The seller with annual sales of 7 million went bankrupt and mortgaged his property

Due to a return and resale operation by Amazon, a seller's product received serious "bad reviews", and the seller's business eventually went bankrupt, and he had to switch to other jobs, and he was also in debt of $600,000. Many peers believe that the platform's overly relaxed return policy has allowed some people to take advantage of loopholes, which has seriously impacted their business.

Hit hard by one-star negative reviews, the husband-and-wife shop went bankrupt and was in debt

According to Bloomberg, the sellers, Mr. and Mrs. Barron, opened a mom-and-pop store on Amazon selling diapers. The business was booming, with annual sales reaching millions of dollars (about RMB 7.27 million), but they got into trouble because of a bad review.

After Amazon resold a pair of swimming diapers with feces on them as a new product, the product received a one-star bad review. After more than 100 buyers marked the bad review as "helpful," their business plummeted. Eventually, the husband-and-wife store went bankrupt and was saddled with $600,000 (about 4.36 million yuan) in debt.

The one-star review states : "The diaper arrived already used and had poop stains all over it. I'm guessing someone returned it after using it and the company didn't even check the item and sent it to us as brand new." The review also directs people to look at the pictures.

Because so many people found the review helpful, Amazon increased the visibility of the review on the product page, and the couple was full of energy and set a goal to triple annual sales to $3 million. Obviously, a bad review completely overturned the previous plan.

The seller said that no matter how many five-star reviews the product has, this highly weighted one-star negative review always has a fatal impact on their business.

The Barrons started their business ten years ago and were on the verge of becoming a model of successful Amazon sellers, but in the end they had to repay their debts by clearing out inventory. The couple also mortgaged their property and took on other jobs to make ends meet after the company went bankrupt.

Sellers point out that it is Amazon’s “fault”

The Barrons tried to contact the buyer who left the negative review, but for various reasons, the buyer had not deleted the review. The long-term existence of this review warned other buyers not to purchase this product.

Amazon also declined to delete the reviews , saying it prohibits negative reviews that violate its community guidelines, including reviews that focus on sellers' orders or shipping feedback rather than product quality.

The crux of this negative review is that a used product is being resold as new, as the review clearly states that the item has been used, but the review still appears to violate the community guidelines because it points to the seller for not inspecting the item before shipping, blaming the seller for Amazon's return inspection process.

However, the sellers are also aggrieved. They think it is Amazon’s fault and say bluntly: “Amazon should check the returns before reselling them!”

They tried to contact Amazon, but the problem was not resolved, so they gave up. On Monday evening, US time, the one-star negative review was finally deleted. It is not clear whether Amazon or the buyer deleted the review.

In response to this matter, an Amazon spokesperson said: "We regret to hear about negative reviews caused by returns. We encourage our selling partners to raise concerns and we will listen to their feedback to help us continue to improve the selling experience."

The situation of this husband-and-wife shop is not an isolated case on the Amazon website . Other sellers have also complained that Amazon has failed to delete comments that clearly violate the community guidelines, allowing negative reviews to cause great losses to sellers. Even some negative reviews that clearly contain swear words cannot be deleted. Some sellers will file complaints, but many of them return in vain, causing some peers to give up resistance.

When the Barrons received the negative review, another customer contacted them directly to report receiving a stained item. The customer suspected the stain was dirt or mold, not feces, and the Barrons resolved the issue without incurring another negative review. They believe Amazon should not be reselling used diapers, but that it is beyond their control for the platform to do so.

“Shoppers might think they’re not hurting anyone by returning the diapers to Amazon and getting their money back, but we’re just a small company and that’s all we do,” the Barrons said .

The couple is unsure who deleted the review, and they still have questions about Amazon's process for checking returns.

Amazon claims to carefully check returns

Amazon promises on its website that “every item shipped to the Amazon Returns Center is carefully inspected and evaluated to determine if it meets Amazon’s high standards for relisting.”

The company is said to assess the packaging for broken seals, then open the packaging, confirm the item is as described, inspect for signs of use, and assess any damage to the product before it can be resold if it meets Amazon's "high standards."

However, Bloomberg pointed out that Amazon warehouse employees do not care about returns. An employee who has been engaged in the return business for many years said that Amazon employees are trained to quickly put returns back into circulation, and sometimes the inspection lasts only one minute. They may only check whether the packaging seal is damaged, but the seal that appears intact does not mean that the item has not been used.

" If the packages looked sealed, employees often didn't bother opening them and assumed they were unused , " the former employee said .

In other channels, many posts from Amazon buyers indicate that they purchased new items, only to feel cheated after receiving used items.

In one story, a company apologized for selling a "new" laptop when it was clearly used and the warranty had started six months before purchase.

In one thread, which was viewed by thousands, a user accused Amazon of a "laptop scam," claiming that Amazon's refund process led to his account being investigated for suspicious activity. Another user commented : "The problem is that Amazon is selling used laptops as new, Amazon should be investigated."

Since the Barrons began fighting the negative reviews, Amazon has updated its policies to allow sellers to opt out of ever reselling returned items as new. But the policy change doesn’t help sellers who have suffered losses from Amazon’s practices in the past.

Despite the policy change, industry insiders believe that selling returned products as new on Amazon is a growing problem. If it brings negative feedback, the seller's reputation may be damaged "exponentially". Amazon only needs to acknowledge the problem and take simple measures to protect sellers.

"There should be a very simple appeals process where sellers can withdraw reviews if used items are resold as new, but this process has not been used for a long time," said a senior Amazon seller.

As the Barons said, after years of entrepreneurship on Amazon, perhaps a mistake in one link could take away everything they have.

Amazon

Seller

Bankruptcy