Check My File has left the building
Amazon deleted this important seller tool, creating catalog errors and churn
Being an Amazon Seller got harder during the fall of 2020, when Amazon took away the Check My File feature. And there is no easy fix in sight.
Feeds were already challenging for even the most experienced of third-party sellers. Removing access to Check My File has created massive listings errors for some sellers. And surely it has created churn for Amazon as well, with hundreds or thousands of Seller Support cases opened to try and fix the bad listings now being uploaded to the Amazon catalog.
Previously, before uploading files, sellers used Check My File to double-check inventory files for warnings or mistakes. Seller Central would show the seller where errors existed, and those errors would be corrected. Wash, rinse and repeat until Check My Filed said that you passed. Then, an error-free feed could be pushed to Amazon.
Now, without the tool:
- Errors are uploaded to the catalog, rather than caught during the Check My File process.
- Often, these errors “stick” and cannot be resolved with another file upload.
- Sometimes, these errors are significant. We saw one client accidentally break all their variations. Months later, these listings still are not all fixed.
If you need assistance, contact us at 877-289-1017 or visit Riverbend Consulting. Our team can help.
Author
Lesley is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where she oversees the firm’s client services team. She has personally helped hundreds of third-party sellers get their accounts and ASINs back up and running. Lesley leverages two decades as a small business consultant to advise clients on profitability and operational performance. She has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade, thanks to her boys (21 and 15) who do most of the heavy lifting.