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Location matters: Who is writing your Amazon appeals?

May 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Some tasks are far too important to send overseas. Know who is writing your Amazon appeals.

By: Lesley Hensell

Who is writing your Amazon appeals? Should a virtual assistant (VA) on the other side of the globe write an appeal letter for your Amazon account?

In far too many cases, if you hire a company to help with your appeals, that’s exactly what happens. VAs can be extremely valuable to Amazon third-party sellers. But they are typically not well-suited to writing ASIN or account appeals.

What makes a great appeal writer?

At Riverbend, we have built a large team of consultants and account analysts. Our recipe for appeal writing success is as follows:

  1. Domain expertise. Our team includes professionals with backgrounds in investigations, retail and warehouse operations, online selling and more. Most have worked at Amazon here in the United States, in Seller Performance, Account Health Services or Seller Support. Many have sold on Amazon. All understand how businesses run in the United States, as well as how Amazon sellers operate. 
  2. Interviewing and problem-solving skills. An effective appeal to Amazon isn’t just about telling Seller Performance what they wish to hear. Rather, it truly solves the underlying business issues causing complaints or problems. Our consultants speak with clients and suss out the problems. They advise our clients, answer their in-depth questions, and work together on real-world, effective solutions.
  3. Strong language skills. Certainly appeal writing is serious business that requires a full command of the English language – written and spoken. In addition, a knowledge of the colloquialisms of the marketplace in question is a huge plus.
who is writing your appeals
What are the gaps for overseas appeal writers?

When companies rely on overseas VAs to write appeals, it can cause a wide range of problems:

  1. No phone support. Sellers should have phone and email access to the person who is writing their Amazon appeals, so they can explain the issue, ask questions, and arrive at a solution. Email support – direct with the appeal writer – should be a given. If a seller doesn’t have the ability to speak with the consultant or another well-versed team member, how can they get answers to important queries?
  2. Language skills. It’s difficult enough appealing to Amazon without language challenges.
  3. Lack of a big-picture vision. Overseas VAs are typically finding a sample past appeal they think might be close to the client’s situation. Then they cut-and-paste together a document that may or may not be relevant. This is not a recipe for long-term success – especially since it does nothing to solve the underlying issue.
  4. Lack of in-depth Amazon expertise. Overseas VAs typically have not worked in Seller Performance or Seller Support. They don’t know paths to escalate – which are critical these days. By using US-based, knowledgeable resources, you are much more likely to gain insights into your account and a positive result.
Look out for bait-and-switch

Service companies of all sizes and types pull bait-and-switch scams on Amazon sellers. A salesperson or account manager convinces the Amazon seller to sign up for their services. After that, one of two things might happen:

  1. Some companies give Amazon sellers form-letter appeals that were edited by an overseas VA to fit their situation. This customization is based solely on the notes take by the salesperson. No conversations ever happen with the appeal writer.
  2. Other companies use their more highly paid consultants to write account appeals. But if they sign clients up for ongoing account monitoring or ASIN appeals, those appeals are created by overseas VAs. Sometimes, US-based resources run interference so that clients don’t realize what is going on.

Why would someone do this? Simple. They are saving a lot of money on labor costs. Ownership makes a whole lot more money for sub-par service by untrained overseas resources.

The service you deserve

How can you know if you’re receiving quality service from skilled consultants?

  1. Look at the company web site. If a company has solid Amazon expertise, team members should be proudly featured online with details about their backgrounds.
  2. Only hire a company where a US-based team member answers the phone. Therefore, if you cannot get a human on the phone, run.
  3. Ask where the consultant working on your account is based. 
  4. Ask when the consultant will reach out to you by phone or email. Ensure you are going to be contacted by the consultant – and not by a go-between like an account manager or a sales rep.
  5. If your service firm uses VAs, ask which tasks this group handles. Reasonable answers are tasks like Amazon customer service messages, reimbursements, listings audits, and other similar functions.

We are HERE for you and your business! Meet 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. She has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: Account Appeal, Account Health, Amazon, Customer Serivce, FBA, General, Quality Control, Seller Central, Seller Performance, USA, VA, Virtual Assistant Tagged With: 3P, 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Appeal, Copyright, Coronavirus, Deactivated, Deactivation, Documents, Fake, FBA, Inauthentic, Inventory, Reactivated, Shipment, Suspended, Suspension

Why a suspension for “inauthentic” doesn’t mean fake

April 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

When Amazon takes down an ASIN or seller account for inauthentic, that’s not usually what they mean

By: Lesley Hensell

“Item is FAKE.”
It’s feedback that every Amazon seller dreads – and most long-time sellers have received at least once. Unfortunately, that one negative comment from a buyer can quickly transform into a notification from Seller Performance, demanding you disprove their accusation of “inauthentic.” Or, even worse, it can lead to an account suspension. Please know that “inauthentic” doesn’t mean fake.

For most sellers, accusations of inauthentic are downright confusing. And for good reason.

What does “inauthentic” really mean?

When Amazon suspends an ASIN – or a seller account – for accusations of inauthentic, Amazon itself is not saying, “You are selling fake stuff.” Rather, Seller Performance is expressing concern that a pattern of complaints, feedback, reviews and returns have indicated there could be problems with the authenticity of merchandise. 

Inauthentic doesn’t ALWAYS mean fake

This could mean any number of things.
  1. You could be selling fake stuff. It happens. We’ve worked with sellers who truly believed they were selling authentic goods – but were not. Buyers who are loyal customers to a brand can spot the inconsistencies and will point it out. This is where excellent sourcing relationships become key. If you purchase liquidation inventory or buy things that “fell off the back of a truck,” you cannot guarantee authenticity.
  2. You could be selling generic items on a branded ASIN. There are two flavors of this problem. In one instance, you could be listing your generic product against a recognizable, major brand – which is a major no-no. In other cases, the problem is more difficult to untangle. Sometimes, a “generic” listing will be modified by a competitor to show their brand. This can get you in trouble. Our best advice? Don’t list generic products. Always include a brand and manufacturer.
  3. You could be selling items in bad condition. Amazon buyers expect merchandise to be in perfect, gift-giving condition. This means the packaging – inside and outside – should be free of dings, creases and shelfwear. When applicable, seals should be present. When an Amazon buyer receives an item with box damage, they may (unfortunately) complain of inauthentic. To prevent these kinds of complaints, up your inspection game. Ensure that outer packaging is always perfect.
  4. You could have lousy prep and pack. Your items could be getting damaged in transport – whether you’re sending them to the Amazon FBA warehouse or direct to customers. When buyers receive broken cosmetics, leaking shampoos and bent posters, they complain. You cannot control what their complaint might be – and some assume that a broken or damaged item must be fake. Improve your shipping performance, from upgrading packaging to better prepping items.
  5. You could have an FBA problem. Let’s face it. Amazon does a poor job of receiving and grading returns. Sometimes, when opened and used items are put back into your fulfillable inventory, it can lead to authenticity complaints.
  6. You could be commingling inventory. Commingled inventory is a nightmare. Don’t be tempted to go down this road. With commingled inventory, another seller’s fake items could be used to fulfill your orders. Instead, take the time to sticker all of your inventory – or pay Amazon to do it for you.

If your ASINs or account are down for accusations of inauthentic, don’t struggle on alone. Let Riverbend Consulting help. We can assist you in pinpointing and solving the underlying problems. Then, we will help you work with Seller Performance. We are here for you and your business! 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. She has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: 3P, Account Health, Amazon, FBA, Fulfillment, General, Seller Fulfilled, SFP Tagged With: 3P, 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Copyright, Coronavirus, Deactivation, Fake, FBA, Fulfillment center, Inauthentic, Inventory, Order Cancellation, Shipment, Suspension

When disaster strikes, Amazon sellers need to be ready

April 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

Every business – big and small – needs a disaster plan

By: Lesley Hensell

 

Don’t think it cannot happen to you. For small and mid-sized businesses, disasters can take many forms:

  • Fires that destroy your home, warehouse or office
  • Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and severe storms that damage office and home locations or take out power and communications
  • Power or internet outages – from a day to a week – that disrupt your ability to fill orders and communicate with customers
  • Personal illness or family emergencies that make owners, managers or key employees unable to fulfill their work responsibilities

Amazon seller disaster plan

So what’s a small business to do? Have a disaster plan in place – and train your entire team on the details. Think through these action steps:

  1. Make sure more than one person has the ability to put your Amazon seller account on vacation mode. If a fire, flood or something else strikes and you cannot fulfill orders, it’s critical to go on vacation ASAP while you sort out the details.
  2. Have more than one team member trained to answer customer service messages. Again, in the event orders cannot be filled or are filled late, you must be able to communicate this to customers as soon as possible. By being open and honest, you will avoid negative feedback and unwanted cancellations.
  3. Train your team to understand that going on vacation mode to protect your account is more important than ensuring a flow of new orders. Don’t let the panic of temporary lost revenue tempt you into making business-ending mistakes.
  4. Have a backup location for your inventory. Do you know of a storage space, warehouse, or other solution in case your current location is damaged or off the grid? How would you move your inventory there in a disaster?
  5. Create a virtual “fulfillment relocation kit.” Know which technology and tools would be needed to quickly and easily replicate your fulfillment operations in another location – such as a laptop, label printer, shrink wrap solution, boxes, labels, etc.
  6. If your business operates on platforms other than Amazon, be ready to leverage social media to communicate to your customers. Have canned graphics ready to go, and let your loyal customers know what’s going on, how they can help, and when they can expect you to be back in business.

Planning ahead can save you a lot of headaches in the end – and ensure your business is creating cash flow faster.

We are here for you and your business! Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Filed Under: 3P, Account Health, Amazon, FBA, Fulfillment, General, Seller Fulfilled, SFP Tagged With: 3P, 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Copyright, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Deactivation, Disaster, Emergency, Essential, FBA, Fire, Flood, Fulfillment center, Illness, Inbound, Inventory, Merchant fulfilled, MFN, New York, Order Cancellation, Shipment, Warehouse

5 ways to avoid variation abuse

April 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Amazon is super-strict on variations; follow these rules to stay safe from variation abuse

By: Lesley Hensell

A couple of times a year, Amazon goes on a quest to clean up the catalog. For many sellers, this can result in warnings for variation abuse. Too often, brand owners and sellers are violating Amazon’s variation rules and don’t even realize it. Other times, sellers are using variations to circumvent Amazon’s rules. 

What is a variation? In short, it’s a family of ASINs that are for the same product. An “anchor” ASIN is called the parent, and similar ASINs are called “children.” These child listings are connected with one another, instead of being distinct and separate. For example, a parent ASIN might be for a men’s t-shirt with a pocket. A child ASIN would be that exact t-shirt, in green sized large.

Amazon Variation Abuse

Why do sellers violate variation rules? There are a few motivating factors:

  1. Boosting Best Seller Rank (BSR) across all variations. If one child listing is particularly popular, sellers will try to tack other children onto the listing in hopes of getting great sales for that product as well.
  2. Launching a new product. Being pegged to a popular existing product makes product launches easier.
  3. Circumventing brand gating rules. If they can’t get approval to list against a specific brand, some sellers play games with variations as a workaround of Amazon’s regulations.

Follow these five strategies to ensure you aren’t busted for variation abuse.

  1. Understand what makes a variation. For almost all product categories on Amazon, the only acceptable variations are for color, size and quantity. In the t-shirt example above, you could offer the shirt in a range of colors, a range of sizes, and a variety of multi-packs. In some categories, there are additional specific acceptable variations, such as flavor. You can find these in the style guide for each category.
  2. Do not group products by your preference. Imagine that you are selling puzzles. You have five puzzles that feature animals and 5 puzzles that feature cars. You decide to set up variation families based on animals and cars. While this makes sense to you, it is not acceptable to Amazon.
  3. Do not abuse the variant. Many sellers change the meaning of the approved variation. For example, they will create “red” and “yellow” variations for a lotion, when the true difference is scent. Sellers abuse this variation because they believe the two scents should be on the same listing. Remember, your opinion doesn’t override Amazon’s rules.
  4. Ensure everything on the child listings matches, except the variant. If you have created a valid variation family, the child listings must be identical except for the acceptable variants. The listing title, bullets, description and photos should be the same – except where you point out the color, size or quantity. When you mouse-over the variant attributes and click through the child listings, the content should remain essentially identical.
  5. Don’t use a variation to create a bundle.  Sellers fall into this temptation in the effort to differentiate themselves from listings with a lot of competition. Or, they create unauthorized variation bundles to try and “launch” or bring attention to a bundle. Keep in mind, all elements of the product must be the same across a variation family. For example, you cannot offer a product with a case and without a case on the same variation.

Have questions or a suspension for variation abuse? Contact Riverbend Consulting. We are happy to help.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, ASIN, Bundles, General, Variations Tagged With: 3P, 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon listings, Amazon seller, Bundles, Coronavirus, Deactivation, Essential, FBA, Fulfillment center, Inbound, Inventory, Merchant fulfilled, MFN, New York, Order Cancellation, Shipment, Supplements, Vacation, Variation abuse, Warehouse

MFN orders piling up? Go on vacay!

April 7, 2020 Leave a Comment

Whether you’re a new MFN seller or seeing high order volumes, be ready to pause

By: Lesley Hensell

As Amazon struggles to ship out FBA orders quickly enough, Amazon 3P sellers are jumping into merchant fulfillment. It’s important to understand the metrics Amazon expects from MFN sellers – and how to keep out of trouble. This does not just apply to the current situation driven by Covid-19. These concepts can be relevant during any kind of natural disaster or business disruption.

Amazon requires:

  • A late shipment rate of less than 4 percent
  • An order cancellation rate of less than 2.5 percent

Follow these tips to ensure you don’t run afoul of Amazon’s rules:

  1. Check your stats every day. Watch them like a hawk.
  2. Get out every order by the promised ship date. Don’t rely on third-party software. Actually look in Seller Central to see which items are not shipped out, and get them out ASAP.
  3. Ensure that you get an origin scan by your carrier. Amazon doesn’t consider the order shipped unless it is scanned.
  4. If you even start to feel behind, go on vacation. You can do this in settings in your account. Temporarily pause accepting new MFN orders until you are caught up.

What happen when you run out of inventory or simply mess up and need to cancel an order? You want to ensure that you don’t get negative feedback.

Try these strategies:

  • Buyers don’t like when you leave them hanging past the estimated ship date. If you figure out you won’t be able to ship, cancel sooner rather than later. Be timely and apologetic in cancellations. Don’t wait. Explain that you are cancelling the order immediately so that the buyer has time to place a new order with someone else.
  • When cancelling an order, buyers understand the truth and a valid reason why the order must be cancelled. For example, a tornado shut down our operations. Send a message stating that a weather event happened today in your location. Safety of your employees is paramount, so you are not requiring staff to come in today to prioritize their families. 
  • Buyers don’t like it when sellers confirm orders, only to cancel them and issue a refund. This is technically mail fraud. In addition, buyers become very angry when an order is cancelled, yet they can see that it is still available for sale on Amazon.

What should MFN sellers do long-term? Ensure you have staff redundancy to fill orders even if your regular MFN staff are not available. And be sure that someone can put your store on vacation via mobile if your infrastructure is not functional.

Amazon MFN sellers, we are here for you and your business! Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Filed Under: 3P, Account Health, Amazon, FBA, Fulfillment, General, Seller Fulfilled, SFP Tagged With: 3P, 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Copyright, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Deactivation, Essential, FBA, Fulfillment center, Inbound, Inventory, Merchant fulfilled, MFN, New York, Order Cancellation, Shipment, Supplements, Vacation, Warehouse

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