Euro and US dollar exchange rates plummeted, sellers: It's heartbreaking

Recently, the exchange rates of the euro, the US dollar and the Japanese yen have continued to decline, and cross-border sellers in different markets are under pressure.

In the past two weeks, the exchange rate of the euro against the RMB has been falling all the way. Yesterday, the euro exchange rate once fell into the 7.1 range. The seller bluntly said, "I have never seen such a low exchange rate since I started working in the industry." After the US dollar exchange rate fell below 6.4 in October, it has been hovering around 6.39. This week, the US dollar exchange rate fell to a low of 6.36, and the currency exchange sellers were very distressed.

There are more than one annoying thing. Currently, many sellers are making the final sprint to prepare for the peak season, but there has been a surge in reports of lost goods recently. One seller said that 99 out of 100 cartons of goods were lost, and some sellers lost 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. Even if they provided invoices and other information, they still did not get Amazon's promise of compensation.

The euro and the US dollar exchange rate fell, with the euro falling to 7.1

On January 1, 2021, the euro-RMB spot exchange rate reached a high of 8.05, and then the euro exchange rate has been sliding all the way. In September, the exchange rate accelerated its decline, and last week the euro exchange rate dropped sharply, officially entering the 7.3 range; yesterday, the euro exchange rate fell to 7.1, the lowest to 7.18, and finally closed at 7.20.

Europe is one of the key markets for cross-border sellers. Taking the exchange of 100,000 euros as an example, compared with the beginning of the year, the seller's current exchange loss is as high as RMB 85,000. Soon, the exchange rate drop caused a strong response among sellers:

“——I have never seen such a low exchange rate for the Euro in my career;

——The euro exchange rate is 7.19, could everyone please raise their prices?

——The exchange rate is really heartbreaking;

——The euro fell to the ground, and the losses were heavy;

——It’s a bit scary, the loss of export is huge…”

Some sellers expressed disbelief at the Euro spot exchange rate of 7.2. One seller lamented that the Euro has fallen too much this year. Yesterday, a payment tool gave a withdrawal exchange rate of 7.2, while another gave more than 7.1.

In fact, it is not just the Euro. Sellers said that all exchange rates have fallen, including the US dollar, British pound, and Japanese yen, and they have lost money without doing anything this year. The sharp drop in exchange rates has dealt a heavy blow to sellers, and some have said that they will save foreign exchange first and not withdraw cash for the time being, but the prerequisite is that they have sufficient working capital.

One seller said frankly that he felt that the failure to meet the sales target in 2021 could be blamed on the exchange rate: "I didn't dare to withdraw the euro from 7.7 before, so I hoarded it. As a result, it fell to 7.4, and I almost withdrew all the money I needed to stock up. "

Low profit margins have been a pain point for many sellers this year, and now it’s even worse.

A seller said that he checked the profit and loss statement made by an operator in the afternoon and found that the exchange rate coefficient in the formula had not been changed from May this year to now. It really made him happy for nothing, because after the change, the profit lost another 3 points.

The exchange rates of the euro and the US dollar have dropped significantly, and the exchange rate of the Japanese yen is not much behind. When sellers in the European market complained, sellers in the Japanese market consoled them by saying, "Look at the Japanese yen."

Over the past year, the yen exchange rate has continued to decline steadily, and in October the yen exchange rate showed a significant decline. Yesterday, the yen-RMB spot exchange rate was as low as 0.0555, while at the beginning of this year the exchange rate was still around 0.063.

"With this exchange rate... no matter how great Chopin is, he can't play out my sadness," said a seller.

In fact, sellers are facing more difficulties in all aspects this year: shipping costs are the highest this year, exchange rates are the lowest this year, and selling prices are as stable as a rock (low). However, even if you pay high shipping costs, it does not mean that the goods can be put on the shelves smoothly. Recently, there has been a significant increase in feedback on lost goods .

Frequent loss of goods during peak season , some sellers lose 200,000 yuan

As the peak season approaches, Amazon's warehouses are becoming increasingly "chaotic", with problems such as lost items and slow shelving occurring frequently, causing varying degrees of losses to many sellers. Some sellers have suffered losses of up to 200,000 yuan.

Due to the epidemic, problems such as port congestion and worker shortages in Europe and the United States have become increasingly prominent, seriously affecting the logistics efficiency of cross-border sellers. In order to meet the listing date, many sellers ship their goods early, but after a few months or half a year, they find that the goods are missing. Especially recently, the problem of lost goods has become more serious.

Seller N said that he had a shipment of ONT8 goods that had been in the Amazon warehouse for 10 days. The goods had been delivered to the warehouse, but were shown as in transit. The value of the goods was about 100,000 yuan. Now the goods have been missing for three months, and it is likely that they were lost.

Seller N seemed very helpless : "All other goods have arrived, but the most expensive goods are missing. I dare not argue with the platform for compensation. I issued many invoices , but Amazon does not recognize them. After providing the invoices, the case becomes completed. At present, the chance of getting compensation is very small. I spent thousands of dollars to promote the product, but the goods are gone! Last time, a batch of goods encountered a similar problem and the loss was about 200,000 RMB."

Another seller, L, is also suspected of losing 179 items of goods. The goods are large products, with the value of one item being about 100 US dollars, and the total value of the goods exceeding 100,000 RMB. What puzzles the seller is that the lost goods were delivered together with other goods, but some can be put on the shelves, while others are missing. The key is that these goods are all new products, and they have been missing for about half a year. L probably can't find them back. After he asked, Amazon informed him that the goods were found. But they were never put on the shelves.

“Now I haven’t deleted my listings. I’m still waiting for the goods to be put on the shelves, waiting for pie in the sky to fall.” Seller L was very angry.

After the goods disappeared, sellers all hoped to get them back, and seller M was one of them. The goods M sent to the UK and the US were missing. The goods to the UK were delivered, but Amazon said they had not received them; the goods to the US had not been registered for more than a month; another product was clearly in stock, but the warehouse was closed...

Seller M believes that the goods that have not been registered for a long time must have been lost by Amazon, but he cannot ask for compensation because Amazon does not recognize the receipt certificate he submitted. M said : "I dare not ship the goods now. I just hope that the lost goods can be put on the shelves."

There are many cases of lost goods. One seller said that 99 out of 100 boxes of goods were lost, with a value of about 60,000. After submitting the UPS delivery certificate and purchase invoice, Amazon refused to compensate and said it had not received them. Another seller's batch of goods from the German site was shown as delivered on October 21, but more than 300 products were lost. Because the lost goods were tax-inclusive channels, the freight forwarding company could not provide customs clearance documents, and Amazon did not investigate.

Can these lost goods be eventually found and put on the shelves?

Maybe it is possible. Previously, more than one seller encountered the situation where goods that had been missing for half a year or a year were "strangely" put on Amazon's shelves.

According to industry insiders, Amazon warehouses have been short of staff since the outbreak of the epidemic. During the peak season last year, there were many cases where sellers' goods disappeared and were automatically put on the shelves. In fact, these goods were not lost, but were abandoned in a corner of the warehouse. When the warehouse is fully staffed or the goods are processed, these missing goods will be automatically put on the shelves. Amazon warehouses seem to have been in this chaotic state.

As the epidemic continues into the second year, cross-border sellers’ sales across the entire chain have been affected, especially during the peak season, when the impact of various unstable factors has become more severe. Sellers need to adjust to the best state as soon as possible to prepare for the peak season.