Amazon USA Robbery!
Is this normal?? I just asked to list my 925 Sterling silver necklaces in the USA market and they asked me to pay 5.000.00 usd non-refundable fee.
This is insane!!
Amazon Jun 02, 2018 03:32 PM
Hello from Amazon Seller Support,
This is Sophia from the Fine Jewelry Approvals Team. Thank you for your application.
The first step in this application process is to pay a non-refundable fee of $5,000 USD. This transaction will appear in the Payments Section of your Seller Central account as “Non-subscription Fee Adjustment” with a transaction type of “Other” and an amount of “-$5000.00.” In order to process this fee, we will need you to confirm that we may charge your account with the amount above.
While you await your fee to be processed, please fill out the attached Jewelry Inventory file template with a representative assortment of your products (variations in suppliers, item types, metal types, gemstone types, etc.) for the fine jewelry quality review. Please include at least 6 unique items (no duplicates).
Before submitting, please ensure the items listed on your application template comply with the FTC Jewelry Guidelines and the Amazon Jewelry Quality Assurance Standards. Please ensure the accuracy of the details as well. You may use the help pages below to assist you with this process:
- FTC Jewelry Guidelines: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm
- Tips for Listing Fine Jewelry: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/201827270?referral=A3RTAQ7GAPAZRW_A1IDZH82TJMA90&referral=AKLKB8OV75U82_A1961P40KRQW6&referral=A36RG35IE7INV5_A1QNOV1KXQRIMM
- Jewelry Quality Assurance Standards: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/201269180?referral=A3RTAQ7GAPAZRW_A1IDZH82TJMA90&referral=AKLKB8OV75U82_A1961P40KRQW6&referral=A36RG35IE7INV5_A1QNOV1KXQRIMM
After we review this template, we will request that you send 6 items to our lab for verification purposes. For this reason, it is important that your application template is accurate, comprehensive and compliant with our policies.
Please let us know if we may proceed with charging your account the $5,000 USD non-refundable fee as soon as possible. This case will remain opened so that you may do so.
We look forward to hearing from you and I hope you have a wonderful day.
To see the file named ‘Copy of Fine_Jewelry_Application_Template-1.xlsx’ included with this correspondence, please use the Seller Central case link given below the signature.
Thank you for selling with Amazon,
Sophia
Amazon.com Seller Support
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Seller_hC0hNVDuILaKO
It’s not robbery, it’s an ungating fee.
If it is too much for you, or you don’t want to pay out pf principle then you simply won’t be allowed in.
Amazon want to restrict this category to serious professional sellers only.
Seller_EJIX7rqDNQJi2
The reason, why they are asking you to pay the $5000 fee is because the category is now gated. In the past, there used to be thousands of sellers selling fake 925 sterling silver jewellery from Aliexpress all over Amazon, which caused allergic reactions or skin problems. The fake 925 jewellery looks just like the real one, however it is just silver plated and the color will wear off after a few months of usage.
Amazon wants to make sure, that you are selling legit sterling silver jewellery. If you are, then you should have no problem to provide them all the documents and pay the ungating fee.
Seller_QlN0mmCAFPtjZ
Is this normal?? I just asked to list my 925 Sterling silver necklaces in the USA market and they asked me to pay 5.000.00 usd non-refundable fee
Consider it rent . If you want to open a retail store in a prime shopping complex , your rental per month will be higher than $5000 .
The main consideration I believe for this fee is to keep out as many of the scamsters as possible . Jewelry is a prime target where certain Sellers trick buyers into buying products that are not really sterling silver or gold . The item may be plated but they will only disclose much further down in their description . Among other issues
Seller_lljyzgTxr5fgI
I think I’d spend my $5000 on getting a really good website and a place on the first page or two of something called “Google”. I don’t blame Amazon for keeping out the scammers by lashing a hefty price tag on ungating and then getting samples sent for testing. Some of us are old enough to remember a scam on an auction site some years ago when people were flogging fake “Tiffany” silver. Many thousands were fleeced.
Seller_cVSM84sGQN86R
How long have you had an account on Amazon?
Seller_Za52XNoaFF0hg
I believe the fee includes mystery sampling of your product on a yearly basis. Also I remember it to be USD$500 rather than $5000.
