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Amazon FBA

FBA basics are key to keeping a tidy account for inventory.

December 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

FBA basics that can save you thousands of dollars

By: Emanuela Elias

While it is exciting and exhilarating to be part of this global marketplace, Amazon is such an expansive operation that it is critical to be organized with your inventory and shipments.

While you may start out strong, over time and the busier you get, the less thorough you may become.

What you can control, do.

There is no need to ship your inventory to Amazon and just hope for the best. You can’t control what happens on the way or at the warehouse, but you can control your record keeping as well as how you package your items from the beginning.

  1. Do not skip any of the labels. Each box, pallet and master carton needs its own label. If your boxes and cartons get separated from the shipments, the label will help them find their way back into your inventory. Amazon will almost always default to not searching for or reimbursing you if you did not follow proper labeling guidelines.Tidy FBA

What you can control in the FBA process is keeping a tidy account of everything you send in and everything that goes out. When the inevitable happens, (your inventory goes missing), these additional steps will help your case in the reimbursement process for your missing inventory.

  1. Keep your paperwork super organized. From original invoices, tracking numbers and proof of deliveries, to signed bills of ladings, make sure to keep an organized digital file of each shipment. When something goes missing, Amazon will want proof you sent the inventory to them.
  2. Keep an account of your inventory. Know the quantity you ship in, what you sell, and what you should still have in your inventory. When you are a small operation, you may do this manually though it may be time consuming.  As you grow, inventory management software could do the trick. Using a system to keep track of inventory will help to know when you are missing items. When you notice, and can prove discrepancies, this give you the best chance to be reimbursed.

In conclusion

Setting these labeling and record keeping habits early on will save you much frustration when you have to open a case for missing inventory. Never assume Amazon will just take care of it even when using their shipment labels.

Be diligent and organized to maximize your experience and profitability on Amazon.

Have questions on how to control the FBA process? Send Riverbend Consulting an email or give us a call! (877) 289-1017


Emanuela, Riverbend ConsultingEmanuela leads the monthly services team. She stays on top of critical performance metrics and ensures we secure every owed reimbursement, to keep our clients ahead of game. Emanuela’s background in e-commerce includes leading and empowering teams to work more efficiently. She loves to see a team take off on its own, become independent thinkers and problem solve together. Emanuela is a full-time foodie who loves to cook and create vegan dishes. She is also a long-time aficionado and teacher of the classical Pilates method.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Amazon seller, Arbitrage, ASIN, General, Inventory Sourcing, Seller Central, Seller Performance, Supply Chain, Vendor Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Arbitrage, FBA, FBA inventory, Inventory, Inventory management

New alerts from Amazon might mean you need to appeal.

October 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

Restricted Products – Should You Appeal? In one word – Yes!

By: Cathy Ceely

 

Does this mean you should appeal all Restricted Products warnings and product eliminations?

No, of course not.

The majority of Restricted Products enforcements will correctly remove items that are not allowed to be sold at Amazon.

Although sometimes these enforcements can be wrong.

Therefore giving you the chance to have an appeal.

What Restricted Products enforcement may be successfully appealed?

Here are some examples:

  • Commonly sold over-the-counter products are wrongfully suspended as a ‘prescription required.’
  • Item supposed to contain restricted ingredients, but do not.
  • Amazon says item is professional use only medical devices-but items are notAmazon Restricted Product Appeal

How do I appeal Restricted Products enforcement?

  • Don’t delete your listing. Even though the notification from Amazon says that sellers should delete listings and recall FBA inventory. That should only be done if an appeal is unsuccessful.
  • Take a hard look at the detail page and product itself before you appeal. Just because a similar product is still live at Amazon doesn’t mean your item should be returned.
  • You know that your item is allowed to be sold at Amazon? Then you will need to create a case with Seller Support to provide the information and proper documents.

How do I prevent Restricted Products enforcement?

  • Amazon expects sellers to know and follow its rules and policies for selling on the site.
  • Check and double-check Amazon’s policies on Restricted Products in Seller Central before listing a new item.
  • If you’re unsure if your item should be listed at Amazon –don’t list it.

Do you need help with a Restricted Product issue? Contact Riverbend Consulting by email or by phone (877)289-1017.


Cathy Ceely

Cathy utilizes 20 years of Amazon experience to advocate for sellers. She has extraordinary knowledge regarding Amazon selling policies and seller enforcement. Cathy was a founding member of the Amazon Executive Seller Relations and Product Quality teams, and Operations Manager for Seller Performance in Seattle. She was a Senior Program Manager with the Marketplace Growth team (now Strategic Account Services). Cathy has raised, trained and shown champion Doberman pinschers for 40 years.

Filed Under: Account Appeal, Account Health, Amazon, Amazon Appeal, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Central, Appeal, Customer Serivce, FBA, General, Linked Account, Restricted Product, Seller Central, Seller Fulfilled, Seller Performance, Seller Support Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon account, Amazon appeal, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Central, Restricted Product

This simple hack can save your business

October 20, 2020 Leave a Comment

Prepping inventory for FBA means thinking the process through

By: Lesley Hensell

The Amazon seller was baffled. His account had been shut down for inauthentic goods. But he sourced all inventory direct from the manufacturer. How could this be?

He sold thousands of pairs of shoes every month. We discussed his business processes at length. How was he prepping inventory for FBA?

“Tell me about your boxes. Are they the original branded shoeboxes?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” he said.

“And how are you keeping the boxes closed?” I asked.

Silence.

Turns out, the seller was not securing the shoeboxes.

How did I know? Complaint after complaint said that pairs of shoes did not match. They were two different sizes, brands or colors. It’s a perfect example of not thinking through how the FBA fulfillment center handles sellers’ inventory. Unsecured boxes may be spilled out of cartons or open in the warehouse. It’s unreasonable to expect that Amazon employees will carefully re-pair shoes that have become mixed up.

The solution? For this seller, I suggested plastic bands that could be used to secure the boxes without damaging the cardboard. Rubber bands will work for fast-moving items, but they should not be used if inventory will remain in the FC for long. Cold or heat could cause them to become brittle and break.

The rubberband hack for Amazon sellers.

Selling items as sets

Many sellers send ASINs to the fulfillment center bundled together as a set. Unfortunately, workers at the Amazon warehouse can make tremendous mistakes by separating items that are meant to be sold together.

For example:

  • One client sold a two-pack of a medicine that was shrink-wrapped together. Amazon workers broke the two-packs into singles, causing many complaints when buyers did not receive two items.
  • Another client sold a bundle with multiple components in a polybag. Amazon workers broke the bundles up, which caused havoc.

How can sellers prevent these problems? Add a prominent sticker that says: “Sold as a set. Do not separate.” This should stop the fulfillment center from making such egregious mistakes.

When in doubt, box, polybag or shrink-wrap

Amazon fulfillment centers are not sterile environments. Products are moved around multiple times. They become dusty and dirty. They are dropped on the floor. The best solution for most products? Keep them clean, safe and in brand-new condition by placing them into protective packaging. This could mean placing them in a box, a polybag, or shrink wrap. This is an extra step that takes time and costs a few pennies. But it will more than pay off with fewer buyer complaints.

Questions about how to keep your account safe? Ask us at Riverbend Consulting.


Lesley Hensell

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.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Amazon Appeal, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Central, Customer Serivce, FBA, General, Seller Central, Seller Performance, Warehouse Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon account, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Central, FBA, Fulfillment center, Inventory, Inventory Prep

Should I hire an ex-Amazon employee to write appeals?

June 18, 2020 Leave a Comment

Amazonians can provide excellent insights – if they are real and relevant

By: Lesley Hensell
Writing Amazon appeals requires a special set of skills. Persuasive, clear prose helps. Responsiveness and attentiveness to the client are a plus. But more important than anything else is a true understanding how Amazon works for and with third-party sellers. Who embodies this last set of skills? The best candidates are ex-Amazon employees and long-term Amazon sellers.

When we launched Riverbend Consulting, our team included two Amazon sellers and one ex-Amazonian. Since that time, we’ve dramatically grown our ex-Amazon staff. Today, we have eleven Amazonians who fill consultant and analyst positions.

Fake Amazonians everywhere

Unfortunately, we’ve noticed an ugly trend in our industry. Many consulting firms are claiming to have ex-Amazon employees on staff – when they have only one or none at all. If you want an edge with your account or ASIN appeal, you’re better off with a firm that has real Amazon knowledge in-house.

Here are some strategies to be sure you’re getting the expertise that you have paid for:

  1. Check the web site. Companies that have real Amazonians on staff advertise it on their team page. Ex-Amazon employees are a valuable asset, so their bios will be included as well.
  2. Ask questions. If a firm claims to have ex-Amazon employees, ask for names and details. Confirm they actually work at the company full-time and aren’t simply a name used to draw in business.
  3. Determine their departments. For straight-up appeal writing, a team that includes Seller Performance and Seller Support experience is your best bet. Those with knowledge in other areas could be helpful for long-term account management and performance.
  4. Find out how long they’ve been gone. Processes and people change continually at Amazon. This makes more recent experience critical. While knowing the “Amazon way” of thinking and working is incredibly valuable, at least a few employees should be more recent Amazon team members to ensure fresh, relevant knowledge.


What can ex-amazon employees do for you?ex-amazon employee

At Riverbend, our ex-Amazonians hail from a wide range of departments: Seller Performance, Seller Support, Account Health Services and AWS.
Should I hire an ex-amazon employee to write appeals? Our Seller Support pros know strategies for ungating issues, catalog folks don’t. Our Seller Performance team members understand nuances of the appeal process unlike anyone else. Likewise, our Account Health Services employees provide great feedback on how sellers can extract information about their accounts.
Amazon can be quite siloed. Employing experts who have worked in many of these silos gives us access to a broader range of information and strategies to help our sellers solve their ongoing challenges with Amazon. Best of all, we are well-equipped to provide prophylactic strategies that head off problems before they occur.
When a client has a question that one of our team members cannot answer, it goes into the company chat. Chances are, one of our ex-Amazonians knows the right information – or how we can get it.
What’s more, not every employee can be an ex-Amazonian. But we have enough Amazon knowledge in-house that our non-Amazon staff receives extensive training and mentoring from those who spent time at Amazon. It makes for a great mix of consulting know-how, people skills and domain expertise. So, should you hire an ex-amazon employee to write appeals? We think so!
Have questions for our team? Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Lesley HensellLesley is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where she oversees the firm’s client services team. She leverages two decades as a small business consultant to advise clients on profitability and operational performance. Lesley has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: Account Appeal, Account Health, Amazon, Amazon seller, Customer Serivce, General, Seller Performance, Suspended Tagged With: Account Health Services, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Performance, Appeal, AWS, Deactivated, Reinstated, Seller Support, Suspended, Suspension

What does the explosion in Amazon related account suspensions mean for you?

June 17, 2020 4 Comments

Some related account suspensions are Amazon errors, some are ancient history

By: Lesley Hensell
A flood of related account Amazon suspensions has sellers wondering what is going on. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t a simple one. Earlier this year, Amazon changed its policy about multiple accounts. Before, if a seller wanted more than one Amazon account, they had to request approval and follow a set of simple rules. The most important of these rules was that the accounts could not sell the same inventory.
With the policy change earlier this year, Amazon said no advance permission was now necessary. However, sellers with more than one account must have a valid business reason for doing so. Plus, Amazon explicitly stated that if one account is suspended for whatever reason, Amazon reserves the right to suspend all of the accounts that seller owns.
linked amazon accounts
Since that time, we have seen a rash of accounts going down for “related” or “linked” accounts. In some cases, these are real linkages. For example, we have sellers who owned a different account a long time ago and it was suspended, or they worked for another Amazon business and that created a linkage.
In other cases, our clients are being caught up in false positives. For whatever reason, Amazon thinks there is a link – but there honestly is not. Finally, in some cases, Amazon makes a tremendous mistake. They suspend a seller for having an account in another marketplace – be it Canada, Japan or elsewhere. These are flat-out technology errors on Amazon’s part. Appeals for related account typically require an escalation for reinstatement. Unfortunately, front-line Seller Performance does not feel empowered to turn these accounts back on.
Your best strategy?
  1. Make sure there are no linkages between your Amazon account and another selling account, such as account owners, tax ID numbers, bank accounts, credit cards, IP addresses, warehouse addresses, etc.
  2. If you have more than one account, ensure you have a valid business reason for doing so. This might be using one account for private-label products and another for goods purchased via wholesale. Or, some sellers are developing multiple brands on separate accounts.
  3. If you have more than one account, never sell the same inventory. Stay away from offering the same items, brands or – if possible – categories.
  4. If your account is suspended for related accounts, be ready to provide a reasonable explanation – even if you’re guessing.
  5. Be ready to offer detailed verification information about your account.
If you’re stuck or have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Riverbend Consulting. We are happy to discuss your case. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Lesley HensellLesley is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where she oversees the firm’s client services team. She leverages two decades as a small business consultant to advise clients on profitability and operational performance. Lesley has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Linked Account, Related Account, Suspended Tagged With: 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Performance, Linked accounts, Marketplace, Related accounts, Suspension

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