With the Q3 seasonal downturn drawing near, a few changes may be in order, in terms of how you do business on Amazon. Now’s the time to brush up on your guidelines and get up to speed on the latest Amazon.com news.
Continue reading to find out what you missed.
If you ship age-restricted bladed products and break the new policy, your selling rights for age-restricted products will be suspended.
The new policy includes all bladed products, aside from table knives from cutlery sets. That includes unlockable folding blades under 3-inch long, which used to be exempt. The new requirements are for an “over 18 Knife” flag and a tracked Age Verification on Delivery (AVD) shipping method, with the tracking number uploaded to Seller Central.
You’ve probably heard of Amazon Elements baby wipes, Pinzon bedding, or Amazon stationery before. AmazonBasics probably rings a bell too, since it includes anything from credit card shredders to dog crates. It seems that Amazon is set to launch three new private label brands by the end of the month: Mama Bear, Wickedly Prime and Happy Belly.
So, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you should expect to see coffee, baby food and household items, among others, on display over the next couple of weeks. Also, if you sell complimentary items, like coffee cups and baby spoons, you may be caught in the hype, so be prepared for a sudden peak in sales, just in case.
On the other hand, if you sell similar products to what Amazon is due to launch, you may see a decline in sales. Or you may be able to piggyback on Amazon, if you take this opportunity to promote your items.
Amazon has been trying to rid its products of fake reviews for years. It started by deleting them, introducing the Verified Purchase badge, suing the writers, and carrying out regular review purges before a big sale or holiday. But they took it up a notch when they revealed that they sued three third-party sellers (Kurt Bauer, Michael Abbara, and Chinese company CCBetterDirect), according to Tech Crunch.
Amazon Services Europe announced in January this year that sellers could migrate to the latest version of Selling on Amazon. Seven months in, they will start migrating all seller accounts themselves. Starting August 29, you can expect to receive an email from Amazon notifying you that the process is complete.
The latest version allows you to customize your return information, privacy notice, terms and conditions, and FAQs. Everything else stays the same, including exemptions, listings, ratings and disbursement options.
Buyers can now report to Amazon whenever they think the product information available for a certain product is incorrect. The link is displayed at the bottom of the product information section, next to the image.
The option is currently available to Amazon.com buyers. Once they locate the link, buyers will be able to report the problem within seconds. It remains to be seen what buyers think qualifies as ‘unimportant information’, or some of the other options available. After the report is sent, Amazon replies to thank you for your feedback, but there is no indication as to if or when the issue will be resolved.
As of July 1, 2016, Amazon has increased chargeback rates for some prep activities. These are bagging, boxing, bubble wrapping or covering the products in opaque material. They need to be carried out when fulfillment centers receive products that have not been packaged appropriately, and they now cost $0.05 more.
Melanie takes an active interest in all things Amazon. She keeps an eye on the latest developments, and keeps Amazon sellers up to speed