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Month: August 2019

Amazon Selling Coach cannot be trusted

August 27, 2019 2 Comments

Just because the Amazon Selling Coach recommends items to sell, doesn’t mean they are safe to list

By: Lesley Hensell

Leon sells on Amazon in the Sports & Outdoors category. He hawks everything from outdoor lighting to basketballs to hanging baskets for plants. So when the Amazon Selling Coach suggested a line of kites that he should sell, he jumped on the opportunity.

“I’ve been selling on Amazon for about a year,” Leon said. “I’ve got about a half-dozen suppliers who provide me with a wide range of products, but what I really love is to find something that doesn’t already have tons of other sellers on the listing.”

Amazon Selling Coach is an automated tool on Seller Central. Analyzing other products listed in a seller’s inventory, it looks for ASINs in the Amazon catalog that have recent sales or search activity, but not a corresponding number of available offers. Third-party sellers can find the Selling Coach page here: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/hz/sellingcoach (login required).

Hand drawing a game strategy with white chalk on a blackboard to show Amazon Selling Coach

The Coach populates a series of ASINs for sellers to review and see if they can source the inventory. These are found on the “inventory recommendations” page.

Here’s the problem. These suggestions do not – in any way, shape or form – mean you are “safe” to buy this inventory. Leon will explain that to you.

“Based on the Amazon Selling Coach recommendations, I bought some kites,” Leon said. “These are licensed kits, with various cartoon and superhero figures on them.”

Not long after listing the kites, Leon was hit with multiple intellectual property complaints – both from the manufacturer of the kites and the owner of the licensed characters. A few days later, his Amazon seller account was deactivated.

“I’m still in shock,” he said. “I’m selling the exact products that Amazon said it wanted me to sell. I bought high-quality, new stock from my distributor. I’m not doing anything wrong.”

Here are several ways that buying recommended inventory can cause a seller problems:
  1. Just because Amazon recommends a product, the seller may not be ungated and able to list it. We see sellers blocked from listing recommended products at the category, brand and ASIN level. The same goes for topicals and other special gating types. If a seller buys the inventory before attempting to list it or check it in the Amazon app, they can find themselves with a bunch of inventory on-hand that they could not unload.
  2. A product that is blocked as a restricted product is part of the recommendations! Clearly, the Amazon Selling Coach isn’t updated as quickly as the Amazon catalog in general, since the ASIN’s listing no longer exists.
  3. Some brand owners are aggressive about filing intellectual property claims, even if a seller’s inventory is authentic and well-sourced. The Amazon Selling Coach will not take this into account – just ask Leon.
  4. I know sellers who see these recommendations, and move heaven and earth to find the specific items. If the items are discontinued, the seller purchases liquidation or gray-market inventory, just so they can be on a listing without competition. This is a dangerous practice. (See our blog about liquidation here: https://www.riverbendconsulting.com/2019/02/20/why-liquidation-inventory-can-be-3p-kryptonite/)

In summary, beware of the recommendations of Amazon Selling Coach. It’s a simple, data-driven tool that’s only concern is providing broader product selection on the Amazon platform. Not caring about you or your account.

Riverbend Consulting navigates online retail. Get your Amazon account reinstated, sell with confidence, and increase your bottom line. Contact us.

Lesley Hensell is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: 3P, Account Health, Amazon, FBA, Fulfillment, General Tagged With: 3P seller, Account Changes, Amazon, Amazon seller, Amazon Selling Coach, AMZ, Change, Deactivated, Intellectual property, Inventory, IP Complaints, Product recommendations, Safe, Seller account, Seller central, Selling coach, Suspended, Suspension, Ungated, Update

Riverbend welcomes Cathy Ceely

August 26, 2019 1 Comment

The ultimate Amazon Seller Performance expert and insider, Cathy Ceely worked at Amazon for two decades

By Lesley Hensell

Amazon sellers now have the ultimate insider, Cathy Ceely, to help with account suspensions and other pressing account problems. After almost 20 years with Amazon Seller Performance and Strategic Account Management, Cathy is bringing her expertise to the 3P market as an account supervisor with Riverbend Consulting.
Cathy Ceely
Cathy Ceely joined Amazon in 1999.

Her career highlights include:

  • Founding member of the Executive Seller Relations team in 2001, answering seller escalations to Jeff Bezos
  • The first Seller Performance investigator in 2005
  • Operations manager of Seller Performance
  • Founding member of the Product Quality Team, establishing many of the internal processes used by investigation teams worldwide
  • A member of the Strategic Account Management team, working with many of Amazon’s largest sellers to troubleshoot enforcement issues
Cathy brought the voice of the seller to the enforcement teams and drove enforcement improvements on behalf of Amazon sellers. Cathy’s new role as a consultant with Riverbend will allow her to bring her knowledge of Amazon selling policies directly to Sellers as they work to grow their businesses at Amazon.

Riverbend Consulting navigates online retail. Get your Amazon account reinstated, sell with confidence, and increase your bottom line. Contact us.

Filed Under: 3P, Amazon, General, Seller Performance Tagged With: Account Changes, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon reinstatement, Amazon seller, Change, FBA, FNSKU, Inventory, Seller central, Suspension, UPC, Update

Amazon FBA: Just say NO to commingling inventory

August 23, 2019 Leave a Comment

Commingling inventory is risky strategy may save some change, but it threatens your account and increases returns

By: Lesley Hensell

Amazon FBA sellers should not be commingling inventory.

It’s rare that I make a definitive, blanket statement about how to sell on Amazon. I’m a firm believer that there are many ways to skin the Amazon selling cat. Plus, different sellers have varying levels of risk tolerance.

But commingling allows me to break my “what’s best for you” rule and declare that commingling is a bad choice for any and all FBA sellers.

What is commingling?

Amazon sellers may choose to have Amazon fulfill their inventory. They ship items to Amazon’s  Fulfillment Centers via the FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program.

When inbound FBA shipments are created, some ASINs offer two options: use the product’s existing UPC or attach an FNSKU sticker:

  1. The product’s existing UPC is the barcode that already exists on most manufactured products. If a seller chooses this option, their inventory is commingled. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/G200141480  (log in required)
  2. FNSKU stands for Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit. It consists of an alphanumeric code and matching, unique barcode. This is how Amazon links a specific unit of inventory to the exact seller who sent it to the warehouse. When a seller is prepping FBA inventory, they print an FNSKU sticker for each item.

When FBA inventory arrives at the Amazon Fulfillment Center (FC), it can be handled in one of two ways:

  1. Commingled inventory is all put together in a bin, no matter who the seller of record might be. When an order for Seller A’s unit of inventory arrives, it may be fulfilled by any of the commingled units Amazon has on hand – from any seller.
  2. Stickered inventory is segregated by seller. When an order for Seller A’s unit of inventory arrives, it is supposed to be fulfilled specifically from Seller A’s available stock. (More on the exceptions later.)

Why avoid commingling?

You’re a good seller. You work hard to ensure your inventory is authentic and in great shape. So why risk your orders being fulfilled with a bad seller’s inventory?

Here are real-world examples I’ve personally seen as the result of commingling:

  1. Counterfeit games were sent to the FC, and my client’s units purchased from the manufacturer were fulfilled with fakes.
  2. Off-brand fakes were sold in place of name-brand items. These off-brand fakes were a products that plug in, but did not have UL certification. At least two units caught on fire, resulting in a safety suspension for my client.
  3. Tubes of lotion that do not include safety seals were fulfilled from another seller’s inventory. These lotions were not shrink-wrapped, polybagged or otherwise prepped. They leaked everywhere, resulting in complaints for my client.
  4. Shoes that were likely counterfeit (poor stitching) and sometimes had signs of wear were fulfilled in place of my client’s legitimate inventory.
  5. Chinese sellers flooded a clothing listing with fakes, where decals peeled off easily. This resulted in ASIN suspensions for my client.

And that’s just off the top of my head. There are hundreds of ways to get in deep, deep trouble – with customers and with Amazon – when you commingle inventory. In addition, sellers risk high return rates for poor-quality items.

But what about de facto commingling?

Alas, even for sellers who sticker every item, there is “de facto commingling” at the Amazon warehouse. For example, let’s imagine that Seller A has a unit of Kleenex in a California warehouse. Seller B has the same unit of Kleenex in a Texas warehouse.

A customer who lives in Florida purchases the Kleenex from Seller A. Amazon may choose to ship the Texas Kleenex to the customer, and then put the California inventory on a truck to Texas to replace it.

This is just one of many reasons de facto commingling occurs. But make no mistake – your account is still much better off if you prevent as much commingling as possible by stickering your items.

Riverbend Consulting navigates online retail. Get your Amazon account reinstated, sell with confidence, and increase your bottom line. Contact us.

Lesley Hensell is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, FBA, Fulfillment, General Tagged With: Account Changes, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon reinstatement, Amazon seller, Change, FBA, FNSKU, Inventory, Seller central, Suspension, UPC, Update

Amazon sellers: Do this ONE simple thing before you update the credit card in your seller account

August 19, 2019 Leave a Comment

Don’t update credit card and banking details in Amazon unless you contact AMZ first

By: Lesley Hensell

The change seemed so harmless and simple. Patti recently switched banks for her business account to get a better deal. But when she went to update the credit card and banking details in her Amazon seller account, it was suspended almost instantly.

“I was stunned,” she said on our recent phone call. “There was no fraud. This account has a long history, and our company name is on the new bank account. Why would Amazon suspend our seller account instead of sending us an email or calling us?”

Examples:

Unfortunately, this scenario plays out in the Amazon seller community almost every day:

  1. A seller changes the company details in their account – bank account, credit card, address, corporate entity name, etc.
  2. The account is suspended.
  3. The seller spends days, weeks or even months convincing Amazon that they are who they say they are, and they were not doing anything wrong. In reality, they simply updated the credit card and banking details in Amazon.

Why does this happen?

While we can’t read Amazon’s mind, we can make some highly educated guesses:

  • The change could kick off a fraud review at Amazon. They must continually watch for theft, money-laundering and a host of other financial sins.
  • Amazon is beholden to federal rules around the Office of Foreign Assets Control. For that reason they require extra scrutiny.
  • Amazon cares about risk management. And this is a risk. Period.

What’s a seller to do?

It’s pretty simple:

  1. Before you make any changes, send an email to seller-performance@amazon.com
  2. Make them aware of what changes you are making to your account information – and, of course, why.
  3. Wait for a reply email. It should either ask for more details,  or more likely it will say something like, “Thank you for complying with our policies.”
  4. Then you are safe to make the changes in your account.

Finally, if you are suspended for making these changes in your account, it can be challenging to be re-opened. We have used many successful strategies that include sending supporting corporate documents and escalating to key executives. If you have questions or need help, contact Riverbend Consulting today. Contact us.

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Gating, General Tagged With: Account Changes, Amazon, Amazon reinstatement, Amazon seller, Bank, Change, Credit card, Suspension, Update

Should new Amazon Sellers be flipping products from deal sites?

August 5, 2019 1 Comment

Flipping products such as cheap or free inventory is tempting, but carries significant risk

By Lesley Hensell

 

It seemed like the ideal way to get started selling on Amazon – flipping deeply discounted or free products purchased right on Amazon itself! But this tempting method of sourcing can lead to disaster.

buying or flipping product graphic text

 

“I went to those deal sites online,” my client said during our intake call about his account suspension. “They have huge discounts for products listed on Amazon. So, I would buy the items and then flip them. The margins were amazing. Some stuff I bought had a discount of 90 percent or was even free.”

My client visited sites like Vipon, JumpSend and SnagShout, where Amazon private-label (PL) sellers post deals to drive sales and improve their Best Seller Rank. After buying the goods (or getting them for free), he listed them on Amazon.

As one might imagine, this had the immediate effect of angering the affected PL sellers. These PL sellers had brand registry, and they had also filed IP complaints. Lots of them. My seller ended up suspended.

In other cases, I’ve seen PL sellers perform test buys and claim the products are counterfeit, inauthentic, or used sold as new. They have left terrible, sticky feedback and complained to Amazon endlessly.

Try to understand the situation from the PL sellers’ perspectives.
They sell at huge discounts to launch their products – not to create competition on their very own listings! (We are talking about how such massive discounts violate Amazon policy, but that’s a topic for another day.)

As a result, the old phrase “too good to be true” comes to mind. These “deals” are too good to be true, if you’re planning to resell them on Amazon.

What should a new Amazon seller do instead? Every sourcing method carries expense and risk, but there are many alternatives that are safer – if not as profitable. Buy from wholesalers, distributors or local manufacturers. Even retail arbitrage and online arbitrage – which carry quite a bit of risk and are not a great long-term strategy – are less risky than buying from deal sites and incurring the wrath of PL sellers.

Have questions about the health of your account? Call Riverbend Consulting 877-289-1017.

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, General, Inventory Sourcing, Private Label, Quality Control, Seller Performance, Vendor Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon Account Reinstatement, Amazon Account Suspension, Inventory, Inventory Flips

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