3P

Check My File has left the building

January 26, 2021 Leave a Comment

Amazon deleted this important seller tool, creating catalog errors and churn

By: Lesley Hensell

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.

When sellers mess up the catalog with bad feeds, they must reach out to Seller Support to fix what they broke. The support is … less than supportive

to say the least. Case after case after case, and the issues still are not solved. This causes unnecessary frustration for sellers simply trying to create or update their listings.

The entire scenario is creating time-consuming, painful headaches for sellers and churn for Amazon. As an experienced seller and consultant, I honestly don’t understand the endgame. Even owning your company’s brand registry doesn’t seem to help. Hopefully, Amazon has noticed and will bring back Check My File.

If you need assistance, contact us at 877-289-1017 or visit Riverbend Consulting. Our team can help.

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 (19 and 13) who do most of the heavy lifting.

Agents in Amazon Brand Registry should tread carefully

December 18, 2020 Leave a Comment

Don’t file IP complaints if your seller account will benefit

By: Lesley Hensell

Third-party sellers who have close relationships with brands may be putting themselves at risk, if they are using Amazon Brand Registry in a way that Amazon doesn’t like, causing them to file an infringement report.

A recent review of Amazon’s Code of Conduct for sellers reveals this tidbit: Filing Infringement Reports as an Agent or Brand Protection Agency

Amazon understands that many brands may choose to have brand protection agencies or agents report intellectual property infringement on their behalf and accepts submissions from authorized agents.

However, Amazon does not permit individuals with active selling accounts to file infringement notices as an agent of a brand when the filing of those notices could benefit their own selling account (through removing competing listings, for example). Any sellers filing notices as an agent to benefit their own status as a seller may have their selling account terminated.

This is one of those easy-to-overlook bits and pieces of policy that can go completely unnoticed. It also attempts to draw a bright line in situations where sellers may be doing absolutely nothing wrong – but Amazon doesn’t care.

So what’s going on here?

In some cases, brand owners choose a third-party seller as their preferred reseller on Amazon.com. These brand owners may not want to be involved in the day-to-day mechanics of selling on the platform. They simply want a familiar storefront they trust to be the face of their products on Amazon.

Brand owners have ownership of their Amazon Brand Registry, but they can allow others to act as “agents.” These agents can take actions such as editing listings, uploading photos, and reporting counterfeiters and other infringers.

Amazon has decided that it’s fine to use an agent to report intellectual property violations – such as those for counterfeit, trademark, copyright and patent. But the reporting party cannot be a third-party seller who is also selling on the ASIN in question.

Wow, that’s confusing

Frankly, this makes little to no sense. Why?

Well, in many cases, brand owners big and small also sell their own products on Amazon.com. They use brand registry to manage their listings and report infringers.

So Amazon has decided that a brand owner who sells on a specific ASIN can report infringers on that ASIN. But third-party sellers who are trusted agents of the brand cannot. In the end, the effect is the exact same.

I can hazard one guess as to this hazy enforcement decision. If a brand files false infringement reports, the brand can lose its selling privileges (if it’s also a third-party seller) or its brand registry privileges. Perhaps Amazon doesn’t have an adequate enforcement mechanism to specifically punish an agent that goes rogue and files false reports.

Yet, if that agent is a third-party seller, wouldn’t it be easy enough to suspend their account? Inquiring minds want to know.

Where do we go from here?

If you represent a brand on Amazon and manage their ABR as an agent, you have a few options:

When you spot infringers on the brand’s listings, report it to the brand. They can report it from there.
Hire an agency or law firm to file your ABR infringement reports. If they are also an agent on ABR, Amazon will not know the genesis of the reports about infringement.
Most importantly, only file genuine infringement reports. ABR is not a cudgel to be used for mass actions against competing sellers. It should only be used to knock others off of listings in true cases of infringement. Do test buys. Research. Inspect the products you receive. Be responsible. Brand Registry is not there to limit competition or distribution. It’s there to keep bad actors off of your listings.

Have questions? Ask Riverbend Consulting or give us a call! 877-289-1017

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 (18 and 13) who do most of the heavy lifting.

Coming shortages could make price gouging tempting again

November 24, 2020 Leave a Comment

3P sellers should avoid the urge to raise prices on necessities

By: Lesley Hensell

Don’t be that seller.

The warning signs are everywhere. Manufacturers and retailers who sell grocery, medical and personal care items expect new runs on necessities in the coming weeks. Already, plans are being made to institute new buying limits on customers at retail stores.

This could easily kick off a new cycle for Amazon sellers eager to profit off of shortages in brick-and-mortar stores. We saw it last spring. Retail arbitrage sellers – and even those with wholesale relationships – increased prices for items in short supply. Once again, shortages could make price gouging tempting.

Amazon sees this as price gouging. And Amazon shuts down accounts for price gouging.

What is price gouging?

It’s difficult to find a dictionary definition of price gouging that includes practical terms, like percentages. Legally speaking, different states have different standards. Like a Supreme Court justice once said about a different hard-to-define topic, “I know it when I see it.”

Most folks can agree that doubling a price during a time of scarcity looks and feels like price gouging, especially for essential items. But on Amazon, the standard it much stricter.

Prior to Covid, when natural disasters hit, Amazon would sometimes punish sellers who raised prices more than 10 percent. During the Covid shutdowns last spring, even a nominal price increase on necessities could land a seller in hot water and result in their ASIN being shut down, their account receiving a warning, or worst of all their account being suspended. In April, we discussed enforcement issues such as gouging and warned sellers about linked accounts here. Once again, both seem to be on the rise.

What should sellers expect?

In coming days, weeks – and heaven forbid, months – there will be shortages. Of course, these shortages could make price gouging tempting for third-party Amazon sellers to buy in quantity when they can and sell for a huge profit.

Just don’t do it. Your account depends on it. Don’t be that seller.

Above all, if you have questions about keeping your account in good standing or getting reinstated? Give us a call at Riverbend 877-289-1017

Why Amazon “deal sites” put 3P accounts at risk

November 6, 2020 Leave a Comment

Sellers should avoid flipping heavily discounted items

By: Lesley Hensell

Internet deal sites let users buy heavily discounted products on Amazon. That’s why new third-party sellers embrace these sites. It’s cheap inventory to get started. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, this is a very high-risk strategy it’s best to avoid.

Why these deal sites exist

Deal sites and rebate sites are not for the convenience or happiness of the Amazon customer. These sites exist to help private-label sellers launch their products on Amazon. They are also used to increase Best Seller Rank (BSR) or gain product reviews.

There is an unspoken agreement between these sellers and the deal site customers. Most of the customers on deal sites understand that a product review is expected in return for the steep discount. When sales are made and reviews posted, a product’s Best Seller Rank rises. This, in turn, helps the product pop up higher in organic search results.

In most cases, the sellers using these deal sites are offering significant discounts – so much that they are violating Amazon policies against Platform Manipulation. As a result of these discounts, the sellers are losing money on sales made via the discount sites. In return, they hope to drive more buyers to their products.

What makes deal-buying dangerous

Third-party sellers purchase these deals and then flip them on their own Amazon accounts. But this is a risky strategy:

Amazon does not always accept invoices from Amazon-to-Amazon flips that involve third-party sellers.
Private-label sellers can easily file intellectual property complaints against other sellers who pop up on their listings – especially if their distribution is Amazon-only.

The private-label sellers are not going to remove their intellectual property complaints, once filed against you. This makes it particularly difficult to get the ASIN or account reinstated – whichever is the case.

What to do instead

There are lots of places to source products. Yes, they are more challenging than deal sites, retail arbitrage and online arbitrage. But they can help you develop a sustainable business:

Manufacturers
Distributors
Wholesalers

If you need assistance working through product lists, contact us at 877-289-1017 or visit Riverbend Consulting. Our team can help you uncover potentially lucrative sourcing relationships!

Amazon’s acronym language explained

October 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

New sellers can get lost in the abbreviations

By: Kayla Forrest

Amazon loves to use acronyms. They are apart of Amazon’s love language and are used daily. This is something that you may notice when interacting with Amazon or even reading through the Seller Forums. Numerous Amazon acronyms are commonly used and we’ve gathered a few that every seller should know. This list has been compiled for you and will hopefully help you navigate Amazon. Especially for you newer sellers out there.

Amazon acronyms from A-Z:

3P – Third-Party Seller
A third party seller uses inventory they have purchased to sell to consumers on Amazon

AMZ – Amazon
The acronym is a more simple way to say Amazon.

ACOS – Advertising Cost Of Sale
This represents the percentage of sales that was spent on advertising.

API – Application Program Interface
The code that allows software programs to communicate with each other.

ASIN – Amazon Standard Information Number
All products on Amazon will have an ASIN.

ASP – Average Selling Price
The net sales divided by the number of products sold will get you the ASP.

AWS – Amazon Web Services
A subsidiary of Amazon that provides cloud platform and API services.

B2B – Business to Business
Unlike business to customers, the service is for business to business.

BB – Buy Box
This is the box where buyers see the button to purchase products.

BOGO -Buy One, Get One (Free)
This is a great promotional deal that allows you to offer two products for the price of one.

BSM – Buyer-Seller Messages
The messages between the customer and the seller.

BSR – Best Seller Rank
The rank of the item in a category.

DP – Detail Page
The page for the product.

DSP – Demand Slide Platform
This represents the display advertising service.

EAN – European Article Number
A 23 digit number for retail products in Europe.

EBC – Enhanced Brand Content
The detail page description and show enhances content like images.

FBA – Fulfilled By Amazon
The program where Amazon is responsible for storing products and shipping them to buyers.

FBM – Fulfilled By Merchant
The seller is responsible for the inventory storing and fulfilling orders.

FC – Fulfillment Center
Amazon’s storage facility where orders are fulfilled.

FNSKU – Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit
Amazon’s unique identifier used to label units in the fulfillment centers.

GTIN – Global Trade Item Number
A unique 14 digit number used globally to identify products and services.

IP – Intellectual property
Property that is protected such as trademarks, patents, copyrights.

ISBN – International Standard Book Number
A 13 digit number to identify individual books.

MAP – Minimum Advertised Price
The price is determined by a manufacturer. Sellers will be instructed to not sell the product below that price.

MCF – Multi-Channel Fulfillment
Inventory that is stored and fulfilled by Amazon but the order is from another sales channel.

MSRP – Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price
This is to keep prices similar for different stores, sales channels, platforms, etc.

ODR – Order Defect Rate
A performance metric based on the percentage of orders with defects such as A-to-z claims and negative feedback.

OOS – Out Of Stock
Items are no longer in stock.

OTC – Over The Counter
Products that do not need a prescription to purchase.

POA – Plan Of Action
When seller accounts or ASINs are suspended, Amazon frequently requests a Plan of Action from the seller explaining what happened – and how they will stop it from happening again.

PL – Private label
Sellers may have a brand but have a manufacturer. These are the suppliers’ products but they do not make them.

Q1 – First Quarter
The portion of the year including January, February and March.

Q2 – Second Quarter
The months of April, May and June of each year.

Q3 – Third Quarter
This includes July, August and September of a calendar year.

Q4 – Fourth Quarter
Busy months for retail. Q4 includes the last three months (October, November and December) of the year.

QA – Quality Assurance
To ensure the desired quality of the service and/or product.

SC – Seller Central
The seller portal for the Amazon marketplace. Amazon Seller Central

SFP – Seller Fulfilled Prime
The program where sellers must meet Amazon’s Prime requirements.

SKU – Stock Keeping Number
The code to identify a product.

SLA – Service Level Agreement
The agreement details the expected level of service.

TOS – Terms Of Services
The rules and regulations that the seller must follow.

UPC – Universal Product Code
A 12-digit code is associated with the barcode of a product.

VAT – Value Added Tax
For products sold in the United Kingdom and Europe. This is a consumption tax levied on products at each and every point of sale in which value was added.

For more articles using these acronyms visit our website. Have questions about managing your Amazon account? Call us 877-289-1017

Kayla focuses on appeals for Amazon account and ASIN reinstatements. Kayla has 4 years of Amazon experience where she worked in Seller Support and as an Investigation Specialist. In those roles, Kayla dealt with escalations and focused on FBA, intellectual property rights, as well as brand and product gating. When not helping clients save their Amazon accounts, Kayla can be found gardening or cooking with her two children and husband.

Amazon deleted this important seller tool, creating catalog errors and churn

By: Lesley Hensell

Now, without the tool:

Don’t file IP complaints if your seller account will benefit

By: Lesley Hensell

So what’s going on here?

Wow, that’s confusing

Where do we go from here?

3P sellers should avoid the urge to raise prices on necessities

By: Lesley Hensell

What is price gouging?

What should sellers expect?

Sellers should avoid flipping heavily discounted items

By: Lesley Hensell

Why these deal sites exist

What to do instead

New sellers can get lost in the abbreviations

By: Kayla Forrest

Amazon acronyms from A-Z:

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