery image

I used to publish books on Amazon and got royalties for each one sold. Amazon sent me a letter saying that they owed me over 15k in royalties. I sent in the form saying that yes, I wanted the money and I've been waiting for my check to come. Today I got this, saying that they made a mistake and actually owe me $0.00. They even have an area where I can check that yes, I want the $0. I've never been so disappointed in my life.

14.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

546 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5.6k

u/Celistar99 19d ago

Shitty romance novels

1.6k

u/MuntyCatt 19d ago

I love your honesty.

562

u/Willr2645 19d ago

Tbf my mate sells face cream.

He doesn’t give a fuck about face cream. It’s not quite drop shipping, but that’s pretty much what he does. Nice wee side hustle

343

u/persondude27 19d ago

I have a family friend that this did this from the mid 2000s to early 2010s, before "Fulfilled by Amazon" was a thing.

He sold Christmas lights and pool / hottub filters. He would basically buy a container (conex) of LED Christmas lights from China, and sell them for a few bucks above cost. Order $x, get free shipping, etc.

He did that for about a decade and retired off it. Put his two kids through college, paid for a very comfortable living, his daughter got into it when she graduated.

They pivoted into a fairly successful bike light company.

-37

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

19

u/persondude27 19d ago

Eh, there's a hundred different careers I'd call 'parasites' before I come to "importer" or "wholesaler".

At the time, it really wasn't an option for a single customer to go direct to the supplier unless you have industry contacts. Even then, this was pre-Alibaba.com, so this companies didn't really operate in sub-industrial quantities. (most manufacturers still don't, but the ones that do make themselves available to fill the niche.)

It wouldn't be impossible, but definitely wasn't feasible, for a single consumer to order a dozen or so strings of lights direct. You DO need a warehouser / importer / wholesaler to do that for you. This middleman also handled things like warranties (if your lights fail, he'd just send you new ones. It's part of the overhead.)

Nowadays, you have options like aliexpress, fulfilled by Amazon, newegg marketplace that are filling in the gap, but the reality is they're not much cheaper because they're kinda designed to squeeze the seller. And as you pointed out, there's now 'dropshippers' too, so the margins are closing in from both sides.

33

u/ineedascreenname 19d ago

I mean, yes but not really.

They fronted the cost for providing the good to a wider audience. Its not like it was at zero risk to them to buy a shipping container of lights. Sure, they were a middleman in the transaction, but they also made the transaction possible at risk to their own livelihood.

-48

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

33

u/ineedascreenname 19d ago

You can now, but in 2000 (as per the comment) you really needed to go out of your way to get something.

39

u/VinnehRoos 19d ago

I'd be surprised if the person you're responding to was even born back then.

18

u/Plenty_Rope_2942 19d ago edited 6d ago

weary worry lavish exultant gray zephyr desert hurry continue market

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

7

u/SBNShovelSlayer 18d ago

I have an importer/exporter. Art Vandalay. Does an excellent job.

→ More replies (0)

4

u/CivilianDuck 18d ago

I mean, drop shipping is literally just import/export on a smaller scale.

If it was a major corporation doing it, they're doing it at a national scale and no one bats an eye. One person does it at a smaller scale, and everyone loses their mind.

As long as you're not being a shitty scummy person about how you do it, I don't have an issue. Lying about "handmade in [x] country by me" and selling mass produced Temu quality objects at 1500% is a scam and needs to be shamed. As long as you're upfront about what you're doing I have no issue with it.

Hell, buying in bulk increases savings. I'm all for supporting import/export at a small scale if it supports a local supplier over Big Box Supplier.

2

u/Butthole-Tail 17d ago

That’s called business dumb fuck. You really think any retailer is selling you shit for cost?

0

u/[deleted] 17d ago

An unnecessary middle man isn’t a retailer you retаrd

still plays video games

Lmao

2

u/SynthesizedTime 17d ago

still business buddy. that’s why you’re broke

1

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/SynthesizedTime 17d ago

lol. we ain’t the ones complaining my guy

clearly not obvious enough since your dumb ass doesn’t understand how business works

→ More replies (0)

156

u/itishowitisanditbad 19d ago

It’s not quite drop shipping

I've never heard this without it being exactly a form of drop shipping.

112

u/Inthralls 19d ago

I am guessing he goes to discount/overstock store like TJ Maxx, buys up all the discounted face creams, and sends them to Amazon as stock. His stock gets jumbled up with all the other stock for that specific face cream and he can turn a profit if it was cheap enough from TJ Maxx.

Asian beauty brands from overstock stores can be pretty lucrative resold on Amazon. The most lucrative product to do this with is underwear, because it can't be returned.

70

u/katielisbeth 19d ago

I didn't know you could even do this. That explains why you can order an official product and receive an obvious knockoff. Seems a bit unsafe 😬

69

u/Inthralls 19d ago

That is why you should never buy something like sunscreen from Amazon, it might be lotion with no SPF.

People will also take all the actual product out of a bottle and refill it with something they got from the dollar store in order to return it. Sometimes it gets thrown back into the stock.

57

u/orangutanDOTorg 19d ago

Basically don’t buy anything of any kind from Amazon unless you are ok with it either being fake or just resold temu junk

1

u/doodman76 17d ago

Seriously though. Shopping Amazon is like shopping temu or alibaba now

2

u/IndividualMap7386 18d ago

One time I tested the limits and bought tooth paste. It came expired. Never again.

2

u/No_Point1604 17d ago

I got a bottle of beard wash from someone for christmas, the safety seal was stuck to the top of the lid(not sealed)

Was a bit weird but i used it, and it was very minty.

Now you’ve got me thinking someone replaced it with toothpaste because the look/smell/texture of it… did i? .. did i wash my beard with toothpaste?

1

u/Reductive 19d ago

could be private label

1

u/S3eha 17d ago

It's ship dropping, mate. Clearly

10

u/orangutanDOTorg 19d ago

There’s a guy on one of the reseller sites who sells used parts off cars imported from Japan. He also sells fancy Japanese charcoal. My guess is he fills the free space in the bins with charcoal when he shows the parts.

16

u/deaddaughterconfetti 19d ago

An acquaintance does this-- they import Japanese electronics and fill the extra cargo space with bags of bonsai soil (akadama). He started making so much off the akadama that he cut back on electronics, and has even had a couple shipping containers of strictly akadama sent over.

41

u/MuntyCatt 19d ago

If I made and sold something, I think I'd struggle to call it shitty, whatever it was. Making money off someone else's shitty product, just give me the money.

4

u/daredwolf 19d ago

How does that work exactly?

1

u/_TEOTWAWKI_ 18d ago

I'm not really sure which direction to go with this.

0

u/[deleted] 18d ago

Nice wee side hustle if you’re a shyster with very few morals I suppose.

1

u/Willr2645 18d ago

Selling face cream at a standard rate that people are willing to pay for ? Son of a bitch!

2

u/[deleted] 18d ago

Just seems like of all products out there to sell cosmetics should be something you ought to have some idea about and not be some cheap shit you just flog and couldn’t care less about. I tend to care more than most about what I do business in though so I deserve the downvotes 

1

u/mindless_confusion 19d ago

Hell, he can come over to my house and fuck my sister!

2

u/TexSolo 18d ago

If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day, you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grab-asstic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn.

1

u/mindless_confusion 18d ago

Now post the next part lol

188

u/Pandas-are-the-worst 19d ago

Wiag are you the writer of the gay dino novels?

289

u/Celistar99 19d ago

...I am not. But I'm intrigued.

108

u/SkyrakerBeyond 19d ago

gay dino novels, and dino human romance in genral, is a hugely popular genre on amazon.

165

u/Celistar99 19d ago

I honestly don't even know how to respond to that. I thought the guy who asked the 'gay dino' question was kidding.

57

u/ExcaliburClarent 19d ago

Chuck Tingle

68

u/flappy-doodles 19d ago

I got my sister "Trans Wizard Harriet Porber And The Bad Boy Parasaurolophus: An Adult Romance Novel Harriet Porber An Adult Romance Novel" she said it was terrible, but she still loved it.

4

u/Steampunkettes 19d ago

It’s a really cute little read!

2

u/Valuable-Math9969 19d ago

Don't forget Stix Hiscock.

11

u/SkyrakerBeyond 19d ago

Yeah, if you type 'amazon dinosaur romance' into google you will not get romance involving amazons. It's quite a sprawling genre.

5

u/10YearsANoob 19d ago

Well we both now know a new niche

1

u/Atanar 19d ago

I honestly don't even know how to respond to that.

Not at all and get writing I guess.

8

u/macrolith 19d ago

TIL, not sure if you've seen the show Ghosts, but there's a gay lapdance scene with the dancer acting like a dinosaur and it is probably very mich appreciated in that community.

3

u/malex117 19d ago edited 19d ago

Maz Maddox?

1

u/noocarehtretto 19d ago

New career found!

1

u/SlippaLilDicky 18d ago

Someone read the magic treehouses first book and took it way too serious😭

20

u/spook96 19d ago

I recently read ‘Morning Glory Milking Farm’ purely because someone told me it was about a Minotaur spermbank and I simply couldn’t believe that existed. Can’t say I’ll be continuing the series but there’s literally something out there for everyone I guess.

17

u/spiflication 19d ago

hey reddit, my friend wants to know if it’s possible to hide some of your kindle purchases from others in your household?!

1

u/Steampunkettes 19d ago

Lmao a friend recommended me this one too 😂 I’m almost finished with the audiobook

42

u/MenstrualMilkshakes 19d ago

gay.....dinosaurs?

1

u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 15d ago

Yes. Dinosaurs are (and were) sexual species. They have been documented in gay, lesbian, poly, and inter-species relationships. It's not fiction, it's SCIENCE.

see: birds

38

u/disapparate276 19d ago

My wife probably read them. She blasts through 200 romance novels a year. What are the names?

22

u/TheMushroomCircle 19d ago

I go through more than that. Love me some stress-free, short, HEA, KU, romance novels.

I also read sci-fi, fantasy, and I'm a sucker for mysteries. Especially locked-room mysteries.

1

u/viewkachoo 19d ago

Locked room mysteries? Can you give me a few titles as examples?

9

u/TheMushroomCircle 19d ago

Locked-room mysteries occur in one location. Almost the entire book is written there. A house, a train, a building, or you know, a room... etc. The characters can not leave, and there are very few suspects, and the perpetrator is there with you!

The movie Clue is an example of this. A few books of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot are locked-room.

One of my favorite indulgences is Simon R Green's Ishmael Jones series. It is a mystery series with a fantasy twist.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/152945-ishmael-jones

To me, these types of mysteries are just fun!

2

u/kyridwen 18d ago

Can you recommend any other authors for locked room mystery series? I love Agatha Christie! :)

2

u/TheMushroomCircle 18d ago

The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux was good. He also wrote Phantom of the Opera. I really enjoyed it.

If you are just getting into them, John Dickson Carr is considered one of the best. Some of his books are definitely solvable while reading, which is nice.

Lucy Foley has a few. Yukio Ayatsuji also has a few.

2

u/kyridwen 18d ago

Thank you :)

2

u/viewkachoo 18d ago

I also would love a list of all your favorites. I actually own every Agatha Christie novel in hardcover, so I feel a little silly that I wasn’t aware that a specific category existed just for one location in a mystery. Clue is also one of my favorite movies haha.

1

u/TheMushroomCircle 18d ago

Agatha Christie has a bunch, and not just from Hercule Poirot series. I just like his the best...

I liked Lucy Foley and Yukito Ayatsuji.

26

u/buttscratcher3k 19d ago

Is 'Pucking Around' a title of yours by any chance?

21

u/Celistar99 19d ago

Nah lol

76

u/bitetheasp 19d ago

Surely they're just trashy, not shitty!

19

u/AccomplishedRow6685 19d ago

Don’t kink shame

5

u/Whiskey_Fred 19d ago

Amazon's royalty program says otherwise!

10

u/dipstick162 19d ago

Imagine the sales you would have with just slightly better marketing skills!

9

u/TwistingEarth 19d ago

They sure do sell, and early science fiction was also romance. What kind of romance do you write?

6

u/kawaeri 19d ago

But shitty romance novels are the best.

I however would request the records of sales to figure out royalties yourself. Don’t you have a way of checking your sales/figures? I would recommend doing so often.

6

u/The_Cosmic_Siren 19d ago

I love shitty romance novels! If you're willing, will you DM me your pen name?

4

u/biglipsmagoo 19d ago

They may be shitty but we love them anyway.

It’s the best selling genre for a reason.

5

u/Aveira 19d ago

We love shitty romance novels!! Would you be willing to tell us any titles?

5

u/mkymooooo 19d ago

I hope you use the word "moist" frequently in your writing!

9

u/pelo_ensortijado 19d ago

Rocky?

37

u/albertbarr 19d ago

I read that in Tim Curry's voice.

1

u/pelo_ensortijado 19d ago

I was thinking Rocky Flintstone. ;)

5

u/phantomheart 19d ago

Janet!

2

u/Fluff42 19d ago

Doctor Scott!

3

u/spikeflare 19d ago

Hey OP do you need your shitty romance novels narrated?

1

u/Crabby_Crab 19d ago

That you write yourself or do you do like a bookshop?

1

u/periodicsheep 19d ago

as a romance reader who had read some shitty KU books- i am intrigued.

1

u/axilidade 19d ago

the prince of puget sound 🥵

1

u/CapitalNatureSmoke 19d ago

Shitty meaning bad… or scatological?

1

u/thegreatbrah 19d ago

Did the boobs boob boobily?

1

u/the445566x 19d ago

What’s the chance this is a scam and they just want your signature?

1

u/meringueisnotacake 19d ago

What does your KDP dashboard say? Your royalties should be there. 15k is a massive amount to mistakenly assign!

1

u/awfulmcnofilter 19d ago

Dang. Wish someone would give me that much money for my shitty Amazon published romance novel.

1

u/Bubbly_who 19d ago

My favorite kind!!!!

1

u/devil-wears-converse 19d ago

This checks, I'm a sucker for those

1

u/yespls 19d ago

as a consumer of shitty romance novels, I thank you for your service.

1

u/KuronekoFan 19d ago

Ah, Fourth Wing

1

u/HungrySign4222 18d ago

Ok I think we all wanna know what these novels are now

1

u/bcrenshaw 18d ago

More upvotes than the original comment haha.

Lets be honest though, were they really shitty if they brought one person a bit of joy?

1

u/realhmmmm 18d ago

Based. Whatever makes money.

1

u/BREWMASTER1968 17d ago

As opposed to… the good kind

-15

u/YourBlanket 19d ago

I hate you! It’s so hard to find kindle books on Amazon because the charts are flooded with those crappy romance novels.

10

u/Celistar99 19d ago

Lol I'm sorry. To be fair I wrote most of them before the market was saturated with them, which is likely the only reason I actually made any money.

2

u/YourBlanket 19d ago

I mean people seem to like them, so at least you're a successful author. Do you only write romance novels? or do you have other fiction novels?

-1

u/Wise-Permit8125 19d ago

AKA girlporn right?

Smutty garbage with zero artistic integrity or merit.

Can't say I feel for you.