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Royal Mail 1st, 2nd and tracked Postage and Seller Accountability
I’ve been looking more closely at the process of using Amazon’s Buy Shipping for Royal Mail deliveries, including 1st Class, 2nd Class, Tracked 24, Tracked 48, and other services. As sellers, we rely on this service and pay Amazon for the postage. With today’s advanced technology, it’s clear there’s a robust system tracking these transactions.
Here’s how I understand the process:
Amazon Charges Us: When we purchase postage via Amazon, they bill us for the service, so they are fully aware of the transaction. Amazon Pays Royal Mail, Royal Mail must then charge Amazon for these services since we are buying postage through them.
Postage Scanning and Tracking: At some point, Royal Mail must scan the items into their system as part of the process to allocate deliveries. Given this process, I have a question, why are sellers still held responsible for a product not being delivered?
Once Royal Mail collects our parcels and allocates them for delivery, it’s clear they have scanned them in to schedule the delivery. So why is the responsibility still on sellers when the process is entirely out of our hands?
I understand that Amazon’s policy states that sellers are responsible for ensuring delivery, but at what point does Amazon step in to help its sellers avoid customer fraud?
With all this technology, Amazon must know that the item was handed over to Royal Mail. Shouldn’t there be a stage where Amazon assists us in protecting against claims of non-delivery, especially when it’s beyond our control?
I suppose what I’m really trying to say is this: What’s the point of having tracked options with any courier if sellers are still left claiming and losing on items sent 1st Class, 2nd Class, or even Signed For?
Why is it that Amazon will only guarantee orders they deliver through their own network? Why doesn’t Amazon offer a collection service to streamline the entire process for sellers? Wouldn’t that ensure better accountability for both sellers and buyers?
Or… is that the whole point? Is Amazon subtly nudging all of us towards using FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) exclusively? If so, this raises even more questions about fairness for smaller sellers who rely on FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant).
What do others think the future holds for us sellers to combat fraud, we all know its getting worse !
8 replies
Seller_76AUwmqvSyRIM
Hi, I only scanned your post (sorry, too much info) but I did spot what you asked:
"at what point does Amazon step in to help its sellers avoid customer fraud?"
The answer is NEVER. They ALWAYS side with the customer, whatever the evidence.
If the evidence is overwhelming, they might fund a claim themselves (funded by the fees they charge us).
Seller_QuM1AZgzfU9x4
Amazon only allow so many refunds before they ban buyers. The issue is that it seems to be quite a number, certainly perhaps quite a lot more than we might allow from our websites.
As to why Amazon seems to always ignore things like tracking, it's likely because they're trying to balance buyer retention against potential fraud. For example, let's say every week I order £100 of goods from Amazon. In week 49 I deny receipt of an order that is tracked. On balance Amazon are going to take my word for it.
I think we've all seen videos of a delivery driver taking a photo of a parcel on the doorstep before picking it back up and scarpering. So there's always at least a minimum of doubt.
The real issue is that should Amazon want to retain buyers the.n they should fund the refund unless the seller seems to untrustworthy.
Seller_DfMOm9tgJKAex
it not just amazon policy but UK law that the seller is responsible until the customer receives the item
as for "I understand that Amazon’s policy states that sellers are responsible for ensuring delivery, but at what point does Amazon step in to help its sellers avoid customer fraud?"
they dont, unless you can 100% prove that the item was delivered with a signature then you will lose almost all cases where a customer make a claim
1st and 2nd class is NOT tracked, as such there is only a delivery scan.. no photo of delivery and often no GPS.. and often those dont even get scanned on delivery - as such you will get many people claim not delivery even though they have the item
moving to tracked 48, with its delivery scan, photo and GPS instantly stopped over 90% of these claims, and most of the rest give up trying to say the item was not delivered when you go through and show delivery photos etc..
for us the move to tracked 24/48 has saved us a lot of hassle
but at the end of the days its unto you to decide what works for you!
Seller_xH9Htqc4waYpw
Hi, I wanted to let you know, something that has happened to me, I sent a book to Worldwide Book Services on the 3rd October 2024 and being 2nd class signed for I have a delivery signature timed 07.16 on 09.10.2024, so you would assume delivered, however, this book was for onward shipping by Worldwide Book Services and they claim it was never received and they quote nothing could be delivered at 07.16am we don't open to 08.30am and all our Royal Mail post arrived in bags, so based on tracking the signature of delivery occurred in Wickford Royal Mail sorting Office, so it obvious to save time items are being signed for before delivery and then put into post bags, this destroys the whole security of Signed for post.
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