Selling through Amazon FBA

[asharerin]

5 minutes ago, landphieran said:

I looked up a random listing for the specific brands

- It says you need approval to list

- I hit request access 

- You have been approved based on seller metrics

As a reference I have sold 3,000 units this year.

Nice . We have done alot more than 3000 units but they still want our money for some brands lol.

Thanks for the heads up anyway Ill try every few hours until they fix the glitch.

[landphieran]

7 minutes ago, asharerin said:

Nice . We have done alot more than 3000 units but they still want our money for some brands lol.

Thanks for the heads up anyway Ill try every few hours until they fix the glitch.

We'll see if these approvals stick. I can only speculate its a glitch or my increase in volume and positive reviews surpassed a certain threshold.

[asharerin]

23 minutes ago, landphieran said:

We'll see if these approvals stick. I can only speculate its a glitch or my increase in volume and positive reviews surpassed a certain threshold.

They should stick. I don't know how Amazon does things we have been ungated in brands we have never sold while others who did sell them remain gated. We are just enjoying the Amazon ride for as long as we can

[exciter1]

Are computers and electronics inherently ungated, or is this something most have to request?  I've never had any trouble listing most brands.

[asharerin]

1 hour ago, exciter1 said:

Are computers and electronics inherently ungated, or is this something most have to request?  I've never had any trouble listing most brands.

It is just the major brands such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Panasonic, Canon, Denon, Sony etc. We were grandfathered into everything except for Apple. I wouldn't mess around selling Apple but it would be nice to have the option if it was free. No go on any of our accounts unfortunately. Maybe next time.

[newbie77]

to all the veteran FBA's 

1) how often has your inventory being going to "reserved" after being in "fulfillable" ?

2) how often they come back [ and how long does it take ] ?

reason for my ask; for last 4 week i have lost about 200 units that were in "fulfillable" and its going to "reserved" and then vanishes. it never comes back.

is there any better way than "reconciliation" ? 

i knew i was losing inventory but never been able to prove it to the extent i am seeing now.

 

[landphieran]

1) Inventory frequently shifts from Fulfillable to reserved as they move them around there warehouses that they need them in.

2) It comes back eventually? There is a report you can run to see the items shift in and out of stock Reports -> Fulfillment. You can compare the items moving in and out of stock to your shipment list of what you sent in. I personally don't track it or watch it much anymore. Its nearly impossible to get resolved and nearly impossible to prove that they lost anything. Most of the reports you can run are already automated in there "reconciliation payments" they send you. Its important to note everything they do operates on a pretty long time frame of getting issues resolved. Best of Luck.

On a side note I think Amazon is operating pretty slowly right now. Its taken 3-4 weeks for my shipments to be received and available after being delivered.

If any of the bigger sellers use a third party software to track there inventory and post things to Amazon, maybe that would provide a better source for reconciliation? I've been looking for some solutions to make taxes and managing everything easier if anyone has any suggestions.

[landphieran]

It appears that Amazon is cracking down on some seemingly large book sellers requesting invoices. Be careful out there!

 

[thedingman5]

So, is this actual news about Nike selling direct through Amazon, or old news being re-hashed?  Any chance LEGO goes this route, too?

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/technology/business/amazon-nike-goldman-sachs/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom

Nike could be ready to cut out the middleman and start selling directly on Amazon.com, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst report.

The sportswear brand's products can already be found on Amazon via unlicensed and licensed third-party vendors. But Nike (NKE) is now reportedly nearing a deal to open up its own shop on the e-commerce giant's website.

- See more at: http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/technology/business/amazon-nike-goldman-sachs/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom#sthash.ymX3iXet.dpuf

Edited June 21, 2017 by thedingman5

[asharerin]

10 minutes ago, thedingman5 said:

So, is this actual news about Nike selling direct through Amazon, or old news being re-hashed?  Any chance LEGO goes this route, too?

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/technology/business/amazon-nike-goldman-sachs/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom

Nike could be ready to cut out the middleman and start selling directly on Amazon.com, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst report.

The sportswear brand's products can already be found on Amazon via unlicensed and licensed third-party vendors. But Nike (NKE) is now reportedly nearing a deal to open up its own shop on the e-commerce giant's website.

- See more at: http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/technology/business/amazon-nike-goldman-sachs/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom#sthash.ymX3iXet.dpuf

That is new news. Nike will get its own brand registry to protect against fakes. Say goodbye to that brand for all other sellers . Lego could do the same at any time but they are not very progressive when it comes to retailing or distribution so I doubt they would go down that path.

Nike and textbooks are now done. Tough week for resellers on the Amazon platform as those were two very lucrative markets. Keep diversified and keep adding brands and categories as it is only a matter of time before another big brand or category gets restricted.

[asharerin]

If you currently have any Nike listings it might be smart to delete them before the bots are unleashed and the emails are sent.

[newbie77]

2 hours ago, asharerin said:

That is new news. Nike will get its own brand registry to protect against fakes. Say goodbye to that brand for all other sellers . Lego could do the same at any time but they are not very progressive when it comes to retailing or distribution so I doubt they would go down that path.

Nike and textbooks are now done. Tough week for resellers on the Amazon platform as those were two very lucrative markets. Keep diversified and keep adding brands and categories as it is only a matter of time before another big brand or category gets restricted.

reason Lego will not do that is plain and simple 

a. by my estimate roughly over 50% to 60% of their sales is actually to resellers, bricklinker part-outers

b. They kind of tried to kill resellers which in turn hit the part-a-outers. Now they are hurting because people aren't buying 

c. Talk about stores breaking 500+ tumblers; 250+ sand crawlers and we are talking about volumes. This is what keeps the billion $ plastic toys business running. Not the mom and pop buying one set here and there  of course they are the valued customer who will pay $199 for 75920 but that's after 2 years of it retirement.

 

[redcell]

What is your estimate based on?

[landphieran]

Today I got hit with an inauthentic claim on a listing I have been the only seller on for nearly two years. Until about a 3 months ago, someone piggybacked the listing and decided they must undercut by .01 until the profits are negligible. Being stubborn I floored the price so the other seller sold at the lowest possible for the last couple months. (Could have been avoidable if they matched the price).

I had randomly sold a few units being the higher price over this time. Not abnormal. However, now I got an inauthentic claim one of the few the items. I reached out the buyer, inquiring to the issues of the order and offering assistance, with no response.

Amazon bots picked up on this and inquired for past receipts/invoices and additional information. I have two years of receipts, which include many other listings sourced from the same manufacturer which I've sold many many units of products without an issue.

I'm rather annoyed its so easy to torpedo a seller. Sounds like a good opportunity for a business. Amazon bandits for hire.

Should I present the information, then call Amazon to get this resolved by someone on the phone? I assume there is nothing I can do to remove the feedback? Anything else anyone would recommend doing? I plan on taking this very seriously for obvious reasons. Thanks!

[Bold-Arrow]

Provide the invoices and you should be fine . 

Also open a case regarding feedback removal

[Bold-Arrow]

technical glitch with amazon : unable to calculate shipping costs, should be resolved in few hours . 

blah 

[Bold-Arrow]

i must have missed this, but now you can read customer comments on some FBA returns 

 

[Jackson]

1 hour ago, Bold-Arrow said:

i must have missed this, but now you can read customer comments on some FBA returns 

 

Where are you seeing the comments?

[Bold-Arrow]

1 hour ago, Jackson said:

Where are you seeing the comments?

reports > fulfilment > fba customer returns 

if the reason under Customer Return Reason is underlined , click on it and you should see the comment. 

[Jackson]

2 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

reports > fulfilment > fba customer returns 

if the reason under Customer Return Reason is underlined , click on it and you should see the comment. 

What's funny is that I see a return reason similar to yours: "My son accidentally ordered this."

Hey, sons, quit being so shady and/or incompetent. Thanks.

[landphieran]

What is the best way to deal with extortion. A buyer claimed they can purchase the item else where for cheaper (weird) and are going leave negative feedback if they don't receive a partial refund. They stated this verbatim in a message to me.

Ideally I'd stop the negative review upfront and have the buyer blocked, but I assume Amazon will just tell me to create a case once the buyer leaves negative feedback. Based on all of the open cases I have at the moment I'd prefer to not have to wait for these to slowly get resolved.

[asharerin]

27 minutes ago, landphieran said:

What is the best way to deal with extortion. A buyer claimed they can purchase the item else where for cheaper (weird) and are going leave negative feedback if they don't receive a partial refund. They stated this verbatim in a message to me.

Ideally I'd stop the negative review upfront and have the buyer blocked, but I assume Amazon will just tell me to create a case once the buyer leaves negative feedback. Based on all of the open cases I have at the moment I'd prefer to not have to wait for these to slowly get resolved.

Is that for an FBA order or merchant fulfilled?

[landphieran]

1 minute ago, asharerin said:

Is that for an FBA order or merchant fulfilled?

FBA

[asharerin]

7 minutes ago, landphieran said:

FBA

Tough one. Personally I would give the refund, take the tax deduction, and move on without wasting anymore time on it. Sucks but fraud/shakedowns are part of selling online.

If you want to take a stand then others can chime in I am sure. If you have a number of open cases way the pros and cons of taking a stand.

[asharerin]

The beast is insatiable and unstoppable:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/20/amazon-new-fba-program-buys-products-from-u-s-retailers-at-full-price.html