Have more questions about IngramSpark? Check out my playlist here with LOTS of answers to commonly asked questions: th-cam.com/video/KVHzYEkfVPU/w-d-xo.html
I can definitely see that fear in setting your books as returnable. And of course the cost is a big point to consider! I would also wonder what the cost would be on the emotions. After spending so much time and energy writing something that you hope sells and then seen it returned could definitely be draining on top of the cost incurred. Thanks for breaking this down and sharing your strategy!
Agreed, there is a lot of potential downside to every single return, but I think as authors we get so scared about what could go wrong that we miss out on what could go right.
Thanks for your really helpful videos. Great explanations. I guess my big concern is that whilst your example is ok on the return of books from one shop - my concern is that multiplied across say hundreds or even thousands of book shops of even 1-2 returns could be really costly. That’s what scares me. I’m interested though that you’ve found the sales outweigh the returns. Also is it better to ‘destroy’ rather than return to save costs from the book shop that presumably are passed onto us as authors? Thanks again
Yes, if you are worried about the cost of returns you can do allow them or elect to destroy returns which still have a small cost but then you aren't paying to have them shipped to you as well
Ingram would always have to refund the retailer for books damaged before receipt, regardless what you choose. In the UK, it is enshrined in consumer laws. If you "accept" returns IS are passing that damage in transit to you. If you don't accept, they will have to cover the replacement/refund cost themselves. The returns are there for retailers to over order, then return at their convenience. Business should not work on a sale or return basis like this. I'm aware it will harm brick and mortar sales by not accepting returns, but if they buy my book, they have to take the responsibility of selling it, not me.
I just discovered you because I bumped into a problem trying to set up my book proving on IngramSpark. Thanks for your content. Pricing section isn’t auto-populating other currencies for me after typing USD retail.
@@1MKWilliams First of all, thank you for your video! Second --- just wanted to note that I'm experiencing the same situation: filled in my USD pricing info, and the other currencies aren't auto-populating. Frustrating! I'm about to send an email to IS Support . . .
Interesting. I never considered making my books returnable because of the potential losses. The only thing stopping my now is the fact that I don't want to raise the Wholesale Discount to 50% or whatever it is that attracts bookstores. I currently have my discount at 35%
HI - thank you so much for this video. The market I'm focused for now is libraries. I assume the same rationale on returns and now you illustrate them apply? Many thanks!
So I should just have faith in my book and believe that sales WILL be more than returns? I am still worried it will end up costing me for returns worldwide to UK! I have to decide very soon, though, because I want my paperback available by the end of the month. Thanks for the video! It helped, but I’m still stuck about the decision ! (I’m just very indecisive!)
Actively pursuing book stores does not prevent an order of 10 books being accidentally ordered as 100, then being responsible for the 90 returns. I hate this returns policy they force upon us.
Thank you for the video, the return option can feel so risky. What I am not sure of from reading IngramSpark's information and hearing your explanation is what happens to the books after they are returned? The IngramSpark information that I read came across to me that in both cases bookstores would return the books and with the destroy option, IngramSpark would destroy them or the books would be shipped to me by IngramSpark at my expense unless I chose the destroy option. I like the idea of returns being repurposed for future sales. Do you know if they changed recently? I am not clear.
Hi Shani, I am not sure what would happen in every circumstance. If the books were returned because they were damaged I would expect them to be destroyed and not resold. If they were returned because of an over order and you didn't select destroy then they would be delivered back to you.
ok, so I have a slightly related question. I've ticked all the boxes underneath the pricing and returns table. But I get this error message: Please indicate that you agree with the 'No' Return option chosen for market/s. So, is there another place you have to tick this? I've scrolled all over the page and can't see it.
Hi, M.K.! I published on D2D and finding out my book is listed as “non-returnable”. I checked with D2D and they have told me that setting can’t be changed with them, so I am in the process of exploring a transfer to Ingram Spark. Do you, or anyone else, know if you can edit this setting after publication, or is it only during the upload process?
With IngramSpark you can change if it is returnable or not (or any price setting) once every week (they ask you only update once every 6 weeks). And yes D2D does not allow for returns, that's for everyone
@ I really appreciate the response! This helps me make a decision. Btw, your advice re: ISBNs was very helpful, too!! 😌🙏🏽 any other staples I need to know?
Hey I have a couple of questions. If Ingram has wide distribution and all them book stores return a couple books from each store, aren’t you going to be stuck with a big cost? If you set your book as 55% wholesale discount but select non returnable will brick and mortar stores still pass you up? Are ebooks generally returnable or no?
Yes, eBooks are generally returnable. There are some new policies being put in place so that readers cannot return fully read eBooks to retailers (that's what libraries are for). Regarding the returns from stores, yes you would be stuck with the cost for returns. However, how much are you going to market and promote your books to brick and mortar stores? Best of luck!
Im getting metadata error keeps popping up. Says the U.S. print wholesale discount percentage must be a whole number with no decimals & between 40 and 55 percent. What do i do? I tried changing the numbers but keep getting the same error.
Hello, thank you for your video! If a book does get returned. We would only have to pay back the wholesale (not retail price?) plus shipping and handling?
Hello! I'm still not sure about all of this return stuff. Would you suggest I set by wholesale discount to 55% and have return "Yes-deliver for the US/Canada" and "Yes-destroy" for other countries? Have you got a lot of returns in past?
Hi Julia, Since I posted t his video earlier this year I have had 1 return and before that 0. It ha snot been a big issue for me and if it becomes one I'll switch to "yes return but destroy." I only suggest doing the 55% discount if you plan to pursue a brick and mortar store strategy. Best of luck!
@@1MKWilliams Thanks for the fast reply and your help! All right, I was curious. I put "destroy" based on people who had returned books that looked to have been chewed on by animals. Ha!
I was reading that I should set my wholesale discount at 30% because it shouldn’t matter. Do you suggest to go for 55% ? Also I am afraid to make my books returnable because I’m afraid a book store will buy a bunch of books and return them and I’ll be stuck with the cost. Does this happen often? And do I have to approve for these bookstores to buy my books in the first place on Ingram ?
If you are actively pursuing a brick and mortar strategy then set the discount at 55%, otherwise 30% is fine. Also, unless you're really working to have a physical bookstore carry your book it is unlikely they will order an excess amount. I've not had this issue in years. You can work with local bookstores on consignment first to avoid returns. Or set as "yes-destroy" so that you can accept returns but IngramSpark will pull any returns, which costs less.
i am confused on wholesale costs. I have a book on d2d POD retail 15, that ingram prints. The books cost 5. I put 1.50 for royalty, and the rest is $8.50 that is shared between D2D and ingram? How can I put a wholesale of X, when I make next to nothing, compared to distributor and printer?
Hi Thomas, I don't use D2D print so I'm not familiar with their set up. Within IngramSpark directly you can set the wholesale discount between 30 and 55%. This is standardized so the retailer makes something off the sale as well.
@@1MKWilliams i will look again because i had to revise my cover so waiting for approval, but yea when i selected the global distribution it told me i had to select one country to have returns on or it wont let me do it but i will check again thank you for replying and thank you for your videos they have helped alot as this is my first book
Returnable=NO! My reason, if POD, then you assume only one book and one customer. not a big deal. But imagine across the country 2 books for every retailer? or imagine my competition wants to swat me by ordering 10,000 books, and then after a week, says cancel all those books? So, for me this is not a strategy that benefits me in the long run. If you want my book, POD it, then it is yours. It is like an ebay auction that once you win the bid, ebay allows a return. I think it encourages scammers, and it treats books as a commodity. They have feelings, too!
This was not the best advice. I changed my books to “yes Return” and then realized it was a bad Idea and now it won’t let me change it back 🙈 it teaches me to research more I guess
You should be able to change this back. Pricing changes are pushed once a week on Fridays. If you change it today it will show as updated on Friday. Just be sure to hit save
@@1MKWilliams we have recently been hit with over 200 returned copies in a 2 week period. Changed setting's to not allow returns and updates do not take effect for 180 days!!!
@@vincegabrys5871 i got hit with this last month too. I'm not sure what is going on but hearing from A LOT of authors that IngramSpark is doing a lot of returns right now
@@1MKWilliams it is very unfortunate and hearing that it has happed to others is quite concerning. Retailers have nothing to gain as they get their money back, so who is ordering all these books? Our 2 return orders were for 72 books and 143 books. Probably doing KDP for my wife's next book.
Great explanation but terrible advice. IS provides zero protection to authors in the event a bookstore returns copies. This creates a high risk where authors can end up losing significant amounts of money on returned orders (the host explained this). The better advice would be to limit returns to your primary market and no returns to others.
Have more questions about IngramSpark? Check out my playlist here with LOTS of answers to commonly asked questions: th-cam.com/video/KVHzYEkfVPU/w-d-xo.html
I am glad to see my strategy is not stupid. Thanks for clarifying this for me.
Happy to help!
I can definitely see that fear in setting your books as returnable. And of course the cost is a big point to consider! I would also wonder what the cost would be on the emotions. After spending so much time and energy writing something that you hope sells and then seen it returned could definitely be draining on top of the cost incurred. Thanks for breaking this down and sharing your strategy!
Agreed, there is a lot of potential downside to every single return, but I think as authors we get so scared about what could go wrong that we miss out on what could go right.
@@1MKWilliams Great point! Never let fear stop us!
@@SDHustonfear or bankruptcy then!! 😅😅
Thanks for your really helpful videos. Great explanations. I guess my big concern is that whilst your example is ok on the return of books from one shop - my concern is that multiplied across say hundreds or even thousands of book shops of even 1-2 returns could be really costly. That’s what scares me. I’m interested though that you’ve found the sales outweigh the returns. Also is it better to ‘destroy’ rather than return to save costs from the book shop that presumably are passed onto us as authors? Thanks again
Yes, if you are worried about the cost of returns you can do allow them or elect to destroy returns which still have a small cost but then you aren't paying to have them shipped to you as well
Haha thank you for the promised video, it was great! Definitely erased my fear 😊
Happy to help :)
This video answered a lot of my questions.
Glad I could help!
Ingram would always have to refund the retailer for books damaged before receipt, regardless what you choose. In the UK, it is enshrined in consumer laws. If you "accept" returns IS are passing that damage in transit to you. If you don't accept, they will have to cover the replacement/refund cost themselves. The returns are there for retailers to over order, then return at their convenience. Business should not work on a sale or return basis like this. I'm aware it will harm brick and mortar sales by not accepting returns, but if they buy my book, they have to take the responsibility of selling it, not me.
I just discovered you because I bumped into a problem trying to set up my book proving on IngramSpark. Thanks for your content.
Pricing section isn’t auto-populating other currencies for me after typing USD retail.
Hello, it usually takes a minute for it to autopopulate. If you start to type anything into the other currencies it won't autopopulate. Best of luck!
@@1MKWilliams First of all, thank you for your video! Second --- just wanted to note that I'm experiencing the same situation: filled in my USD pricing info, and the other currencies aren't auto-populating. Frustrating! I'm about to send an email to IS Support . . .
@@WoodaPeople oh no! Best of luck getting that to update for you!
Interesting. I never considered making my books returnable because of the potential losses.
The only thing stopping my now is the fact that I don't want to raise the Wholesale Discount to 50% or whatever it is that attracts bookstores. I currently have my discount at 35%
It's good you've set a strategy that works for you. The nice this about both settings is that you can change them if/when you want
HI - thank you so much for this video. The market I'm focused for now is libraries. I assume the same rationale on returns and now you illustrate them apply? Many thanks!
Yes. I would guess libraries are less likely to purchase a bulk number and then need to return some, but they will likely want the option
So I should just have faith in my book and believe that sales WILL be more than returns? I am still worried it will end up costing me for returns worldwide to UK! I have to decide very soon, though, because I want my paperback available by the end of the month. Thanks for the video! It helped, but I’m still stuck about the decision ! (I’m just very indecisive!)
If it helps you feel better, you can adjust if you allow returns or not in IngramSpark. They push this update weekly on Fridays
Actively pursuing book stores does not prevent an order of 10 books being accidentally ordered as 100, then being responsible for the 90 returns. I hate this returns policy they force upon us.
Thanks! This was really helpful!
You're welcome!
Thank you. Great video. I enjoyed It
You're welcome!
Thank you for the video, the return option can feel so risky. What I am not sure of from reading IngramSpark's information and hearing your explanation is what happens to the books after they are returned? The IngramSpark information that I read came across to me that in both cases bookstores would return the books and with the destroy option, IngramSpark would destroy them or the books would be shipped to me by IngramSpark at my expense unless I chose the destroy option. I like the idea of returns being repurposed for future sales. Do you know if they changed recently? I am not clear.
Hi Shani, I am not sure what would happen in every circumstance. If the books were returned because they were damaged I would expect them to be destroyed and not resold. If they were returned because of an over order and you didn't select destroy then they would be delivered back to you.
This is helpful, thanks!
You're welcome!
I feel like this is tricky as I live in Australia so the fine print says returns @$20 per book as it’s outside the US eeeek!!!
What to do?
In that case I would suggest not allowing returns or only allowing them for a limited period of time to minimize your potential for returns
@@1MKWilliams great thanks for your quick response
ok, so I have a slightly related question. I've ticked all the boxes underneath the pricing and returns table. But I get this error message: Please indicate that you agree with the 'No' Return option chosen for market/s. So, is there another place you have to tick this? I've scrolled all over the page and can't see it.
It gets a little glitchy select yes on all the select no again. They also have disclaimer boxes below that will pop up.
@@1MKWilliams Saved & Exited and went back in and it worked. Same flavour I guess. :-) Thanks.
Hi, M.K.! I published on D2D and finding out my book is listed as “non-returnable”. I checked with D2D and they have told me that setting can’t be changed with them, so I am in the process of exploring a transfer to Ingram Spark. Do you, or anyone else, know if you can edit this setting after publication, or is it only during the upload process?
With IngramSpark you can change if it is returnable or not (or any price setting) once every week (they ask you only update once every 6 weeks). And yes D2D does not allow for returns, that's for everyone
@ I really appreciate the response! This helps me make a decision. Btw, your advice re: ISBNs was very helpful, too!! 😌🙏🏽 any other staples I need to know?
Hey I have a couple of questions. If Ingram has wide distribution and all them book stores return a couple books from each store, aren’t you going to be stuck with a big cost?
If you set your book as 55% wholesale discount but select non returnable will brick and mortar stores still pass you up?
Are ebooks generally returnable or no?
Yes, eBooks are generally returnable. There are some new policies being put in place so that readers cannot return fully read eBooks to retailers (that's what libraries are for). Regarding the returns from stores, yes you would be stuck with the cost for returns. However, how much are you going to market and promote your books to brick and mortar stores? Best of luck!
Im getting metadata error keeps popping up. Says the U.S. print wholesale discount percentage must be a whole number with no decimals & between 40 and 55 percent. What do i do? I tried changing the numbers but keep getting the same error.
They just changed the requirements and pushed a system update. It was doing this last week for me as well. Save and exit and try again tomorrow
@@1MKWilliams oooooh ok, yeah that’s what I ultimately wound up doing, thank you!!
how to I switch to returnable once the book is published and available for distribution?
You can change it in the same place where you can change the price, I have a tutorial on this here : th-cam.com/video/y8WHbyFr7js/w-d-xo.html
Hello, thank you for your video! If a book does get returned. We would only have to pay back the wholesale (not retail price?) plus shipping and handling?
Yes, correct. The print costs + shipping and handling.
Hello! I'm still not sure about all of this return stuff. Would you suggest I set by wholesale discount to 55% and have return "Yes-deliver for the US/Canada" and "Yes-destroy" for other countries? Have you got a lot of returns in past?
Hi Julia, Since I posted t his video earlier this year I have had 1 return and before that 0. It ha snot been a big issue for me and if it becomes one I'll switch to "yes return but destroy." I only suggest doing the 55% discount if you plan to pursue a brick and mortar store strategy. Best of luck!
Thanks for the video! If they do return the books to me, what do I do with them? Sell them on my website or on eBay or somewhere else?
Hi Lucas, I'm not sure. In my years of working with IngramSpark I haven't had a single return.
@@1MKWilliams Thanks for the fast reply and your help! All right, I was curious. I put "destroy" based on people who had returned books that looked to have been chewed on by animals. Ha!
I was reading that I should set my wholesale discount at 30% because it shouldn’t matter. Do you suggest to go for 55% ? Also I am afraid to make my books returnable because I’m afraid a book store will buy a bunch of books and return them and I’ll be stuck with the cost. Does this happen often? And do I have to approve for these bookstores to buy my books in the first place on Ingram ?
If you are actively pursuing a brick and mortar strategy then set the discount at 55%, otherwise 30% is fine. Also, unless you're really working to have a physical bookstore carry your book it is unlikely they will order an excess amount. I've not had this issue in years. You can work with local bookstores on consignment first to avoid returns. Or set as "yes-destroy" so that you can accept returns but IngramSpark will pull any returns, which costs less.
@@1MKWilliams thank you so much for replying. I want to sell in bookstores, as I thought that’s what Ingram does. I’m confused tbh on how Ingram works
i am confused on wholesale costs.
I have a book on d2d POD retail 15, that ingram prints. The books cost 5. I put 1.50 for royalty, and the rest is $8.50 that is shared between D2D and ingram? How can I put a wholesale of X, when I make next to nothing, compared to distributor and printer?
Hi Thomas, I don't use D2D print so I'm not familiar with their set up. Within IngramSpark directly you can set the wholesale discount between 30 and 55%. This is standardized so the retailer makes something off the sale as well.
It would not let me use the global option if I said yes to returns
Huh I've not experienced that issue before I'll have to look it up
@@1MKWilliams i will look again because i had to revise my cover so waiting for approval, but yea when i selected the global distribution it told me i had to select one country to have returns on or it wont let me do it but i will check again thank you for replying and thank you for your videos they have helped alot as this is my first book
Returnable=NO! My reason, if POD, then you assume only one book and one customer. not a big deal. But imagine across the country 2 books for every retailer? or imagine my competition wants to swat me by ordering 10,000 books, and then after a week, says cancel all those books? So, for me this is not a strategy that benefits me in the long run. If you want my book, POD it, then it is yours. It is like an ebay auction that once you win the bid, ebay allows a return.
I think it encourages scammers, and it treats books as a commodity. They have feelings, too!
This was not the best advice. I changed my books to “yes Return” and then realized it was a bad
Idea and now it won’t let me change it back 🙈 it teaches me to research more I guess
You should be able to change this back. Pricing changes are pushed once a week on Fridays. If you change it today it will show as updated on Friday. Just be sure to hit save
@@1MKWilliams I am trying but it won’t update at all So frustrating
@@1MKWilliams we have recently been hit with over 200 returned copies in a 2 week period. Changed setting's to not allow returns and updates do not take effect for 180 days!!!
@@vincegabrys5871 i got hit with this last month too. I'm not sure what is going on but hearing from A LOT of authors that IngramSpark is doing a lot of returns right now
@@1MKWilliams it is very unfortunate and hearing that it has happed to others is quite concerning. Retailers have nothing to gain as they get their money back, so who is ordering all these books? Our 2 return orders were for 72 books and 143 books. Probably doing KDP for my wife's next book.
Great explanation but terrible advice. IS provides zero protection to authors in the event a bookstore returns copies. This creates a high risk where authors can end up losing significant amounts of money on returned orders (the host explained this). The better advice would be to limit returns to your primary market and no returns to others.