Amazon's new feature takes effect, some sellers may face forced automatic refunds

Currently, Amazon’s inventory quantity has dynamic restrictions. Some sellers reported that the inventory quantity was sufficient last week, but today the shipment was restricted. There were also sellers whose goods were already on the way, but received red warnings that they were about to exceed the limit, making it much more difficult for sellers to replenish their goods.

On May 4, Amazon’s new scan-for-return feature came into effect for the first time. Some sellers were very pessimistic about the upcoming forced automatic refunds, calling it “the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Amazon's new feature takes effect, sellers may face forced automatic refunds

Previously, Amazon issued a notice: sellers will soon enable first scan refunds (RFS) for returns of self-delivered goods , which caused a strong response.

Starting May 4, 2021, Amazon will launch the "First Scan Refund" (RFS) feature for all sellers using the prepaid return label program. As long as the goods are returned through Amazon's "Prepaid Return Label Program", they will automatically support the first scan refund.

The feature took effect on May 4, and Amazon reiterated the policy:

For sellers who deliver goods themselves, this feature is both new and mandatory ; for sellers using FBA, Amazon has previously required the use of this feature.

Amazon said that with this feature , sellers no longer have to process refunds within two business days as required. If the buyer uses an Amazon prepaid return label when dropping off or sending back the return, the refund will be received after the carrier's first scan is completed. For all refunds processed using the "First Scan Refund" feature, sellers will still receive a refund notification email from Amazon.

When sellers first saw this notice, they were shocked: What if they encounter return fraud after the automatic refund starts? How can our interests be protected?

In response, Amazon stated that if the seller receives a returned item that is damaged or has significant differences due to the buyer's negligence , they can apply for SAFE-T compensation as long as the refund is issued through the "First Scan Refund" function.

In fact, the automatic refund function has been implemented among FBA sellers before , and now self-shipping sellers are also forced to include it. Most self-shipping sellers are very dissatisfied.

One seller complained: “This is the most horrible change I have seen in my 10 years on Amazon. I’m not sure who had this idea, but it is by far the worst. SAFE-T claims will skyrocket, but claims will not be paid. Customer fraud will be in the thousands of dollars. We have already listed our listings on other platforms because we can’t replenish inventory faster before the listings are suppressed.”

The seller also raised another question: "'For items lost or damaged in transit, sellers will be able to file a claim directly with the carrier to receive compensation.' We don't know how to do this because we are not the shipper of record and Amazon is? But will Amazon fully insure every shipment?"

In China, some e-commerce platforms have already launched the quick refund function, and it is a general trend for Amazon to implement this policy. Obviously, this will improve the shopping experience of buyers, but sellers need to pay for this experience.

Amazon inventory limits updated again?

After the May Day holiday, some sellers questioned whether Amazon’s inventory restrictions have been updated again?

Some sellers said that after Amazon’s inventory restrictions, the dynamic restrictions on inventory quantity are driving people crazy! Last week, the inventory was sufficient, but today, shipments are restricted.

Moreover, more than one seller was restricted from shipping. Another colleague said that a shipping plan was created, the goods were on the way, but a red warning came, indicating that the inventory was about to exceed the limit.

Amazon’s actions directly restricted shipments, making sellers speechless!

There are many uncertainties in dynamic restrictions. Some sellers question: Amazon’s inventory is probably not updated once a week.

Why do we say it seems to have been updated again? Because when some people were restricted from shipping, the inventory capacity of some sellers increased significantly.

After the holiday, some sellers reported good news: the storage capacity increased by several thousand after the holiday; another colleague said that he wanted to find an overseas warehouse before the holiday , but the storage capacity doubled in the past two days !

Why are shipment restrictions and warehouse capacity increases coming at the same time? Industry insiders said this may be related to the sellers' own sales situation.

The editor noticed that a seller who reported that the inventory capacity had increased had good sales recently, and several of his products were selling very well. In April, when many sellers reported a large drop in sales, this seller was not affected . Instead, his sales increased a lot, and his orders even set a new record.

Previously, some industry insiders said that Amazon is allowing more products with good sales to get more slots and giving them sufficient storage capacity. As for some products that are not easy to sell, they should not occupy warehouses for a long time. After all, Amazon's warehouses are also used to make money.

After updating its policy this time, Amazon also mentioned that it would set purchase restrictions at the storage type level to provide sellers with greater flexibility in managing freight.

In fact, after the inventory policy was updated, many sellers have taken measures to keep up with the changes. They are working hard to increase sales and obtain sufficient inventory capacity.

Some old sellers believe that Amazon's inventory capacity update is not as terrible as sellers think. It is not a double restriction that prevents sellers from shipping. It is just that the platform is screening good products. The previous distribution model is no longer suitable for some sellers. For some sellers, such a policy is actually beneficial. Everyone can take action to reduce the number of SKUs and make high-quality products.

One seller complained: “This is the most horrible change I have seen in my 10 years on Amazon. I’m not sure who had this idea, but it is by far the worst. SAFE-T claims will skyrocket, but claims will not be paid. Customer fraud will be in the thousands of dollars. We have already listed our listings on other platforms because we can’t replenish inventory faster before the listings are suppressed.”

The seller also raised another question: "'For items lost or damaged in transit, sellers will be able to file a claim directly with the carrier to receive compensation.' We don't know how to do this because we are not the shipper of record and Amazon is? But will Amazon fully insure every shipment?"

In China, some e-commerce platforms have already launched the quick refund function, and it is a general trend for Amazon to implement this policy. Obviously, this will improve the shopping experience of buyers, but sellers need to pay for this experience.

If the "recommended retail price" is not filled in the details page , the product may not be eligible for the flash sale

In addition, some sellers said they received a new MSRP regulation from Amazon’s investment manager , and products that do not comply will not be able to participate in flash sales.

The notice stated that starting from April 1, 2021, Amazon will implement the new "VRP" deal rules. If the "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)" is not filled in the product details page, the impact is as follows:

1. US, CA, MX, BR, UK, DE, IT, ES: The problematic ASIN is not recommended or displayed on the deal page;

A. The problematic product is not recommended for Deal in the seller backend

B. For deals that have been reported, the problematic ASIN will not be displayed on the deal page. If there are too many problematic ASINs, the entire deal may not be displayed.

C. The PD deal for the problematic ASIN will not be scheduled for Prime Day. Currently, the PD LD has not been scheduled yet. If you add the information now, it can be scheduled for Prime Day.

2. Other markets: There will be no strike-through price or “saving” displayed on the deal page

What sellers need to do is :

Maintain valid MSRP information on all product pages .

The MSRP must represent the most recent non-promotional price at which the item was sold by other retailers/sellers.

The notice also stated that the MSRP filled in by the seller must be within the past XX days (Amazon has not disclosed the specific number of days, which is currently confidential information, tentatively set as the past 30 days) and the seller himself or other retail merchants must have sales records. After the seller fills in the form, the Amazon system restarts the verification process, and it is OK only if it passes.