How to go broke selling via FBA ....real quick
See an an FBA order arrive for EUR17,99 ...then watch the same order get refunded for EUR82.99 .....that represents pure loss, for a small order.
No obvious reason why - now I get to spend time trying to find out (which I'm sure won't end well anyway - in other words the EUR 65 excess isn't coming back to be ...that I can be sure)
How to go broke selling via FBA ....real quick
See an an FBA order arrive for EUR17,99 ...then watch the same order get refunded for EUR82.99 .....that represents pure loss, for a small order.
No obvious reason why - now I get to spend time trying to find out (which I'm sure won't end well anyway - in other words the EUR 65 excess isn't coming back to be ...that I can be sure)
10 replies
Seller_d8YGbIjNqwFxn
Normally this type of excessive refund is down to Amazon giving a customer loyalty payment to the customer.
If you go through SS you should be able to get the excess refund reimbursed.
Seller_kjXDHcJtTU3MN
Thanks for the input.
If that's the case, then it's pretty outrageous that they would do this (not even involve me - let alone tell me!...it was only that I happened to open a refund email and saw the whopping discrepancy)
Let's see what SS say here.
Seller_kjXDHcJtTU3MN
Here's Seller Support's reply ...
"Upon investigation, we found that these deductions were processed as "Other concession" refunds, which are additional monetary compensations offered to buyers for order issues.
These are separate from standard refunds for product price or shipping costs. In this case, the buyer received this additional refund as goodwill compensation.
While this concession refund was initially deducted from your seller account, Amazon will automatically reimburse this amount to you. These reimbursements are part of our standard process when goodwill concessions are provided to customers."
...begs the question...why do "goodwill payouts" have to be deducted from my seller account first...because now I get to spend time checking I do actually get reimbursed!
Seller_ZVAz3d5lZuGid
@Seller_kjXDHcJtTU3MN - what right have Amazon to give 'other concession/goodwill payments from OUR money ? - that is pure theft IMO.
Seller_fj3M54GkuGQyT
@Seller_kjXDHcJtTU3MNI know this is a couple of weeks old but please don't trust Seller Support saying the refund will be applied automatically.
We sold an item a while back for £6.99 and the customer was refunded around £50. We had to fight for weeks to get this reimbursed. We eventually did but not without consistent hounding of seller support.
Seller_IljBdhWypMNhx
seeing it is FBA as well, if there is any issue with delivery etc, good will payment should be paid for by Amazon, as the delivery is managed and guaranteed by them.
Seller_EkGoiphKgUnUI
I saw asomething like this years ago. I sold a rare lego set, and it was before I switched off international selling. It sold to a customer in portugal, and obviously Amazon trashed it on its journey.
What you refunded, was ALL the customers costs involved, including shipping to Portugal - As well as the cherry on top of Amazon, the "returns processing fee". In every return, you lose money because Amazon charges you for the return, even if they tell customers to keep the item, you will still be charged the fee, and if you manage to get a reimbursement, Amazon will say that their "estimate" for the items value is a fraction of your actual costs, and any attempt to prove otherwise, will be met with a stonewall response.
DO NOT SELL INTERNATIONALLY! The biggest Arbitrage seller on the platform, is actually Amazon themselves. They buy thousands of items from me a year, in order to arbitrage the stock into the EU etcetera and keep the excess profit.
If you have items, and want to make the exact same profit, without paying extra fees for cross border selling, just turn off PAN EU etc, and if the deal is profitable, Amazon will buy your stock at the price you want for it after listing it in the EU for you under "AMAZON UK", they will ship it to the customer, and if its fraud or the sale goes wrong, they deal with the returns.
Seller_y7TgNxKw6AELA
I had this happen recently and the full amount was not actually taken so no need to talk to SS - apparently it's quite common when the customer orders multiple items - the whole refund amount shows up - which is the scary part - if only that was explained up front.
