Outrageous! Amazon is inviting sellers to spam Senators with demands to withdraw anti-Amazon legislation
After repeatedly getting fined in Europe over their treatment of third party sellers, today, Amazon spammed millions of e-mail addresses belonging to US-based merchants with communications incorrectly headed as “Amazon Seller Newsletter”, inviting them to bombard Senators with pre-written messages, urging them to oppose a bill “S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act” aimed to reduce Amazon’s power as a monopoly.
The “S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act“ is literally referred to on the official US Government website as: A bill to provide that certain discriminatory conduct by covered platforms shall be unlawful, and for other purposes.
Here you can go through the whole bill and read it:
Following years of making conditions for small business trading through their platform as unbearable as possible, Amazon is now trying to trick sellers in a friendly tone to push policymakers into withdrawing crucial legislation, which would give the company a choice between making the marketplace fairer and compliant with laws or closing it down.
Some examples of discriminatory practices in which Amazon engages include automated A-Z Claim refunds, forced free returns, shutting down of seller accounts without explanation or blocking of listings.
Screenshots of e-mails sent from no-reply@sell.amazon.com, labelled as “Amazon Seller Newsletter” can be found here:
Here is a full quote of the e-mail sent by Amazon:
| Dear Fellow US-based Amazon Seller: We recently had the opportunity to meet our respective congressional representatives in the House and Senate to discuss how proposed legislation jeopardizes Amazon’s ability to operate a marketplace for sellers. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will soon take an important vote on this legislation. We urge you join with us and contact your Senators to oppose these bills. Like you, we partner with Amazon to help our customers quickly and easily purchase the products they want and need. Amazon helps us grow our businesses and reach new customers. This levels the playing field to give small businesses like ours a fighting chance in a fiercely competitive retail landscape. In our meetings, members of Congress and staff heard directly from us. We were able to tell our stories as small business owners and express our concerns about the unintended consequences these bills could have on sellers like us. While most of the conversations were positive, we believe more needs to be done to ensure everyone in Congress fully understands the complexities of e-commerce, online marketplaces, and how sellers and Amazon working together is a win-win for everyone. More importantly, this is very personal for us. Like many of you, our businesses are our livelihoods, and we feel that Congress has failed to understand the collateral damage these bills could cause. If Congress doesn’t hear from more sellers like us, they will legislate without addressing the concerns many of us have raised. This is why our efforts are so important. We ask that you join us to make your voice heard. This will take less than two minutes of your time. Thank you. |
In addition to bombarding sellers with unsolicited e-mails, Amazon setup a website, which includes a pre-written form (that cannot be altered) containing a statement prepared by the company to be forwarded to a Senator.
Here you can view the website
https://act.supportsmallsellers.us/hXxAmhR
Here is a screenshot of the website:
Here is the full wording of the statement which Amazon wishes their sellers to send to Senators:
“ As your constituent, and a small business owner that sells online on Amazon’s store, I am writing to express my concern for S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. As currently written, this legislation would jeopardize Amazon’s ability to operate a marketplace for sellers, potentially resulting in hundreds of thousands of American small and medium-sized businesses losing access to Amazon’s customers and services. If Amazon is forced to remove sellers like me from its marketplace, I would no longer be able to benefit from having my products in Amazon’s store reaching 300 million customers and no longer be part of the Amazon Prime program. I would also no longer be able to use many of the valuable tools and services Amazon offers its small business partners that help me grow my business. The significant negative impact of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act will have on thousands of small businesses in our state cannot be overstated, and I ask that you oppose this legislation. I look forward to hearing your position on this problematic legislation. “ |
My suggestion is to do the exact opposite and e-mail your local Senator with a short description of the matter and an explanation why it is crucial that the S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act is supported.
Amazon is trying to make sellers use their new ocean freight service for FBA shipments from China
Today, Amazon e-mailed their third party sellers to promote a new service called Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) aimed to offer reasonably priced shipments.
According to the announcement, Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) offers FBA Sellers end-to-end shipping services via ocean transportation options from CN into EU and US fulfilment centres and/or SPs’ own warehouses that can be conveniently booked through Seller Central or Shipper Central. AGL shipping services includes shipment pick-up in origin, palletization (if required), export/import customs clearance, and domestic delivery in the destination country.
This is the first time Amazon started offering AGL directly to sellers. It will also include the option of shipping to your own warehouse through our Ship-to-Storage (STS) program. STS allows you to ship ocean full-container-load (FCL) cargo with Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) from China to your designated, non-Amazon storage facility.
Here you can view a screenshot of the full announcement from agl1-eu-sales-team@amazon.com:
Here is a copy of the full text:
| Onboard now with Amazon Global Logistics for global ocean shipping! Dear Seller, Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) offers FBA Sellers end-to-end shipping services via ocean transportation options from CN into EU and US fulfilment centres and/or SPs’ own warehouses that can be conveniently booked through Seller Central or Shipper Central. AGL shipping services includes shipment pick-up in origin, palletization (if required), export/import customs clearance, and domestic delivery in the destination country. We also give you the option of shipping to your own warehouse through our Ship-to-Storage (STS) program. STS allows you to ship ocean full-container-load (FCL) cargo with Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) from China to your designated, non-Amazon storage facility. What are the benefits of AGL services · Save Time: Deliver products faster by shipping directly from SPs’ manufacturers in China to fulfillment centers and/or 3rd party warehouses. · Reduce Costs: Lower inventory handling costs through a more efficient supply chain management. · Ship with confidence: Book shipments with predictable and efficient shipping schedules at competitive rates. · Simplify operations: Use a single portal to create, book, track, and pay for shipments. How to get started There are three simple steps to get started. Set up your payment method choosing the currency in which you wish to pay The second step is to create your Importer of Record (IOR) profile. You will need to create an Importer of Record profile for each country you would like to import to. Please select the following links based on the destination country you plan to ship to; (Portal Link: UK, DE, FR, IT,ES). Once your IOR profile has been approved, you will be able to place your first booking. You can find our latest booking guides by marketplace here; (Booking Guide Link: UK, DE, FR, IT, ES). Helpful resources: Download our Getting started guide Download our Container Checklist guide here Kind regards, The Amazon Global Logistics Team Amazon.com | EU agl1-eu-sales-team@amazon.com |
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This week, Amazon e-mailed their third party sellers regarding FBA inventory stored in the AFW1 warehouse, which was damaged due to severe weather causing structural damage to that facility, forcing it to close. It is expected to remain closed until at least the end of April 2023.
According to the notice, Amazon will be soon reimbursing sellers for any lost and damaged inventory, adjusting their IPI Score or refunding storage fees.
Here you can read a copy of the full announcement:
| Important update regarding your inventory at AFW1 Hello, Our records indicate that you have inventory at, or on the way to, our AFW1 fulfillment center. On December 13, 2022, severe weather caused structural damage to that facility and we were forced to close. We expect to remain closed until at least the end of April 2023. We understand this has affected your business and will work to provide the most up-to-date information. Below are other important updates for your inventory stored at AFW1. 1. While AFW1 is closed, we are unable to fulfill customer orders with inventory stored there. Once AFW1 is operational again, we will evaluate the condition of your inventory to determine if it is sellable. We expect the fulfillment center to remain closed until at least the end of April 2023 and will communicate further details on sellable inventory as we know more in the coming weeks. Inventory will be evaluated based on the inventory adjustments policy (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G200453260). If you don’t agree with the Amazon valuation of a unit, you can file a claim using the Contact Us page in Seller Central within 90 days after we issue the reimbursement. If we determine your inventory was damaged by this incident, we will reimburse you per our FBA inventory reimbursement policy (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G200213130). You will be able to track your refund by accessing your Reimbursements report (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/reportcentral/REIMBURSEMENTS/0). 2. We will refund the storage fees for any inventory affected by this closure. Storage fees from December and January will be reimbursed by March 15. You may see storage fees associated with affected inventory from February-April, which will be refunded on a monthly basis until AFW1 is operational. 3. For shipments already sent to AFW1, Amazon will continue to redirect them to a nearby fulfillment center at our cost. 4. For any inventory that has been redirected or is currently available in other fulfillment centers, those listings will remain sellable and we will fulfill customer orders with the available units. Any new shipments will go to a fulfillment center that can currently fulfill customer orders. If stranded inventory impacted your ability to sell, we will contact you with additional information and details. 5. If your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score is being affected by this closure, we will ensure your capacity limit is not negatively affected and will allow you extra capacity if necessary, beginning now and for at least 13 weeks after AFW1 is reopened. We’re aware that the stranded inventory can impact your IPI score and this incident was out of your control. We will share further details in the coming weeks to help navigate this situation. Action requested: If you have created shipments planned for AFW1, but have not sent them yet, please delete these shipments and re-create them. A new shipping destination will be automatically assigned during the creation of the new shipment. For additional details, go to “FAQ for the AFW1 closure”: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G5HFTYE2FWA3N7G6 We are still actively investigating this incident and will update this page and share more details with impacted sellers as we have more information. We apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding and patience. The Fulfillment by Amazon team |
I hope you found this update helpful. Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!
Regarding Amazon Seller Performance, you can always participate in our Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide group, where you will be very welcome.
If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic
In case you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with Seller Identity Verification on Amazon, please feel free to watch my most detailed video on the subject, addressing all common questions:
Negative feedback is something that every business will experience at some point, and it can have a significant impact on product sales. When customers leave negative product reviews, it can be discouraging for business owners and employees, and it can also turn potential customers away. In this article, I will explore the impact that negative feedback can have on product sales.
Decreased Trust
Negative product reviews can decrease the trust that customers have in a product or an entire brand. If a customer sees negative feedback about a product, they may begin to question whether the product is worth buying. If they don’t trust a product, they are less likely to make a purchase.
Brand Damage
Negative product reviews can damage a brand’s reputation. When customers leave them, they can be seen by potential customers who are researching the product. If there is a pattern of negative comments, it can make a brand look unreliable, untrustworthy, or low-quality. Brand damage can be difficult to overcome, and it can have a long-lasting impact on sales.
Increased Customer Returns
Negative product reviews can lead to increased customer returns. If customers purchase a product in a hurry and then go through the reviews, they may choose to return the product for a refund or exchange. This can be costly for businesses, as they may need to absorb the cost of the return or exchange, as well as the cost of shipping.
Customer Loss
Negative product reviews can lead to the loss of customers. If a customer has a negative experience with a product, they may choose to take their business elsewhere. Additionally, if a customer sees negative comments about a product, they may be less likely to purchase from the brand again in the future. Losing customers can have a significant impact on sales, as it is more expensive to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones.
How to remove unwarranted product reviews on Amazon?
Here you can review the Amazon Community Guidelines:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201929730
If you believe that the review violates them, go into “Contact us” – “Products and inventory” and “Product reviews”.
Here you can submit a removal request which will take a few days to get reviewed.
Conclusion
Negative product reviews can have a significant impact on product sales. They can decrease trust, reduce sales, damage a brand’s reputation, increase returns, and lead to the loss of customers. To minimize the impact of negative comments on sales, businesses should focus on providing high-quality products and excellent customer service. Additionally, businesses should take negative feedback seriously and use it as an opportunity to improve their products and processes.
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Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!
Regarding Amazon Seller Performance, you can always participate in our Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide group, where you will be very welcome.
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