Massive change overnight to a seemingly random 50% of featured offer used for used books
On Feb 23rd there was a sudden change to the used "buy box"(featured offer used) in the books category.
For as long as the used "buy box" in used books has been around, it has favored FBA sellers. Now on about 50% of all book detail pages, seemingly randomly, it is no longer favoring FBA like it was, night and day difference. This change is affecting all sellers across the board.
I understand if this is a change to the ruleset for the Used buy box. I just want to make sure it is not a glitch, an unintentional change made when there were other changes made to the formula/ page format.
9 years ago, a very similar issue came up, and the forum moderators were very helpful in resolving it. My business is at a standstill until we can know which direction this is going, would be so grateful to get some direction.
Can a moderator here contact the appropriate internal team and confirm if this is a glitch or a change?
@Michelle_Amazon
@Glenn_Amazon
@Manny_Amazon
Would really appreciate it!! :)
Thanks!
Some example Asins old ruleset:
0385336667
0593060512
0300064624
0847838404
Some example Asins new ruleset:
1890087475
0062334697
0020425716
0810981165
79 replies
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
I doubt that we will ever get a meaningful answer; Amazon is very tight-lipped about the BB.
What I'm hoping is that this is similar to when the pandemic started, and they shifted BB to FBM to lighten the load on over-worked FCs. I've seen a lot of posts about receiving being more backed up than normal, so (fingers crossed) that might have something to do with it.
But I doubt we'll know for sure. Right now, I'm not shipping anything in to FBA; I'll just wait and see. Already, I've shifted to mainly FBM due to the increased costs of FBA, but if FBA is no longer prioritized for BB, there is no reason at all to use FBA for books for anyone for which FBM is an option.
Seller_3Qs3rgPXjHzk7
It looks like the change now affects all book pages.
Seller_NexHFlITM1LHg
This has also happened in the Video Game category. To obtain the buy box on used games before you had to list under "Used - Very Good" and priority was given to FBA.
Now it has changed so that "Used - Good" can get the buy box and FBA doesn't really matter anymore.
I've noticed Goodwill and HPB getting the buy box on Used - Good items now which is terrible for the video game category. Now sellers will see this price and purchase lower quality items from stores such as Goodwill.
This overall change is bad for sellers and customers
Seller_sFwS59L5umIrP
I am seeing acceptable in the buy box. That, to me, is a little extreme.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
If this is a permanent change, IMO it's a big enough change in the way FBA works that we should be allowed to create removal orders for no charge.
Seller_JKIXE95CHdjVT
I really hope that this is just a glitch because this is the single biggest disruption I have faced in the entirety of selling through FBA.
Seller_KoqAFvxBwjdZB
crickets from the forum mods is deeply concerning. I think @Cooper_Amazonis even supposed to be like a bookseller ambassador. "Dropping the ball" - The Amazon Seller Support story
Seller_JKIXE95CHdjVT
It looks like Amazon is using AI to display their items for the buybox, or they made some pretty big errors with their latest attempts to update the product listing pages for items.
For instance on ASIN B00005V4XV, there is no "New" buybox, but there is a buybox for FBA on the upper right and below it is the FBM buybox.
It looks like Amazon might be trying to have more than one buybox for New, FBA and FBM.
Seller_P1UYj6KufhMD3
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