Amazon sellers applauded the major changes to the refund and compensation policy!

Amazon announced that there will be temporary changes to the refund and compensation policies for seller-fulfilled orders, and that long-term storage fees on the US site will also be reduced.

However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the share of Chinese companies in the top sellers on Amazon has been decreasing. Many big sellers are also having a hard time. Those small sellers who are struggling may feel a little comforted.

During this special period, my brother-in-law expressed the hope that all the profits in the second quarter would be used for anti-epidemic related expenses. However, when the epidemic triggered conflicts between the company and its employees, an Amazon executive resigned in anger. The editor estimated that after knowing the reason for the executive's resignation, many workers would applaud.

Amazon waives long-term storage fees again, changes refund policy

Yien.com learned that Amazon recently announced that it will make some temporary changes to the refund process and the refund compensation policy for sellers fulfilling orders.

The announcement stated that for all seller-fulfilled orders (Prime and non-Prime):

From May 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 (the "Extended Period"), we will temporarily extend the time it takes to process returned items and refund customers to 14 calendar days so that sellers can receive their returned items during this time. After May 31, 2020, the required return processing time will revert to two calendar days.

For Amazon Prepaid Return Label Returns (Prime and Non-Prime):

1. During the extension period, the window for sellers to file reimbursements will be temporarily extended to 90 calendar days. During this period, sellers can submit SAFE-T claims for refunds issued in the previous 90 days.

After May 31, 2020, the filing period for SAFE-T claims will revert to 60 days;

2. Sellers can also file SAFE-T claims for refunds issued during the extended period. Such claims are processed in the same way as standard SAFE-T claims, in which Amazon Customer Service issues a refund to the buyer;

3. During the SAFE-T claim investigation process, Amazon investigators typically give sellers one week to provide any additional information requested before closing the claim.

We will hold your claim during this extended period to allow you more time to submit all additional information.

The seller's claim status will remain in "Awaiting Seller's Response" status until we receive a response from the seller to these questions. After May 31, 2020, the time to provide additional information for a claim will revert to one week, after which the claim will be closed.

4. In order to comply with the policy of extending the buyer's return period, during the extended period, sellers need to wait 30 days before filing a "lost in transit" claim for any refund issued by Amazon during the extended period.

These changes are temporary and will be in effect for the period stated above. We will revert to our standard SAFE-T claims process policy effective May 31, 2020.

Many Amazon sellers applauded this change. One seller said: "This is good news. Thank you very much Amazon for giving sellers more time to process returns." Of course, some sellers also expressed their opinions on this policy (as shown in the figure below):

The editor learned that due to the impact of the epidemic, many sellers have recently expressed that they have realized the following truth: risk awareness must be strengthened in the future. There are too many links involved in cross-border transactions, and if you are not careful in logistics, you may lose all your money.

Those who do self-delivery should have a deeper understanding of this. One seller has shipped the goods for two months, and many orders are still stuck in China.

There are also sellers who have stopped shipping on Amazon, and the prices of other platforms have not increased and are close to breaking even. Breaking even is fine, but customers may not receive the goods in the end.

In addition to changing its refund policy, Amazon also issued an announcement yesterday, stating that Amazon's US site will waive long-term storage fees incurred on May 15.

Amazon said in the announcement: We have made various adjustments to our operations center facilities to protect our employees and deliver the goods that buyers need most.

Thank you for your patience during this time. To ensure that we are able to receive, restock, and ship your items to customers, we need to continue to delay processing removal orders.

To this end, we have decided to waive the long-term storage fees that will be incurred on May 15th.

You can still create removal orders, but there will be delays in how long it takes us to complete removal requests, as well as delays in automated removals.

Why are big sellers so bad at "failing" on Amazon?

In March and April this year, more than half of Amazon's new sellers came from China, the highest level ever. However, the record high number of new sellers does not mean that they can gain a foothold on the Amazon platform.

Chinese companies have been losing share of top sellers on Amazon due to disruptions in manufacturing, freight and warehousing, and consumers prioritizing essential goods.

According to Marketplace Pulse analysis, 29% of the best-selling items in Amazon's four major markets - the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan - are located in China (the percentage is an average of the four markets), which is down from 35% in January.

It is understood that four years ago, although only 11% of best-selling products came from China, the share of best-selling products from China has continued to grow steadily since then.

Marketplace Pulse said one of the most important reasons for the downward trend was the disruption of Amazon's logistics (FBA) services.

Among the top sellers on the US Amazon marketplace, 95% of Chinese sellers use Fulfillment by Amazon, compared to 65% of sellers on other marketplaces.

In order to save themselves, many Chinese sellers turned to self-delivery and overseas warehouses.

However, the epidemic is both a challenge and an opportunity. Consumers' focus has shifted from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) to categories such as travel, which has increased the number of orders handled by Chinese sellers.

For now, the trend highlights the disruption the pandemic has caused to international supply chains, but eventually sales for Chinese sellers will resume growing on Amazon.

Give up high salary! Amazon executives resign in anger

Recently, Amazon released its first quarter financial report for fiscal year 2020. The report showed that Amazon's net profit in the first quarter was US$2.535 billion, a decrease of 29% compared with the net profit of US$3.561 billion in the same period last year.

Bezos said in a statement that for the current second quarter, under normal circumstances, operating profit is expected to be about $4 billion or more. However, the current situation is not normal. They expect to invest all $4 billion or more in epidemic-related expenses, deliver goods to users and ensure employee safety.

Despite this, many people still questioned Amazon's unfriendly behavior towards warehouse workers, and an Amazon executive even resigned as a result.

According to foreign media reports, Tim Bray, vice president of Amazon's cloud computing service center, recently gave up his million-dollar annual salary and resigned. In a statement titled "Farewell, Amazon", he explained that Amazon did not provide adequate protection for warehouse workers when the COVID-19 pandemic was rampant, and arbitrarily fired employees who expressed concerns about inadequate protection to the outside world, making it unbearable for him to continue working in the company.

In April, Amazon's leadership suppressed employee protests and fired the leader of warehouse workers who demanded protective equipment for fear of spreading the new coronavirus. Tim was disappointed and devastated, and realized that continuing to work for Amazon "means making me despise myself," so he decided to resign.

Source: Yibang Power Network