Small Volume Sellers Penalized for One Hiccup
I have had 1 order delivered late since the beginning of the year which has taken my OTDR below 90%.
OK, if Amazon are to be believed, I won't have my account suspended as I had less than 20 orders in that 2 week period, but have been punished by having the number of my listings qualifying for the Buy Box slashed. Usually about 15%, today 3%.
What is even more galling is, apart from a very short period in the run up to last Xmas when RM went into melt down, I can't remember the last time my OTDR was anything other than 100%.
Small Volume Sellers Penalized for One Hiccup
I have had 1 order delivered late since the beginning of the year which has taken my OTDR below 90%.
OK, if Amazon are to be believed, I won't have my account suspended as I had less than 20 orders in that 2 week period, but have been punished by having the number of my listings qualifying for the Buy Box slashed. Usually about 15%, today 3%.
What is even more galling is, apart from a very short period in the run up to last Xmas when RM went into melt down, I can't remember the last time my OTDR was anything other than 100%.
6 replies
Seller_d8YGbIjNqwFxn
Amazon do not necessarily remove the featured offer when your OTDR drops low but extend your delivery dates which means you get less chance of the featured offer
Should they be doing it for one single order though, obviously not but as it is all percentage driven they don't distinguish between a small seller and a volume seller.
Although it is worth noting that over the last few weeks Amazon have been randomly extending some sellers delivery dates even when their OTDR is okay. I have had this several times so far this year and each time it results in a drop by 25 to 50% of sales. As a volume seller this is a lot of sales each day.
Seller_ZQyopdiwkUHOZ
Just as a reminder, it's 20 UNITS, not 20 ORDERS. If one order had 4 units and it was late, that would be 4 defects, not one.
This is one of the larger problems with the whole scheme. Independently of the OTDR policy, you can have other penalties applied for a lower OTDR. Delivery padding is one and it seems to be being handled and calculated incorrectly as well, so it's even worse than it first sounds.
I don't know if OTDR directly affects buy box eligibility, but it certainly can cause the delivery padding to reduce your Buy Box wins due to delivering 'slower' than your competitors.
