Amazon Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools
Book Review by James M. GarnesOverview
Amazon Hacks will appeal to Amazon users, anyone who deals in books, music, and all the other products which Amazon retails - and in particular those who would like to join Amazon affiliates and need help in getting set up.
This book tells you how to get information from Amazon; how to contribute reviews, recommendation lists, and product advice; how to sell stuff; how to make money as an affiliate; and how to harness the power of Amazon's enormous database using tools they will provide - all for free!
HYPERLINK "http://www.Amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596005423/ref=nosim/mantexinformatio" \t "_blank" There are now lots of opportunities to sell, auction, and broker goods at Amazon. It's like being in eCommerce with all the headaches taken out. Paul Bausch tells you how to do it - using Amazon's marketplace and Zshops systems. The first part is about how to use and make contributions to the 'Amazon community' - how to submit book reviews, make reading suggestion lists, and send gifts to your friends.
The second part is how to sell through Amazon - which you can do by marketing what you have, or finding out what other people want. And this is either by straight sales or by auctions.
Next comes the affiliates program, whereby you get a commission for every customer you send to Amazon - so long as they make a purchase. Some people have established full time jobs on the strength of this scheme. It's fairly simple, and all the steps are explained.
The last part of the book is an account of Amazon Web Services. These are free advanced tools and programs they offer for data recovery - XML, PHP, XSLT, databases, and SOAP. All the coding necessary for embracing these hacks is included.
Table of Contents
The 100 Amazon hacks are organized into 6 chapters, including the following:1 - Browsing and Searching
2 - Controlling Your Information
3 - Participating in the Amazon Community
4 - Selling Through Amazon
5 - Associates Program
6 - Amazon Web ServicesTarget Readers
Amazon Hacks addresses three audiences: buyers, sellers, and programmers. The term "buyers" includes people who not only purchase goods from Amazon.com, but also participate in the Amazon community by contributing product reviews, lists, and guides.
This book is not intended to be merely an exhaustive explanation of Amazon's features. Instead it's intended to highlight some lesser-known features, show some tricks for working with Amazon efficiently, and document ways to access Amazon programmatically.
Amazon Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools
Paul Bausch
O’Reilly & Associates, Inc.
1005 Gravenstein Highway North
Sebastopol, California 95472
304 pages, (cover price $24.95; $17.47 at Amazon)