The ‘Not displaying the buyers name’ policy is just idiotic.
Amazon also request us to upload invoices, how are we supposed to do that if they will not provide us with the buyers name? We can’t assume that the buyers name is the same as the recipients as there is no guarantee that this is the case.
Maybe they have targets that have to be met like SS do?
They have to be seen to be doing/modifying/streamlining something, I dont know, but I wish they wouldnt!
The buyers surname missing is a new “data protection” thing. It says at the top of each order that this info is now being withheld. I guess to support the latest wave of dropshippers.
I sometimes have an issue with no name and/or incomplete addresses.
I think usually it is an oversight or casual carelessness by the buyrer rather than an attempt to hide their identity
I usually message the buyer using ‘Addditional Information Required’ as the header as this will be delivered to the seller even if they have opted out of messaging.
I politely ask for their full name and/or address telling them it will assist with speedy delivery and invite them to contact me ‘at your earliest convenience’.
They often reply within 24 hours. On very rare occasions I feel that there may be too great a risk - this often involves overseas addresses (I always use SmartyStreets address verification software - it’s good for checking the format and required fields of overseas addresses).
If I feel that the risk is too great I mark the item as ‘Shipped’ then fully refund the buyer - doing that avoids bad feedback. I also message the buyer telling them we have had to cancel their order and invite them to buy again but at the same time ask them to provide full name and address details.
It’s easy and quick and a polite message often yields results - you keep the sale and peace of mind.
It is rather annoying that Amazon allow people to enter delivery addresses that are clearly incomplete or contain errors when there is software readily available to check addresses and the different ways of formatting them worldwide.
Completely agree. I think Amazon have forgotten something completely. We are sellers on THEIR PLATFORM. They are not the sellers. We are the seller. Therefore, why on earth are they hiding our customers names, from us. They are our customers. The data protection act or whatever its called this week covers this dissemination of information, we need the details and giving them for this purpose does comply with the GDPR etc. Further more, in terms of OUR business, HMRC investigations etc etc, surely we need to know the name and address of anyone who buys from us. This is absolutely crazy
Amazon also request us to upload invoices, how are we supposed to do that if they will not provide us with the buyers name?
You’ll just have to assume they are and send out a corrected invoice if they request one.
Good to see that Amazon’s continued policy of making FBM as difficult as they can possibly make it has found a new and innovative way to make life just that bit more troublesome. I honestly have no idea how people get paid for introducing this sort of micro-management policy.
I think FBM will eventually go and it will be FBA only, because the fees are higher for them this way and they will have control over the stock, outcomes and more opportunities to charge for additional services. They’re introducing admin requirement after admin requirement for FBM but never fix the fundamentals or own their own mistakes unfortunately. Disadvantaging FBM sellers means they are not offering a level playing field which is poor for consumer choice.
Personally I’m beyond being surprised at anything they implement (without announcing it) and then enforcing it in the most half-arsed yet draconian way possible. The sooner the conflict of interested is regulated the better, as it’s they only way they’ll change.
That’s not what is being discussed, it’s that customer names and shipping details are being redacted by Amazon making it impossibile for the OP to dispatch items.
We can’t realistically contact every single buyer to ask for address confirmation, or indeed their name.
This presumes they give a monkey’s at the implication for FBM sellers. And you have it completely wrong, Amazon regards buyers very much as their customers not ours. We are temporary and suffered to be here, the buyer has an account with Amazon not us. Never underestimate our hosts hubris.
If you check on the right hand side of Seller Central under Orders, it might say: (customers name) has not left you any feedback yet. That could help?!
Actually it is the topic of the OP’s post but has morphed into a discussion about the redaction of buyer details by Amazon. It is probably better comments on this subject were added to this thread:
It is disappearing and annoying to match up orders once Ive printed out postage but I now go to print packing labels and leave that on my screen and then I can match up the orders…just madness
Having checked a few past orders, it seem addresses are being retrospectively redacted. We had a question from a customer regarding a purchase in July, we have a first name, city and postcode, but nothing else.
I think they are called Project Managers - and they have thousands (I would imagine) within the regime…
Once one project is signed off, that employee moves onto the next “Project”, and so on
No problem - or hurt toes! It does astonish me that some people can be so casual when entering a delivery addresses details. If I purchase something online I want to give the seller the most clear and correct details for delivery. I do not understand why Amazon and other selling platforms do not use an address lookup database to confirm the details. This would be particularly helpful for overseas dadresses with different formats - unlike the UK (postcode on last line) a lot of European countries have the postcode and region/town/administrative area on the same line. I usually check overseas addresses and find that when correctly formatted they are far less likely to go astray.
Amazon (UK) do provide an address look up facility for buyers - but the buyer has an option to either use the recommended delivery address or stick to their original inputted delivery address. I do not believe eBay use such
