Problems with FBA

Holy Cow! FBA refunds customer a year later?

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 17:03:00 +0000

Normal Amazon sellers have an added level of protection - customers have 30 days to request a return or refund, and only 90 days to leave negative feedback or do a credit card chargeback.

However, sellers give up these rights under FBA. Today, we learned of a customer who read the book ELEVEN MONTHS after receiving it (yes, 11 months) ... didn't enjoy the book, and requested a refund.

FBA granted the refund without consulting the seller (they never do).

The good news is that they credited the seller for the cost of the book ($3.99). But this is bad for the seller: First, there is no limit to what FBA can do to your account - hold funds, issue refunds, not restock your returned items, etc. They don't have to credit the seller.

Second, this counts against your metrics. Every time a customer returns an item it hurts your merchant performance metrics. When you have low merchant performance, it's like a snowball effect - Amazon is less likely to remove inappropriate negative feedback, less likely to issue a credit for things like this, more likely to take the buyer's side on disputes, more likely to side against you on A-Z claims, and more likely to suspend your listings and/or your entire account.

This is not about the money - when FBA gives refunds, they blame YOU, no matter what the circumstances. Even if the item was damaged in transit, they blame YOU for selling items that are prone to damage in transit. If your performance metrics are not perfect across the board, you are in high risk for having your account yanked at any moment. Avoiding FBA, and taking control over your own shipping & customer support, is the best way to prevent this from happening.

New problem with FBA reported - once item is sold, the seller's description is GONE

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:28:00 +0000

This is a complaint we've heard from several FBA sellers:

A customer will order a used item (i.e., a book in good used condition, with some wear/tear), but will have forgotten the description of the book. When it arrives, and the customer sees the wear/tear, they get upset.

The problem is, when ordering a used book from a regular seller, you have lots of places to reference the condition of the book you ordered: your "order history" page, your email confirmation, etc. But with FBA orders, there is no place the customer can find the original condition/description of the book.

Let me repeat that: there is no place the customer can find the seller's original condition/description of the book. Not in the order history. Not in the email confirmation. Not even by contacting Amazon.

So, today we decided to hit two birds with one stone - we wanted to see if the Amazon rep could look up the condition of the seller's original description of an FBA book we ordered, and while we were at it, we wanted to measure the response time of the "click-to-call" feature.

Bottom line is this: the click-to-call actually called our phone in less than 5 seconds, but we were on hold for 6 minutes before somebody actually picked up, and another 19 minutes before they found an answer to our question. And, the answer was a resounding NO - there is no way for them to look up the seller's original description.

No wonder customers are getting confused - this particular problem affected us recently (read our other post here).

Delivery confirmation no longer a valid defense against Amazon A-Z claim?

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Today Amazon granted an A-Z claim for an item which had delivery confirmation. In fact, the customer admitted (via email) that the item arrived *after* she filed the claim, but didn't know how to withdraw her A-Z.

Amazon subtracted the money from our account, and sent us this message:

"Thank you for your response. Unfortunately the tracking information you provided does not include signature confirmation of delivery. As a result, this is insufficient evidence of delivery to the intended recipient. Note that many carriers, including the USPS, use a delivery confirmation that does not confirm delivery to the recipient's address, but instead only confirm delivery to the zip code."

So now *signature confirmation* is necessary for every order, or less sellers are not covered by the A-Z guarantee? Makes no sense, because the A-Z program is insurance that ever seller buys into! (that's what the $1.35 variable closing fee allegedly pays for).

Fortunately, this does not affect FBA sellers. FBA sellers have NO A-Z coverage. They continue to be charged the $1.35 variable closing fee, but receive no benefits.

Theories behind bad feedback for FBA sellers

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:25:00 +0000

FBA sellers are definitely more susceptible to negative feedback than normal sellers. We have seen this many, many times:

We've run this experiment for several months - self-fulling some items, and sending in some items to FBA.

In many instances, we would fulfill the exact same book, in the exact same condition (i.e., Used - Very Good). The delivery time is the same. Our self-fulfilled items receive 5-star feedbacks, but about 5-10% of the FBA orders receive 3-star or 1-star feedbacks (never any "2's" for some reason).

We've also looked at the reports submitted by other FBA sellers - their feedback ratings usually hover around 94-96%. That's pretty bad. If these sellers only fulfill via FBA, receiving 5% negative feedback from FBA orders, some of these sellers risk having their accounts suspended.

We've explored many theories about why FBA orders receive much worse feedback than self-fulfilled items. The FBA warehouse does make a few errors, but not terribly excessive.

This is the heart of the problem: When people order directly from Amazon, they expect new items, not used.

They may have ordered a used book, they may have even read your description. But when it arrives in the mail, and they see the Amazon logo on the box, they're conditioned to expect to see a new book in that box - no matter how well you described your book, some customers are simply disappointed with anything that's not new.

To make matters worse, the customer's order history page does not pull up the description or condition of the book - just the title. So they have no way to reference what they just bought.

We have cut & pasted the description to remind the customer, "Yes - You ordered a used textbook with two or three highlighted passages". Every time, the customer comes back and says, "No, I would never have done that - I was expecting a new book." Eh-hem?? You bought this book at an 80% discount, and you were expecting a new book??

They have simply forgotten what they ordered!!! That's an accurate description of roughly 5-10% of the FBA customers. Remember that "Amazon Prime" members are the primary consumers of FBA items (because they get free shipping).

But don't let the name "prime" fool you - these are not good customers. As a rule, they are spoiled, bratty, over-consumers. They order copious amounts of items online, and forget what they've ordered. One "Prime" customer read a book, and a year later decided she didn't like it so she got a refund!! (A separate entry details this account)

Amazon knows this all too well, and have even begun rescinding "Prime" membership from buyers who return too many items. Amazon knows when to pull the plug on a bad customer, but they don't care how much these people abuse and knock around 3rd party FBA sellers. They will complain, return the item, or leave bad feedback.

So is the solution to sell only new books on FBA? Think again. When ordering a new book, FBA & Prime customers expect it to be new-new. That is, absolutely free of any blemish or flaw.

Remember, FBA is a warehouse. No matter how clean it is, there will be a small amount of dust. Books are put on a conveyor belt before packed, where they may pick up a small ding or two. Sometimes humidity seeps into the warehouse, and the cover curls a little bit. None of these things really bother me as a consumer, but FBA will issue a refund for any reason, any complaint.

FBA really works best for packaged items, things in blister packs, or DVDs that are factory sealed ... not books.

Thinking about joining Amazon's FBA? You may have missed your window. Penny sellers on FBA ruining any chance for success

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:28:00 +0000

If you're a book seller who has been thinking about joining Fulfillment by Amazon, you have probably missed your window.

FBA was never great - they launched about two years ago with LOTS of bugs, and have been slowly improving their service (and correcting their many glitches).

But now, these idiot "penny" mega-sellers have got on board, just about ruined any chance that a regular book seller has to make money. They are, in fact, ruining Amazon for all sellers. (click to enlarge this example we found today)

See this recent example of a John Grisham book. Just one month ago, the book had a good sales rank, and used prices starting at $1.00 + shipping (new prices starting at about $3.00 + shipping). Not great ... but now, the penny sellers are using their FBA status to ruin it for everyone.

And ...get this... they are selling most of their books at a LOSS. That's right, they are literally paying Amazon and the customers to take their books.

This example is an average of what we've seen over the last few weeks (November 2009). It is by no means the worst. In this case, the mega-sellers are selling the book at a loss of about 60 cents per book. In some cases, they lose several dollars per book.

Keep in mind, there is no opportunity to make money on shipping/handling, since FBA sellers do not get reimbursed for s/h. Also keep in mind, losing 60 cents per sale is their best case scenario - there are many other fees & contingencies which may cause them to lose even more money.

For example:

If there is a weight error, they may lose a couple dollars per book
If the book is returned, they face a 5% restocking fee
If the customer complains, they lose an additional $2.50 on this order (which is not reimbursed - remember, FBA sellers receive no A-Z protection)
If the item is in storage for more than a month before it sells, it accrues fees while it sits there
Click here for our list of "12 Passive FBA Fees, Not Disclosed Up Front"

The first question is: Why do they do this if they're losing money? There are lots of ideas on the Amazon discussion board as to why penny sellers do this. Some say they try to build their brand and earn customers - which simply doesn't work. Amazon customers shop on Amazon.com - the strategy of converting their customers to be loyal to your site is ridiculous.

Some say they t make money on handling - and maybe these sellers are too stupid to realize you don't get shipping or handling credits for FBA items!!

My theory is that they have a staff who don't pay attention, and are paid by quantity not quality. I've been to book warehouses like this - there is little oversight, they cut corners and don't hire an accountant. So nobody actually looks at their statements line-by-line to see how they are losing money, and how much money they are losing.

Notice two other things: first, the prices aren't just low - they seem to drop the prices by 10 and 20 cents at a time. Stupid pricing model, especially for a low dollar item to start with.

Second, their feedbacks are awful. Some have 5% or more negative feedback, which could get you suspended. I'll write more about that later.

So, if FBA is no longer viable for book sellers, does it work for anyone?

FBA seems to work best for importers of things like clothing lines, toys from China, etc. In the surveys we've seen, most of the FBA users are manufacturers and businesses who import 10-12 product lines per year (say, stuffed animals, baby toys, cell phone accessories, etc), send the entire truckload to FBA, sell maybe 50% of their inventory during the Christmas season, then pay FBA to throw away/dispose of the remaining inventory.

(FYI - the warehouse charges an additional 60 cents per item to throw away your things, even more for non-media items).

Controversy over Amazon De-ranking Certain Books

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Amazon appears to be using technology tactics to censor and suppress books with certain types of content.

Over the past few days, we've noticed that several books were registering a Zero (0) or no sales rank. Sales ranks help many sellers (including us) determine whether to stock a book, how many books to order or purchase, etc. This information is used in a huge variety of ways by many people - including, telling the Amazon search engine how to provide results to search queries.

Then, just yesterday a story broke about how Amazon may be suppressing (or de-ranking) the sales ranks of books with certain sales rankings - and in particular, books with GLBT (gay and lesbian) themes.

The first book I noticed which was de-ranked as "AIDS and the National Body" - an academic book about postmodern understandings of AIDS. The book was not written by a GLBT person, and is not particularly explicit, but I can only assume the book was targeted because of the subject. Ironic, given that this book argues that the AIDS stereotype still exists (i.e., a disease caught by deserving people because of their sick desires).

What does Amazon intend to gain by this practice? What are the perceived benefits/results from this practice? Are they trying to suppress GLBT subjects? If they have a problem, why not just "move" anything they deem questionable to an adult area, or require those over 18 to be logged in to view these items?

There seem to be many simpler (and probably more cost-effective) ways to accomplish their goals. Further, Amazon has always supported freedom of speech, and discouraged hate speech. My question is, why do they not target the many programs emerging over the past few months which support hate speech and encourage violence? (i.e., Glen Beck, Ann Coulter, etc)

Click here for the story at CNET.com (which also contains a petition to stop this practice, if you feel so inclined to sign it).

(This post is not necessarily related to FBA practices, but anything related to censorship is important enough to mention)

Debunking the latest FBA feedback myth: Folks, FBA will NOT remove your negative feedback

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Today (Wednesday, January 28) FBA issued a statement saying that they will consider "striking" FBA sellers who receive negative feedback, under certain circumstances (lots of small print).

Discussion boards were buzzing with gleeful FBA sellers, who failed to read the small print!

FBA was immediately flooded with email requests, and it took only a few hours for FBA to post a new statement, clarifying that NONE of the requests to "strike" feedback actually met their criteria.

Basically, here's the "small print" on their new policy:

-Feedback will never be fully retracted - it will be stricken through
-Feedback striking is not retroactive (nobody's past negative feedback will be erased)

...and, the biggest caveat - no feedback will be removed if the feedback complains about the condition, even when FBA (or the carrier) damaged the item!

This is the cause for 90% of the negative FBA feedback - that the FBA warehouse damages an item!!

So basically, the only time Amazon will remove feedback if:

-FBA sends the wrong item
-If a seller specifically says "this mistake was the fault of the FBA warehouse" (which never, ever happens. Trust me, customers don't understand FBA, and don't care - they just want their book)
-Finally, if somebody says "Amazon sucks" in their feedback... which Amazon already has a policy against! The bottom line is, almost nothing has changed!

This is basically lip service - something to make FBA sellers feel better, and to boost recruitment (too many people have read too many blogs and horror stories like the ones we document here). In actuality, this "new" policy will not make things better for most sellers.

Problem with FBA order - "new" book shows up factory sealed, but with highlighting & underlining

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:36:00 +0000

Two weeks ago we ordered a "new" book from an FBA seller, and it arrived factory sealed and on time.

However, today we opened the book, and it had highlighting and notes on EVERY page! How could this happen? Somebody is being extremely disingenuous.

Further, we contacted FBA via email, and they said sometimes this type of damage occurs during shipping. HUH? How does underlining occur during shipping??? (full email below)

Next, we used the "click-to-call" feature, which took 25 minutes - and they offered us a $1.40 refund, or we could return the book for a full refund. (read other post here)

The most disturbing thing was that we wanted to look up the wording of the seller's original description (mainly to see if the item was described as sealed at the "factory", or if they disclosed they were selling remainders or books that were somehow remanufactured). Anyway, the original description cannot be accessed by the buyer. Not even Amazon could tell us over the phone what the original description was.

Common Questions about FBA; Q&A

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:23:00 +0000

Here is a quick list of common questions we get about "Fulfillment by Amazon":

Can sellers get negative feedback from FBA orders/warehouse mistakes?
Yes

Are FBA sellers still covered by A-Z protection?
No

Can a seller be reprimanded or suspended for negative feedback from FBA orders? Yes

Can a seller be reprimanded or suspended or customer complaints about FBA-fulfilled orders?
Yes

Will FBA work with my 3rd party listing/repricing software?
No - FBA does not work with Seller Engine, Art of Books, Alibris, and most others.

Can I reprice my FBA items?
Yes - we had started working on a tutorial for this, but FBA has changed the layout of seller central too many times.

Are there hidden fees not explained in the FBA Rate Card/Fee Chart?
Yes - In addition to the fees on the official fee chart (Order Handling Fee, Pick & Pack Fee, and Weight Handling Fee) there are several hidden (also called passive) fees. Here are a few:

VCF (variable closing fee, $1.35 per order)

Restocking Fee (5%, when items are rturned)

Storage Fee ($0.45 - $0.65 per foot)

Oversize fees (you pay an extra $3.00 per item)

Stickering Fee (pay directly to the FBA staff, or buy your own stickers, $0.03 per item)

Weight error Fees (A common error in the Amazon database. i.e., If you are selling a mass market book, and it is classified as 4 pounds instead of 4 ounces, you will pay an additional $1.60 per item)

Non-Amazon sale Fees (if you sell an item outside Amazon, additional fees range from $1.40 -$3.00 more per item)

Priority & International Fees (between $7.40 and $17.00)

Be aware that these will be deducted out of your account, sometimes entered as a "miscellaneous adjustment". As sellers get used to the system & adjust to the new (and ever-changing) fees, some sellers have experienced more fees than income, with a net-zero or net-negative earnings their first month.

Where can I get more information about FBA fees?
Click here for a nuts & bolts example of one seller's fees (an apples-to-apples comparison, before & after FBA)

And, click here for a list of 12 "passive" fees not explained up-front in the FBA fee chart.

Where can I learn more about how weight fees are charged?
Click here for an analysis of how Amazon determines the fees for the weight &/or dimensions of your item

What happens if a customer cancels or returns an order?
FBA deducts the amount from your account. They will not notify the seller.

Do sellers have any control over refunds?
No

What happens to inventory that doesn't sell?
You either pay for indefinite storage, or you pay to have it returned to you

Does FBA ever damage inventory?
Yes

If a customer returns an item, does FBA relist it for me?
No - you must manually relist the item. You will, however, pay for storage fees in the meantime.

Will FBA notify me that items have been returned &/or refunded?
No - you must review your inventory & transactions periodically. Returns will be noted as "miscellaneous deduction" - no reason will be indicated, no records are kept of customer service issues.

If the item is returned due to condition (either FBA damaged the item, a customer opened/damaged the item, or it was damaged in transit), will it be relisted?
No - you must (1) pay to have it discarded, or, (2) pay to have it shipped back to you, so you can inspect it and make a decision about it's sale-ability, or, (3) you will pay storage fees for that item indefinitely.

Does FBA ever send the wrong item?
Yes, occasionally there are mix-ups in the FBA warehouse

What happens if FBA damages an item and the customer complains?
FBA deducts the amount from your account, and you risk getting negative feedback

Is there a phone number for the FBA warehouse?
No, the only way to contact FBA is by generating a support ticket. In most cases, you will receive an answer within 24 hours. If it is a difficult question, or a technical issue, it may take up to 3 weeks to receive an answer.

Will FBA handle ALL customer service for the orders they fulfill?
No - only if the customer knows to contact Amazon. Customers will often continue to contact the seller about the status of their order.

Can the seller issue a refund to an FBA customer who complains?
No - this functionality is disabled for sellers.

What if a customer refuses to call FBA - can the seller submit a support ticket?
No. We have heard several stories where customers feel they are getting the "runaround" by being asked to call or email somebody else. If the customer refuses to call the Amazon customer support, there is nothing the seller can do - and you risk receiving negative feedback.

Does FBA provide tracking numbers for orders?
No

Does FBA pack orders well?
Sometimes - we've received reports both ways, and it seems to depend on the warehouse. One buyer reported purchasing 15 items from an FBA seller, and they were thrown into a large box without any padding, packing, or peanuts of any kind.

Do FBA orders come in Amazon boxes?
Yes. FBA announced they may soon work on ways for sellers to specify whether they want orders shipped in FBA boxes or blank boxes.

How long does it take to send items in to the FBA warehouse?
Plan to spend at least 30-60 minutes preparing your shipment online. You must create a special sku for each item, convert each item from Merchant-fulfilled to Amazon-fulfilled, you must set the quantity (again), then confirm your shipment, prepare/print item labels, prepare/print packing slip, prepare/print shipping labels, chose a carrier, and mark your box as shipped.

Then, you must sticker/label each item (some items require multiple stickers), and pack them up. When FBA checks in your inventory, if they do not agree with the condition of the item (i.e., they feel it is "good" and you marked it as "very good" or "like-new") then your item will be marked as un-fulfillable, and will not be listed for sale on Amazon.com.

What kind of stickers are required for FBA?
FBA requires that all bar codes are covered with a unique FBA bar code. These are standard Avery stickers (roughly $0.03-$0.05 per sticker, if you can find a generic brand). Some items require up to 3-4 stickers - every bar code on the product must be covered.

Do customers ever complain about the stickers?
Yes - especially if they purchase the item as a gift. We suggest paying extra for the "easy-peel" stickers, to cut down on negative feedback.

Is Seller Central easy to use?
There is no fair way to answer this. It is under constant revision.

Will FBA increase my sales?
In the last FBA survey, 40% of sellers reported the same or increased sales under FBA; 35% reported no change; and 25% reported a decrease in sales.

In the same survey, 85% of FBA sellers reported an increase in Amazon fees, and 90% reported that their net income per item had decreased. 60% of sellers reported that participating in the FBA program consumed more time than fulfilling items themselves, and 40% reported that it saved time.

70% of sellers reported an increase in negative feedback and/or refunds under the FBA program.

Does FBA ship internationally?
Yes and No - there is an international program FBA sellers can subscribe to. However, this program is only available in 7 countries (for example, FBA sellers cannot sell to Canada).

How to contact Amazon Customer Service

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:00:00 +0000

We get dozens of emails each week asking if we know the toll free 1-800 phone for Amazon and for FBA (the Amazon warehouse, otherwise known as fulfillment by Amazon). The bad news is, there is no phone number for FBA. Sellers are out of luck - the only way to contact them is to start a support ticket.

The good news is, if you're an Amazon customer, you can contact Amazon 3 ways - by email, by "click to call" (log into "My Account" and find the link), or by calling this toll free number (a 1-866 number, not a 1-800 number, but it's still free):

1-866-216-1072 (US only)
1-206-266-2992 (international customers)

Good luck!

FBA fee comparison chart - fees are more than most people realize

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0000

Here's a nuts & bolts example of how the FBA fees work. This is a direct comparison for one of our top selling books. It's a small item, inexpensive to store and ship. We raised the price by $1.00 when sending it in to FBA, yet are still losing quite a bit, because most of our orders are international, and we lose out on the shipping reimbursement:

(click to enlarge)

Anybody else getting this error when trying to deposit/sweep funds?

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:07:00 +0000

FBA charges sellers a restocking fee?

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, it appears this is a new policy. FBA charges the seller 5% when an item is returned.

Ironically, this applies even if the return was a result of an FBA mistake!

Read the full thread here.

What FBA did to one seller's feedback

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Account suspended/payments delayed due to bad FBA feedback?

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Earlier, we commented how we were getting bad feedback due to FBA fulfillment errors, and we wondered if this would affect our seller performance. In fact, in the past 8-9 months, 100% of our neutral and negative feedback has come from FBA-fulfilled orders, and zero bad feedbacks from merchant-fulfilled orders.

Further, we speculated that poor "seller performance" (that is, poor feedback based on FBA mistakes) could result in getting an account suspended by Amazon Alliance.

Apparently this has already happened to another seller. Read the full thread on the Amazon discussion board.

Another payment delay from FBA

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:56:00 +0000

...these happen about once or twice a month with Seller Central/Marketplace 2.0. Never any explanation why...and of course, they never offer to pay mortgage or credit card late fees, which directly result from their "technical problems".

FBA charges VCF fees (variable closing fees)... one of the biggest complaints we hear

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:34:00 +0000

The FBA policy that we receive the most complaints about is the VCF (variable closing fee).

This fee is $1.35 per order. Usually it's deducted from your s/h reimbursement (3.99-1.35 = $2.64 s/h reimbursement). When this was initiated, we were told this is to cover the A-Z program (an insurance-type program which covers sellers in case of damage/loss in transit).

However, FBA sellers receive no s/h reimbursement, and receive no A-Z protection. In fact, in case of returns, FBA charges an ADDITIONAL 5% restocking fee (if they even bother to recover & restock the damaged/returned item).

This raises many questions: Doesn't Amazon/FBA use UPS to ship all their orders? And, aren't all packages automatically insured up to $100? So, what happens to this money?

(a) Why are FBA sellers still charged the VCF for the A-Z insurance program, when the packages should already be insured?
(b) Why are FBA sellers penalized (not reimbursed) when damage or loss occurs in transit to the customer?
(c) What happens to the UPS insurance money? Does FBA "double-dip" and keep both the insurance money and the seller's money?

PS - For a complete list of FBA fees, visit:
Fba fee comparison sample

and,

FBA Passive Fees (often not explained up front)

FBA decision - no turning back!

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:00:00 +0000

We see comments all the time, calling FBA users "whiners" and asking, "Why don't you just cancel?", or, "Why don't you just fire them?"

The answer is simple - there's no turning back once you upgrade to Seller Central/Marketplace 2.0. You cannot undo it, and you cannot open up a new account (or else Alliance will suspend or terminate your account).

Most people don't know this, so be aware. So if you rely on book sales for income (we're a bookstore, and online sales account for a large percent of our overall income), then keep in mind you'll need an "exit strategy" in case something goes wrong, because you'll no longer be able to sell on Amazon (i.e., Half.com, eBay, ABE Books, etc).

FBA Users: Get used to this Seller Central error message

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:54:00 +0000

Seems like Seller Central/Marketplace 2.0 is constantly down. Getting this message 7 or 8 times a week:

FBA nickel & dimes sellers - fulfillment fees charged in pounds, not ounces

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:54:00 +0000

We've seen this several times, where an Amazon listing would mistakenly list a book as 14 pounds, not 14 ounces. Well, guess what ... that means you pay 10x additional storage fees, and 10x additional fulfillment fees.

Does that mean you have to look up each item's weight & dimensions on Amazon.com? YES!

Does this mean I could actually lose money selling a book? YES!

See the chart for cost comparisons. Keep in mind, while this happens a lot, the more common error is one that is off by several ounces, not several pounds ... an error that you would probably never notice.

Also keep in mind, it does not take an error like this to lose money on an FBA transaction. Sellers lose money all the time - by being forced to lower prices, by having an item sit in storage too long, on returned merchandise, by FBA restocking fees, etc:

Is Amazon deleting posts from the FBA discussion board?

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:53:00 +0000

We've been trying to find past posts & past comments on the FBA discussion board, but we can't find them!

Is Amazon deleting the more "sensitive" and critical posts from the FBA thread? The FBA thread is already pretty bad, riddled with complaints of all sorts...

FBA mixing up sellers inventories - you get the bad feedback & fallout from customer

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:46:00 +0000

We've seen this happen many times - once on our account, many times with other sellers.

FBA will put an item under your merchant sku, sell the item, then realize their mistake and cancel the order. Guess who gets the fallout (and negative comment) from the buyer? Of course! The seller always gets the negative feedback:

Click here to read the full thread, of yet another example of this

PS - We had an earlier thread about a seller who's account was suspended due to excessive negative feedback from FBA.

Inventory marked as "unsellable"

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:18:00 +0000

What happens if an item gets damaged in transit, on its way to the FBA warehouse?

Logic would dictate that FBA would notify you, and you could initiate an insurance claim through UPS or FedEx. WRONG!

Instead, they set the item aside and don't tell you why (meanwhile, you are paying storage fees). Keep in mind, there are a million reasons they might set an item aside - it's totally your guess until you email and ask. Then it might take days (or weeks) to get an answer.

If you discover an item has been damaged in transit, you can request to have the item shipped back to you at your expense (usual cost is about $3 per item per book, $5 per item for non-media), then it's completely up to you to file an insurance claim.

And, if you used FBA's preferred shipping method to send in your items (the FBA UPS account), you're out of luck. They will NOT help you file a claim.

(click to enlarge)

Broken FBA promise - bad feedback NOT removed

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000

When we signed up for FBA, we were explicitly promised that we would NOT receive bad feedback as a result of Amazon's mistakes.

We were told it has NEVER happened in the past. On a follow-up phone conversation, the salesperson told us they were checking into ways to remove bad feedback, in case it ever happened. Exerpt from the email they sent:

However, we are receiving neutral & negative feedbacks from FBA mistakes. In fact, roughly 30% of our inventory is being fulfilled by Amazon, and 70% is fulfilled by us (called merchant-fulfilled). In the past 8 months, we have had 100% feedback (ZERO bad feedbacks) for self-fulfilled items, yet our FBA orders have generated close to 14% neutral and negative feedbacks!

FBA has sent the wrong items, sent items late, damaged items in their warehouse, etc. So, they promised us ZERO bad feedbacks, yet, in the past 8 months, 100% of our bad feedbacks has come from them! Think about it... there's a huge difference between 0% and 100%!

Naturally this slows down sales. And it's obviously not something we're doing wrong - we have always maintained close to 100% feedback.

But it now appears, however, that they never intended on taking any preventative measures against bad feedback. They are not working on ways to prevent or remove bad feedback as a result of FBA errors, have since updated their policy page as follows (click to enlarge):

Allow me to summarize - their policy is basically "bugger off".

Now, we get an angry letter from Amazon Alliance, saying that unless we improve our feedback, our account may be suspended. HUH???

The rule is, if sellers do not maintain minimum standards (maintaining less than 5% refund rate, more than 95% feedback, and keeping low A-Z claims), they will suspend your account. How ironic, that a 5-star, 100% seller is now being threatened with a suspended account due to Amazon's own mistakes, through no fault of their own!!!

No A-Z Protection under FBA

noreply@blogger.com (Evans) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Under Amazon's A-Z Guarantee program, buyers who have a problem with their order (lost in mail, damaged, not as described) can file an A-Z guarantee.

We were told this program is funded by the VCF (variable closing fee) of $1.35 per order, which comes out of the shipping/handling reimbursement.

Usually, in the case of damage or loss, if the seller can prove the item was shipped on time they are not liable for the claim, and the customer gets a refund direct from the A-Z fund.

However, with FBA, there is not A-Z protection... for the buyer or the seller! If the buyer has a problem, it is completely up to FBA staff - usually they just issue a refund, no questions asked.

But this refund is taken out of YOUR account, not the A-Z fund! We learned this the hard way. A customer ordered a $75 book, which arrived damaged. It was new when we shipped it into FBA, and FBA verified it was new when they checked it in. So the damage must have happened in the FBA warehouse, or during transit from the FBA warehouse to the customer.

Even though the damage was not our fault, they refunded the customer, did not ask them to return the book, and took the $75 out of our account. What's more, I'm pretty sure FBA uses UPS, and each shipment is automatically insured for $100. So...if this was damage during transit, why did they not file an insurance claim? If they did, why did they charge us the $75? Is it their policy to pocket the money?

Their response to this question is, "if the FBA program isn't working for you, feel free to close down your account at any time." Keep in mind, once you convert to Seller Central, you can never change back. So they're basically inviting you to close down your business if you don't care for their one-way policies.

And to make matters worse... FBA sellers still pay the VCF of $1.35 per order! What the heck? Where is this money going??? We're paying into a supposed insurance plan, why are we not insured like other sellers?