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Are automatic reimbursements a smart Amazon strategy?

July 29, 2019 Leave a Comment

This may sound like a good idea. But allowing software to file cases for automatic reimbursements can take down your Amazon seller account.

By Lesley Hensell

Amazon’s FBA Service and automatic reimbursements can be a life-saver for large third-party sellers. It can also provide the worst-possible fulfillment service, with no accountability and zero concern for sellers’ probability.

That’s why it’s critical for sellers to watch their inventory and ensure they are reimbursed when Amazon:

  • Loses inventory
  • Damages inventory
  • Doesn’t receive inventory
  • Fails to credit an account when a return is not received
  • And many other shady circumstances

Sometimes, Amazon does reimburse a seller without being asked to do so. But in many cases, the payment needed to make a seller whole never happens unless a case is filed.

This has led to the creation of many services that offer to find and file for reimbursements. In fact, we here at Riverbend find tends of thousands of dollars for our clients every single month.

But sellers need to know one important thing: there are some reimbursement strategies that can put your account at risk. Definitely pursue your funds, but avoid doing the following:

  1. Automatic case creation. Some software services automatically create cases with Amazon. This is dangerous and should be avoided. Amazon wants a human being to create the cases asking for return of funds.
  2. Duplicate funds requests. Were you already reimbursed for a particular ASIN, either by Amazon automatically or after you asked for the funds? You or your service provider must maintain a comprehensive database or spreadsheet of cases that have been filed. If you ask for the same funds repetitively, the Gods of Amazon grow angry.
  3. Too many cases at once. You should only file a limited number of reimbursement cases at a time. If you always have three to five cases open, you should be fine. Be patient, and ensure cases are resolved before you attack new ones.

Finally, follow-up is key. When Amazon promises you cash, make sure they actually fund it to your account in the guaranteed timeframe, which will be anywhere from 15 to 45 days.

Want to get all the cash Amazon owes you, without the accounting or administrative hassles? Let Riverbend work for you. We don’t make a dime unless we get your funds back.

 

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Amazon, FBA Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon Seller Account, FBA, Inventory, Money, Reimbursement

Amazon FBA Reimbursements – Amazon Owes You Money!

April 11, 2019 3 Comments

Amazon reimbursement

If you have been selling on Amazon using FBA, Amazon owes you money!

Click Here to View Demo Video

You are most likely entitled to an Amazon reimbursement if you’ve been selling products utilizing FBA.

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is an essential component for a majority of Amazon sellers. FBA allows the seller to store inventory in Amazon’s fulfillment centers so Amazon can pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for the seller’s products.

Utilizing FBA helps your business be more efficient and makes your products eligible for Amazon Prime. But even though Amazon is one of the most respected online retailers, sellers don’t always get credited for inventory that slips through the cracks.

If you want to get a fast estimate of how much you can get refunded, check out our Amazon FBA Refund Calculator.

Why does Amazon owe FBA sellers money?

All of these situations can result in reimbursements:

  • Customer was refunded more than the price they paid
  • Item got lost or damaged in Amazon’s fulfillment center
  • Item was destroyed without permission
  • Amazon overcharged for the weight or dimensional fee
  • Amazon reimbursed the customer but not the correct amount
  • Item was damaged by carrier or Amazon
  • Replacement was sent to customer or a refund was granted, but the order was never returned
  • Amazon claims they have reimbursed the seller, even though they haven’t
  • Amazon claims they restocked the item into your inventory, but they haven’t
  • The wrong item is restocked into your inventory

How do Amazon FBA sellers file an Amazon reimbursement claim?

What NOT to do

You want to approach your Amazon reimbursement claims with caution. Simple mistakes can result in your Amazon seller account getting shut down.

The most important thing you should NOT do is use an automated FBA reimbursement tool to try to collect your refund. Amazon policy prohibits using automated tools to open cases. In addition, opening up too many cases at once can result in a warning or account suspension.

So this might leave you wondering, how do I get reimbursed from Amazon?

What you should do

To maximize your dollars, rely on an Amazon reimbursement service. Here at Riverbend Consulting, we take a deep dive into your account’s history to find missing and lost inventory, missing returns, and other reimbursements that Amazon miscalculated over the last 18 months. In addition, we review your inbound FBA shipments for the last 90 days to ensure all inventory is present and accounted for.

We only get paid a percentage of what you get back, incentivizing us to find every last penny for your account.

Riverbend is a team of former Amazon employees and Amazon experts who have a deep understanding of how Amazon works from the inside.

We don’t automate any part of the reimbursement process, ensuring that you have the best possible reimbursement experience – and no risk of warnings or enforcement against you.

If you would like to learn more about Amazon reimbursements or to get in contact with our team, please visit here.

Filed Under: Amazon, FBA, General Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Account, FBA, Inventory, Money, Refund, Reimbursement

Amazon now permanently holding funds for a wide range of “sins”

April 9, 2019 2 Comments

Amazon now permanently holding funds

If your Amazon seller account gets suspended, will you get your funds?

Maybe not. Amazon is now permanently holding funds for a wide range of “sins”.

For years, Amazon dispersed the funds for closed accounts in almost every case. Fraud and counterfeit were the occasional exceptions.

But now, Amazon is permanently attaching sellers’ funds for a wide range of alleged violations of its Business Services Agreement. And frankly, some of these offenses seem quite minor. While the seller’s mistakes may have warranted account deactivation, our team has been shocked that they have resulted in permanent loss of earned revenues.

First, here are some basics. When a seller’s account is deactivated, Amazon stops disbursing funds. The account balance just sits there while the seller tries to get back on the platform. If Amazon refuses to reactivate the account, funds are supposed to be released after 60 days. This allows for any A-to-z claims, returns and other fees to be debited from the seller’s balance. After the magical 60 days, remaining funds are sent to the seller’s bank account. (It’s important to know that Amazon’s calculation of when the 60 days starts is somewhat confusing. It’s usually when the company decides to permanently block the seller for the last time – which can be months after the original suspension.)

But then came the decisions to not release funds. The first volley in this new offensive was somewhat predictable. Sellers of e-cigs and vaping accessories had long abused the platform by creating bogus listings, selling a few units, and deleting the listings. This would be repeated ad nauseum, until Amazon caught the seller and suspended their account.

These sellers would then create a new account and repeat the entire process over again. Amazon got tired of the rule-breaking and held funds permanently for these folks – thus stopping the cycle of launching yet more new accounts in the vaping space.

Over the last few months, however, much more typical – and seemingly harmless – suspensions have resulted in permanent holds. We will start with the most egregious seller sins, and then move to the lesser ones:

  • Counterfeit goods. Amazon will (rightly) hold your funds, destroy your inventory, and block you from the platform. (This does beg the question of how Amazon can keep the funds from the sale of counterfeit goods, rather than turning them over to the Secret Service or another government agency. But that’s an Amazon rant for another day.)
  • Forged documents. It’s tempting to believe that this is the same as counterfeit goods. But alas, it is not. Many forged documents suspensions we are seeing relate to invoices submitted for ungating, rather than in response to a suspension or Seller Performance inquiry. Since the seller probably wasn’t ungated based on their forged invoice, they are essentially suspended for items never sold. When funds are then held, it’s based on an assumption of counterfeit by Amazon – even though counterfeit goods likely were never involved. Just wow. Also, there are more false positive suspensions for forged docs than you would like to believe – sadly.
  • Inauthentic. In the past, only having your products labeled as “counterfeit” would trigger a funds and inventory hold. But now, Amazon is refusing to return funds in many cases when products were labeled as inauthentic – a lesser crime than counterfeit in the Amazon hierarchy of broken dreams. In the cases of our clients, the products generally were authentic goods. Our clients bought gray market or otherwise couldn’t provide good invoices, so Amazon slapped them with the inauthentic label and decided to keep their money and their FBA inventory. Forever.
  • Linked accounts. This is perhaps the most surprising reason for holding funds we have seen thus far. Clients with more than one account on Amazon – without permission – have seen a denial when they requested a release of their funds. Amazon specifically stated in the notice that this was a consequence of having multiple accounts. Perhaps an argument can be made that this is similar to the vaping situation mentioned above. Yet in some cases we have worked, there was no major rule-breaking going on.
  • Fraudulent and systematic abuse of customers. Recently, a client was denied funds for this stated reason. We had thoroughly reviewed his account and were absolutely baffled as to how his mistakes led to such a strongly worded denial. Fortunately, we were able to get the account reinstated and his nearly $400,000 in funds released for disbursement just a few days later. What did he do wrong? There was definitely poor customer service, as well as serious product quality problems. But the account was suspended for suspected inauthentic – which we disproved with invoices and a strong letter from the seller’s supplier. What was Amazon Payments thinking? We still don’t know.

Unfortunately, we anticipate that the list of reasons for holding funds – permanently – is only going to grow. How can sellers protect themselves?

  1. Shore up your sourcing. Make sure your invoices meet Amazon’s standards, and that you have authorization letters whenever possible.
  2. Keep good banking records. If an invoice shows a balance, it helps to prove that you paid it. This is one more step toward convincing Amazon you have valid relationships with quality suppliers.
  3. Don’t open multiple accounts. If you want a second account, get Amazon’s approval. Just do it the right way.
  4. Don’t submit forged documents – for any purpose. This means don’t alter a date, a quantity, a product, an address – nothing. If it’s not an original invoice, please don’t submit it to Amazon.
  5. Be on your game with customers. Tempted to circumvent the opt-out? Thinking about yelling at an abusive customer? Just don’t. Create great template email responses and outsource customer service to experts who have the time to follow through with every transaction.
  6. Monitor your ASINs. Do you have problematic ASINs that make up a significant portion of your returns or customer complaints? Pull those suckers and solve the problems. Amazon is going to hold you responsible if they perceive your products are fraudulent.

If your funds are being held, reach out to Riverbend. We have strategies for getting your money released – and your account reinstated. Contact us.

 

By Lesley Hensell
Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Gating, General Tagged With: 3P, Amazon, Amazon reinstatement, Amazon seller, Funds, Gating, Inventory, Liquidation, Money, Ungating

Amazon can permanently hold sellers’ funds

January 17, 2019 Leave a Comment

Sellers beware. Amazon can permanently hold sellers’ funds for a growing number of accounts. Even more frightening, the path to recovering that money is long, difficult and expensive.

By Lesley Hensell

We’ve seen all manner of reasons that Amazon can permanently hold sellers’ funds:

  1. Violations of terms of service, such as selling prohibited products. Particularly hard-hit are sellers who have offered vaping equipment and accessories. 
  2. Products that are allegedly counterfeit/inauthentic.
  3. Fake or manipulated invoices. Even the editing of a date can get a seller busted.
  4. Poor invoices with suppliers that cannot be verified, leading to concern that products are counterfeit/inauthentic.
  5. Code of conduct violations. This is a broad category, which Seller Performance can use and/or abuse to ban sellers from the platform.

Here’s what happens. Amazon suspends a seller account for one of these reasons. The seller is given a chance to appeal. When the appeal is submitted, they almost immediately receive a denial, as well as a notice that funds are being held. After some time passes, the seller is given an option to appeal for funds – but that typically involves the same burden of proof as an account reinstatement. Therefore, the likelihood of success is low.

Can this happen to anyone? Unfortunately, yes. But there are simple, common-sense steps you can follow to protect yourself.

  1. Don’t sell prohibited products. The folks selling vaping equipment and accessories knew they were breaking Terms of Service. (If they didn’t, they weren’t paying attention.) Some of these sellers try to use the argument that vaping products are legal in their states. Newsflash: Amazon doesn’t care. They expect you to follow their rules, and their rules are clearly stated on the web site. The same goes for marijuana-related items. Just because it’s legal in your state, doesn’t mean Amazon wants the liability of you selling it.
  2. Upgrade your sourcing. Risk management is a big part of your sourcing strategy – or should be. To safeguard your account – and your funds – you need trustworthy vendors. A recent client bought inventory on a liquidation web site simply because the invoice said “authentic” for Apple and Samsung items. But common sense says you need a reliable chain of custody to be sure your inventory is the real deal.
  3. Manage invoices as though your life depended on it. Because your selling life does. For every purchase, make sure you have complete and thorough documentation – invoices with clear information about your supplier, thorough contact information for you, and a full description of the product you bought. If you have receipts, scan them. Document every dollar spent, and be ready to provide the information at a moment’s notice.
  4. Keep it clean. All but the most angelic sellers have been tempted to break the rules. Maybe you’ve wanted to ask a customer to review a negative review. Perhaps you’ve wanted to buy out a competitor’s inventory so you can raise your prices. There are as many ways to break terms of service as there are lost units in Amazon fulfillment centers.

If you do find yourself in these circumstances, you can be successful against Amazon. Our best advice:

  1. Hire a pro. Yes, this sounds like self-service advice coming from a reinstatement professional. But certain cases definitely call for an experienced company. Why? You will not get reinstated on the first try, nor through Seller Performance. You need escalations, a compelling explanation, and an impeccable plan of action.
  2. Settle in for the long haul. This is not a problem quickly solved. It can take a month or more to run the gamut of escalations.
  3. Be ready to produce documentation. Your consultant will need a lot of records and information to help unlock your funds.
  4. Go the appeals route first. It’s tempting to head straight for arbitration. But remember, because you must abide by Amazon-written Terms of Service, Amazon holds all the cards. Try an account appeal, followed by a funds appeal. Arbitration comes last.

Do you have questions about Amazon’s Terms of Service? Need help clarifying rules or setting up better systems? Riverbend Consulting can help. Contact us.


Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Gating, General Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon reinstatement, Amazon seller, Funds, Money

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