Three major changes! Amazon once again adjusts the new FBA rules

On April 27, Amazon Global Store officially announced that the 2024 Amazon Prime Day event will be held globally in July. Although the specific date has not yet been determined, it is usually held in mid-July according to previous years.

Now it is May, and as the membership promotion is approaching, sellers are busy preparing for it. But at the same time, the closer the peak season is, the more frequent Amazon's actions are.

In order to welcome the annual blockbuster promotion, Amazon has recently tightened account review and adjusted FBA policies. Every significant or subtle change may have a close impact on the operation and sales of Amazon sellers.

In March, the 2024 annual verification of the US Consumer Act officially started. According to Amazon's official notice, sellers can verify according to the following three steps:

1. Go to the Account Health page and click the "Check your account information" alert bar or the "Solve problems" button to enter the information check page.

2. Check the timeliness and accuracy of all information. If there is no need to update the current information or all updates have been completed, click the "Continue" button.

3. Click "Continue", confirm the accuracy and timeliness of the information again, check the confirmation box, and click the "Certify" button on the page to complete the certification.

It is learned that during the account verification boom at this time last year, various information review problems frequently arose. A large number of sellers were extremely anxious due to the delay in passing the verification, which even affected the preparation rhythm for the big promotion.

However, according to feedback from many sellers, the review intensity has been relaxed this year. One seller said frankly: "According to the US Amazon Consumer Code, if there is a change in account information, just take the opportunity to modify and submit it directly, and it will usually be approved very easily."

According to the official notice released by Amazon, the verification process for old accounts that have submitted information last year is much simpler. After entering the "Complete your priority actions" alert bar, you only need to click "Continue to prove information" and click the subsequent pop-up window to quickly complete the authentication without resubmitting the information.

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

For newly registered accounts, you need to submit the corresponding information step by step as required:

1. Certificate information. The license is normal and has not been changed, and the legal person’s ID card is within the validity period.

2. Address. It does not have to be the same as the license, but make sure you receive the postcard for certification.

3. Payment certification.

4. Mobile phone and tax number.

However, although the review intensity has been significantly relaxed and the process has been streamlined and shortened, some sellers still encountered many problems in this process.

It is reported that during the May Day holiday, a large number of sellers received notification emails from Amazon regarding this round of account verification, requiring sellers to complete the verification within 10 days, otherwise they will face the risk of account deactivation. It can be seen that while the audit efficiency has been improved, the corresponding stipulated period has also been shortened.

In addition, some sellers reported that when editing business information, a message "There was a problem, please try again later" appeared . Even after changing 3 browsers and clearing cookies, the problem could not be solved, and they did not get a response after opening a case to consult customer service.

"I saw an 'Update Now' button on other people's pages, which allowed me to click the button to re-edit, but my review interface only had a green button." The seller couldn't help but wonder if there was a bug in the system.

  ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

This seller is not an isolated case. According to feedback from multiple parties, the main problem is that the business license address information was modified, and the system error occurred after submission.

It is understood that if the information is changed, there is a probability that a second review will be triggered when clicking [Business Information] - [Company Name] to make corrections. For this reason, sellers must ensure that the correct address is filled in after the change to avoid subsequent "trouble" in the account.

Overall, this round of account review is just before the peak season. Although the process is much more streamlined than in previous years, many bugs and problems have also occurred. Therefore, sellers need to carefully confirm the information during the verification process. If there is any content that needs to be modified, they must strictly follow the requirements to avoid triggering multiple rounds of review and causing the account to face the risk of suspension.

As Prime Day approaches, in addition to tightening its review and cleaning up illegal accounts, Amazon is also making frequent changes to its FBA policies.

Amazon previously announced that starting from April 1, 2024, Amazon will charge a low inventory level fee for standard-size products whose inventory levels are always lower than buyer demand (inventory levels remain too low compared to sales for a long time).

The Low Inventory Level Fee applies only to products with both a long-term (past 90 days) historical supply and a short-term (past 30 days) historical supply of less than 28 days.

Sellers complained as soon as the announcement was made. This means that once the seller's sales volume is too low, not only will an additional fee be charged, but it will also affect product distribution, resulting in slower delivery speeds and higher costs.

However, amid protests from sellers, Amazon later issued another announcement, announcing that it would provide a one-month transition period for the implementation of the new policy. That is, Amazon will still collect the FBA low inventory level fee generated between April 1 and April 30, but will return it to the seller's account at the end of the month.

During the Labor Day holiday, Amazon once again disclosed a new notice on this policy. According to the North American site announcement, its low inventory fees will be adjusted from May 15th.

Previously, the low-volume inventory fee took effect on April 1, and Amazon used April as a transition period to refund sellers the fees collected during this period. According to the latest announcement, the transition period will be extended to May 14. On May 31, sellers will receive all low-volume inventory fees incurred between April 1 and May 14.

In addition, Amazon has made three additional changes to low-volume inventory fees:

1. Due to the high unpredictability of inventory management for small-batch products such as seasonal products and scrapped products, starting from May 15, the low-volume inventory fee will not apply to products with sales of less than 20 units in the past 7 days .

2. Low volume inventory fees incurred due to excessive warehousing and handling times caused by Amazon will be refunded by the 15th of the following month. For example, fees incurred in May due to excessive entry delays will be refunded by June 15th.

3. During the 2024 Prime Day event, an additional low inventory fee policy will be provided for products included in Prime members' exclusive flash sales and limited-time sales, which will apply within four weeks after the end of Prime Day.

Several key messages can be extracted from this: First, products with sales of less than 20 units are exempt from low-volume inventory fees, avoiding further erosion of profits in the event of poor performance. Second, member products during Prime Day will enjoy additional limited-time low inventory fees. Amazon did not disclose how this will be implemented, but what is certain is that the management of inventory levels during the promotion period is more critical.

It can be seen that the implementation of the low inventory cost policy has gone through many twists and turns. For sellers, especially at the critical moment of preparing for the big promotion, it is even more necessary to rationally plan the inventory level to avoid further increase in cost pressure.

Overall, whether it is the new round of account verification or the frequently changing FBA policies, they have put greater challenges on sellers' preparations for the peak season. Therefore, the top priority for sellers is to adapt to the changes and adjust policies in a timely manner, and go all out to sprint for the upcoming membership promotion.