Panic! Amazon's multiple sites are experiencing widespread errors

Amazon coupons are reporting errors on a large scale, affecting multiple sites, and sellers are panicking and seeking help. Since the new coupon rules came into effect, many sellers' profits have been severely squeezed, and many are trying to change the status quo by reducing products and simplifying operations.

Multi-site coupon error

Recently, Amazon coupons have been in trouble again, and many sellers have found that coupons have been reported with large-scale errors. Some products have received platform prompts for errors because the promotion method is unsafe and it has been confirmed that this ASIN may be embarrassing or offensive and cannot be added to the coupon.

According to the platform, peers believe that the products with these coupon errors may have been misidentified as adult products. One seller opened a case and was told that the product was marked as an adult product and needed to contact customer service to refresh it.

However, there are other reasons. Some sellers said that they could retrieve the product by searching with ASIN on the front desk, and it was displayed normally on the front desk. The advertisement was exposed and clicked when it was first opened, so it should not have been caught as an adult product. However, the coupon could not be opened successfully.

Many of the products with coupon errors are new products. Many sellers reported that a large number of coupon errors occurred on multiple sites including the US, Germany, the UK, and Canada.

"——At first I thought it was a problem with our category. I saw that the coupons at the front desk were basically gone this morning, but some were still there. I tried to cancel and reopen them, and it seems that there is no error for the time being;

——Such anomalies occurred at all Canadian sites;

——This happened in both the United States and Canada. An old product on the US site also had an error message.

——This also happened to the new product last night;

—— Yesterday, two old products encountered this problem. I thought it was a prank. I opened a case but didn’t get a clear answer. The seller was only asked to read the “Offensive and Controversial Materials Policy”. Today, several new ASINs encountered this problem again. Maybe the system is out of order? "

After the error message was displayed, many sellers reopened the system and some product coupons returned to normal, while others displayed an error message again. Others displayed normal status for a few hours and then reported an error message again. Not many products were restored to normal after being reopened.

Many industry insiders believe that the widespread error reporting this time is probably due to a problem with the Amazon system. Someone consulted Amazon customer service about this issue and received a reply that many people have encountered this situation and it has been transferred to the relevant team for investigation. Some sellers also received a reply that it was a system problem.

In this regard, many sellers are speechless. The problems with the Amazon system really affect everyone's performance, and they can only wait patiently for the system to be updated.

This is not the first time that coupons have been reported with errors. Similar problems occurred at the beginning of the implementation of the new coupon regulations this year. Before the new coupon regulations were implemented on Amazon.com, the French site was the first to implement them, and many errors occurred at that time. Many sellers had to create coupons twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, but in the morning they saw a row of red errors. Some sellers reported errors directly after creating the coupons.

On March 12, Amazon followed up with new coupon regulations, and sellers still saw a large number of errors. They submitted explanation documents to Amazon to prove that they were in compliance with the policy, but the problem could not be solved for a long time. One seller had 209 coupons reported as errors out of 235 ASINs and could not be used normally, resulting in an 85% drop in sales.

When such problems arise, many sellers are also confused about how to calculate coupons. They don’t know how to calculate the discount between the original price and the discounted price, and errors may occur when setting discounted prices.

Industry insiders bluntly stated that the current new coupon rules are Amazon's request for sellers to repeatedly offer discounts, and the platform's operation is to make everyone simply and crudely compete on product prices. On this basis, with the entry configuration fee, low inventory fee and other fees taking effect, sellers' profits are repeatedly squeezed.

With little profit left, sellers cut off their profits to save themselves

Amazon's series of policy and fee changes have triggered anti-emotion among sellers. These seemingly small fees may be all the profits of some sellers. However, with the implementation of new coupon regulations and warehousing configuration fees, these profits are gone.

Frustrated sellers say Amazon is increasingly shifting the burden of operating costs to small and medium-sized sellers . As a result, more and more sellers are thinking about how to adapt to this new normal. From changing products to testing new platforms, sellers are scrambling to find solutions to reduce the profit crisis under the new fees and do homework for the future.

First, raise prices. The most direct way for many sellers is to raise prices. Many sellers have raised prices to hedge against cost pressures. Among the 2,000 Amazon sellers surveyed , 35% said that rising commodity costs are the top priority in 2024.

But for most sellers, price increases are not enough to maintain business, and today's consumers are more cost-conscious than ever before. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that retail sales in May were lower than market expectations, showing a slowdown in overall consumption. Consumers began to adjust their consumption habits in the face of inflationary pressures, preferring to buy outdoor equipment and necessities. Even two-thirds of consumers find it difficult to pay monthly expenses.

Temu , which attracts a large number of consumers with its low prices and attractive promotions, is also favored by more people. 20% of Americans visit Temu every week.

Second, reduce SKUs. Failing to raise prices, some sellers and major brands are trying to control prices by cutting expenses as much as possible. Lori Fields, founder of Jay Street Partners, said: "If a brand has many different SKUs, they may need to reduce the product variety on Amazon because advertising is very expensive."

One brand said it was too difficult to figure out the new fee structure, so it is cutting its products from 300 to 200. One home goods seller is reducing the heavier items he sells through FBA. Although the seller expects sales of such products to drop by 50%, he is doing so because of the higher fees for large items.

The trend of small and medium-sized sellers reducing SKUs is continuing. According to Jungle Scout, the number of sellers who listed only one product on Amazon in 2023 increased by more than 300% over the previous year.

Not only that, some policy and fee changes may also prevent sellers from launching new products, making it extremely difficult to launch new products under the current circumstances.

Finally, turn to other platforms. In this case, more sellers may turn to other platforms. For example, a Florida-based sports and outdoor goods seller has recently started selling products on TikTok Shop due to the large volume of its products. According to Jungle Scout data, 20% of Amazon brands said they plan to expand their business to TikTok Shop in 2024. More specifically, expanding to more platforms is their top priority this year.

Amazon spokesperson Kadia Koroma said: "We have also seen some sellers adapt to the new changes and benefit from them." In fact, for a small number of sellers, these changes in fees and policies may help them optimize the operation of their Amazon business. But most sellers can only try to find ways to save themselves.

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