[Kate.]

At the end of every month I update a spreadsheet with the number of copies each book sold, but this month some things aren't adding up.

One book, my newest release, has sold 18 copies (11 sales, 7 borrows) according to the sales dashboard (the one with the pretty chart).

But, when I go to the Month-to-Date Unit Sales page (the one with the numbers), it says it's only sold 15 (8 sales, 7 borrows).

I thought it was a short-term problem that would correct itself in a few hours, but it's now over 36 hours since the month's end and it's still stuck like that. There haven't been any refunds.

The book had both sales and borrows on the last day of the month, so it can't be an exceptionally long delay - the borrows all match; it's only the sales I'm missing.

I've lost a similar percent off my other books, too - around 15% from what I can tell. For some of them, they're missing sales - others are missing borrows.

Is this normal? Is it happening to anyone else?

 

[Joe_Nobody]

According to Amazon, the pretty chart is real-time sales that have been placed by customers.

Again, according to Amazon, the month-to-date unit sales report is updated after the customer is billed and the money has been received. The payment process varies from bank-to-bank, and can take up to 24 hours to reconcile.

So.... could it be possible that your missing sales occurred on the last day of the month, and they just hadn't caught up with the payment cycle until the following day?

 

[Kate.]

Thanks Joe, that's a great idea. Unfortunately I don't think that's what's happening this time. Some of the missing sales are actually borrows, and, for at least one book, the number of missing sales exceeds the total number of sales in the last three days of the month. (I hope this isn't too confusing!)

 

[Elizabeth Ann West]

The sales dashboard should be taken with a grain of salt. Our actual royalties are not finalized until the 15 day report. There are situations where sales may show up, then the credit card is found to be stolen, the payment did not process properly, the customer cancels the order (I had a reader once call and return a copy of Cancelled because I gave her a signed copy and I told HER not to buy a copy, and it was processed, but no return ever hit my account that month).

I am actually surprised they finalize only 15 days later since people can dispute charges on their credit card long after that.

Anyway, my sales dashboard NEVER matches my EOM sales report. I've been both under and over before.

 

[Kate.]

Thanks Elizabeth, that's comforting! A 15% difference still seems pretty high, but I'll wait until the EOM report comes out to see which it matches more closely. I just wish I could put some accurate numbers into my spreadsheet!

 

[Patty Jansen]

The only figures that matter are the ones on your MTD report, and they only matter on that day (if returns happen later).

The pretty chart is usually optimistic about sales and actual sales are lower, but sometimes a bunch show up together. The credit card charges on which that report is based can take much longer than 24 hours to show up. The pretty graph has little relationship with actual sales.

 

[Briteka]

Another thought. The graphs shows all marketplaces, while the old dashboard only shows .com, and you have to change it from the pulldown to show other countries.

 

[Kate.]

The only figures that matter are the ones on your MTD report, and they only matter on that day (if returns happen later).

The pretty chart is usually optimistic about sales and actual sales are lower, but sometimes a bunch show up together. The credit card charges on which that report is based can take much longer than 24 hours to show up. The pretty graph has little relationship with actual sales.

Thanks Patty!

 

[Kate.]

Another thought. The graphs shows all marketplaces, while the old dashboard only shows .com, and you have to change it from the pulldown to show other countries.

Oh my goodness, how didn't I know that??

The nine missing sales and three missing borrows were hidden under the UK, Canada and Australia reports. Phew! Thank you!!

I feel a little silly for making so much of a fuss now, hahaha.

Now I can go back and update last month with the extra non-us sales. I started this thread with 15% of my sales missing, now I'm going to have 15% extra! Can't ask for a better outcome than that!