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Kind of ironic

I listed a bunch of old books on Amazon Marketplace. I like it better than eBay: there are no upfront costs, and all you have to do is set your price. No worrying about choosing the right auction format/duration/starting price, no wondering whether you should pay for upgrades to make the listing stand out...

I like the instant results, too: 7 books were sold in as many hours. While I was dropping them off at the post office, the branch manager commented that I must do a lot of business on eBay. She had no idea you can sell stuff on Amazon. At the other end, people will think the books' new owners bought them on eBay, too, thanks to the eBay logo on the postage labels I bought through PayPal.

Amazon does ask sellers to "prominently label package with the message, Your Amazon.com Marketplace Order". It also recommends looking up each buyer's 9 digit zip code; "they'll certainly appreciate you taking the extra minute". And don't forget your return address. And use metered postage!

In contrast, eBay/PayPal replaces all of these instructions (as well as Amazon's page of links to shipping providers) with an auto-generated printout - and looks popular even when Amazon's getting the business.

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