So long Amazon, it has not been fun!
After several years of selling on Amazon, today we have taken the decision to de-list all of our products. As a buyer, Amazon are excellent - since they always seem to support the buyer at the sellers expense. As a seller, life has become just too complicated and costly. Having to refund customers for false claims on product quality and delivery and having to deal with wht I feel is the worst support (seller central) of any organisation I have ever dealt with, I am now looking forward to an easier life and one that does not drain both my bank account - and more importantly, my well being.
Good luck to those of you that remain as sellers - I am sure some of you are doing well and will continue to do so - but there is life outside of Amazon :-)
So long Amazon, it has not been fun!
After several years of selling on Amazon, today we have taken the decision to de-list all of our products. As a buyer, Amazon are excellent - since they always seem to support the buyer at the sellers expense. As a seller, life has become just too complicated and costly. Having to refund customers for false claims on product quality and delivery and having to deal with wht I feel is the worst support (seller central) of any organisation I have ever dealt with, I am now looking forward to an easier life and one that does not drain both my bank account - and more importantly, my well being.
Good luck to those of you that remain as sellers - I am sure some of you are doing well and will continue to do so - but there is life outside of Amazon :-)
8 replies
Seller_835saD6QPHfCU
I wholeheartedly agree with your perspective. We're operating within a highly competitive market segment where all product descriptions are crystal clear. Q&A sections and images explicitly detail model specifications and dimensions. Yet we're still facing frequent returns, with the sole justification invariably being size mismatches. However, when customers present their order confirmations showing the model they purchased, it differs from what's stated on our product page. This is entirely the buyer's mistake in misreading the details, yet we sellers bear the blame. Within a mere month, I've accumulated over a dozen frequent return flags. Meanwhile, the buyers walk away scot-free – refunded and still keeping the goods. It's become utterly impossible to operate under these conditions.
Seller_835saD6QPHfCU
We've tried everything, and I even thought the problem lay with us. We requested stock transfers from Amazon warehouses, applied for size measurements, and conducted our own checks – all without finding any issues. The problem is that buyers themselves misread the model sizes, leading to frequent returns. This has resulted in the entire SKU losing its ranking weight.
Seller_835saD6QPHfCU
Take order 202-8915717-8978753 as an example: the buyer returned the item because they had ordered the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus 3rd Generation, yet the one received was unsuitable as it was too small. My product detail page clearly states it is the Tab M10 3rd generation. This is explicitly stated in the five key points description, the A+ content, and the Q&A section. The buyer made an incorrect purchase themselves. They then requested frequent refunds. If it were just one or two instances, I might not be so disappointed. However, due to this recurring pattern, over ten of my SKUs have been flagged with frequent return labels. How could this not impact my sales performance? I hope Amazon can clearly delineate whether responsibility lies with the buyer or the seller.
Seller_Hy3M3wKRmOFRV
People just don't read the description, the amount of questions I get (and returns) that would have been answered if they just read the descriptions!
I saw a story a few months ago of a chap who had loads of people pay £500 for a picture of a PS5, he had written in about 4 or 5 places that it was a picture and not a PS5 and people still bought it and as it was eBay not Amazon he could keep the money because he had done nothing wrong!
There is a lot wrong with how Amazon treat sellers (if I didn't sell so much on here, I would leave) but they make it so easy for people to return items or cheat the system and then it is us as sellers that get penalised, both financially and on the account health.
It wouldn't be quite so bad if they stuck with how returns are supposed to be paid for as per the UK consumer rights! It really P***es me off that I have to pay their postage just because they changed their minds or didn't read the description!
It would never occur to me to return an item because I had changed my mind or misread the ad, in those cases, its my own stupid fault!!
Ah well, it will never get better for sellers only worse, until you either leave or capitulate and get ripped off using FBA.
Seller_835saD6QPHfCU
I'm just a small seller, and the buyer purchased the wrong item after failing to read the product details page properly. This is not the seller's fault, yet we are expected to bear the consequences. If it were a product issue, I would accept it, but this stems from the buyer's own oversight. We sellers have clearly stated all details. Frequent returns not only result in profit losses but also negatively impact listing rankings. I simply cannot think of any way to change this situation. It's not a product defect; the problem lies entirely with buyers failing to read carefully. Could any major sellers offer some advice? What should I do？
Seller_eX5PU1b0GGPXn
Best wishes for the future
I am reducing what I sell here its too much bother
The last item i sold if I had wanted to sell another which I didn't would have been impossible as it was now deemed refurbished which it is NOT
But mega sellers have no problem
Seller_rkDtCBQ0TeJv1
As soon as i get my money i am out of here, life is too short to deal with Amazon.
Seller_j30KQjgEjnF6v
I am curious whatware housing solution have you got to transfer to? I am scurrently using Amazon as I can list on there and also use MCF to sell on Shopify but curious if there is another warehouse solution out there who can deliever UK wide shipping and maybe in Europe in time so I can switch to FBM not FBA. Finding Amazon support is errr an off shore outsourced solution and not so great
