@Dougal_Amazon

As other Sellers have said, since when did Amazon accept till receipts from Companies such as Argos, Sainsburys, Tesco, etc. They say those are retail, and that item cannot be sold 'new'.

The warranty will have started with those Companies, and often they have a 'bought out warranty' (so the end-user Buyer has to go back to that Company, as the manufacturer does not offer a warranty).

Previously Amazon have said items bought from Retailers can only be sold as 'used' - and NOT 'new' - has that changed?

Many Sellers are wrongly told that these items are fake, and come onto the Forum to ask what to do, as Amazon say they need Official Distributor invoices and the amount for the number of items sold + for sale. The Brand owner may have reported the Seller as not selling new authorised products.

We also have a number of Competitors on Amazon that regularly sell returned items as new. It is very frustrating, as we cannot compete selling brand new items, against returns (we know they are not new, as we have made test purchases, Buyers may not notice that they are not new as they look very good, but the box serial numbers may not match, items in plastic bages, rather than tissue paper, manual to download, instead of a paper copy, etc).

They buy those from places that process Mail Order and Argos Returns. We have been in touch with the Brand Owner and Distributors, but they usually say they have not sold direct to those dodgy resellers, they sell off to official processors of returns that are sold as such, but the resellers, sell as new, so that is the problem.

Most Retail Arbitage are end-of-line items (even some are FBA items that have been sold cheap to clear due to storage fees), so less/no warranty, returned products, so now able to sell all new and Amazon are encouraging this?

Amazon do not seem to learn, in general UK Sellers who buy from official Distributors and Manufacturers, tend to ensure items are safe, have been safety tested, have liability insurance, etc. When the influx from Sellers from Abroad happened (around 2016), that all went out the window, afterall, who can chase a Seller in India, China, etc, even if the power adapter blew off your childs arm. A made up-certificate is easy to obtain for them, so means nothing. Now, to overcome issues, they are making everyone obtain Certificates, but UK Sellers who buy from official Distributors and Manufacturers are generally not the issue.

Now, with Arbitage being encouraged, that means lots of new UK Sellers all selling who knows what from their bedrooms as side-lines. Happy to make little money as not their main job, and the standard of packages will not be as good. So, that does not bode well for Amazon's reputation.

As a very minimum, why doesn't Amazon add an extra option, of 'Unwanted Returns/Retail Arbitage' (with the items must look as new, complete, and the Seller offer at least a 6 month warranty themselves, etc)- rather than just Used, New, etc. If comparing brand new, full warranty, backup from the official Seller/maker, compared to a Seller that bought a box marked 'new' item from Tesco, at a lower price, the latter will win the Buy Box.

So, is this the way forward for all Sellers now? - the only way to win Buy Boxes?