Amazon's new TIC compliance is a total disaster - No information provided, Ignoring Emails, Approved Labs not following Amazon policy
Hello,
We have been selling on Amazon for over 15 years and have had our fair share of disastrous experiences with them, but their new TIC compliance process has got to be the worst so far.
The bulk of our products are power banks. Amazon has introduced a new compliance procedure for these, called TIC (Testing, Inspection, and Certification), which uses "approved" third-party testing companies. We are a small brand on Amazon and have been selling a few models for over 6 years. We have previously done compliance on these models numerous times, providing the required documentation to Amazon, which approved them.
To sell power banks on Amazon, they require IEC62133, IEC62368, UN 38.3 and BTS reports. We have provided these numerous times in the past for our models along with MSDS, Declarations of conformity etc. All our test reports come from ISO 71025 labs, which is a requirement for Amazon.
Under their new policy, we are once again required to validate the test reports, this time through their approved third parties. This is where the problems start.
1. We have been in contact with some of the third-party companies, and they have told us that they will only accept reports issued by them and are refusing to check and validate existing reports, even though they are issued by an ISO 71025-accredited laboratory.
2. The prices they are quoting for the retesting are extortionate compared with other ISO 71025 labs. Amazon is obviously doing zero oversight on these third parties, and they are more than likely paying Amazon to be an "approved" partner.
3. We contacted Amazon about this, and they are basically ignoring our emails.
4. We have opened multiple cases requesting additional information from Amazon about the TIC process; all have been ignored. Case IDs: 11960679322, 11964099462.
It clearly states on the policy page for Portable Power Supplies, https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/help/hub/reference/GSJFE8S8AES7F7VG that lab reports issued by an ISO 71025 are valid however, these TICs are not following this policy in an effort to maximise their own profits.
We are now in a situation where we have less than 3 months to validate the documents (which were already validated by Amazon and approved in the past), however, none of the third parties will accept them. The costs for retesting they quoted are not even feasible for continuing to sell the items on Amazon, as they are looking for tens of thousands of dollars in fees for doing the same reports we already have.
I would appreciate it if a moderator could reply, with an explanation of this situation, as this new policy and its abuse will put us out of business after dedicating over 15 years to selling on Amazon.
Regards
Amazon's new TIC compliance is a total disaster - No information provided, Ignoring Emails, Approved Labs not following Amazon policy
Hello,
We have been selling on Amazon for over 15 years and have had our fair share of disastrous experiences with them, but their new TIC compliance process has got to be the worst so far.
The bulk of our products are power banks. Amazon has introduced a new compliance procedure for these, called TIC (Testing, Inspection, and Certification), which uses "approved" third-party testing companies. We are a small brand on Amazon and have been selling a few models for over 6 years. We have previously done compliance on these models numerous times, providing the required documentation to Amazon, which approved them.
To sell power banks on Amazon, they require IEC62133, IEC62368, UN 38.3 and BTS reports. We have provided these numerous times in the past for our models along with MSDS, Declarations of conformity etc. All our test reports come from ISO 71025 labs, which is a requirement for Amazon.
Under their new policy, we are once again required to validate the test reports, this time through their approved third parties. This is where the problems start.
1. We have been in contact with some of the third-party companies, and they have told us that they will only accept reports issued by them and are refusing to check and validate existing reports, even though they are issued by an ISO 71025-accredited laboratory.
2. The prices they are quoting for the retesting are extortionate compared with other ISO 71025 labs. Amazon is obviously doing zero oversight on these third parties, and they are more than likely paying Amazon to be an "approved" partner.
3. We contacted Amazon about this, and they are basically ignoring our emails.
4. We have opened multiple cases requesting additional information from Amazon about the TIC process; all have been ignored. Case IDs: 11960679322, 11964099462.
It clearly states on the policy page for Portable Power Supplies, https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/help/hub/reference/GSJFE8S8AES7F7VG that lab reports issued by an ISO 71025 are valid however, these TICs are not following this policy in an effort to maximise their own profits.
We are now in a situation where we have less than 3 months to validate the documents (which were already validated by Amazon and approved in the past), however, none of the third parties will accept them. The costs for retesting they quoted are not even feasible for continuing to sell the items on Amazon, as they are looking for tens of thousands of dollars in fees for doing the same reports we already have.
I would appreciate it if a moderator could reply, with an explanation of this situation, as this new policy and its abuse will put us out of business after dedicating over 15 years to selling on Amazon.
Regards
21 replies
Seller_ZVAz3d5lZuGid
'I would appreciate it if a moderator could reply,'
@Seller_3FCTdZQDsLenM For a moderator to see your post you need to tag some of them in, they won't see it if you don't. I suggest you tag in several as I guess they don't all work every day.
Seller_3FCTdZQDsLenM
Hello, do any of the moderators have a reply regarding this thread? @Julia_Amazon @Sarah_Amzn@
Seller_3FCTdZQDsLenM
Don't you truly love how Amazon totally ignores your emails, seller forums, and multiple seller cases opened, even though it can entirely destroy your online business? We have been selling on their platform for over 15 years, and they don't even have the decency to reply to these cases. A word of advice for anyone thinking about selling on Amazon: if they can treat us this way after giving them 15 years of business, imagine how they treat new sellers?
Kai_Amazon
Hi @Seller_3FCTdZQDsLenM,
Thank you for reaching out to us. We apologize for the delayed response.
I have reviewed your cases and taken the following actions:
Case #11960679322: I have escalated this case and followed up with our partner team to review your appeal for the 3 ASINs.
Case #11964099462: Our Support team has already responded in the case. To continue listing your product, you must:
• Submit test results confirming your product's compliance with Amazon's policy
• Ensure these test results are submitted directly from an Amazon-approved third-party Testing, Inspection, and Certification organization
Thank you for your patience.
Kai
Seller_sg54Fq7GfBZzn
Hi Kai thank you for taking the time to respond to the OP. There is a bigger issue here though that needs to be taken back to the Amazon management.
That is clearly some of the TIC companies absolutely pulling the eyes out of people.
We all accept do we that ILAC is the international thats internationally approved lab for testing right ? and CNAS is part of this.
So why is it then that the TIC labs are using Amazon to price gauge sellers ?
So if you contact a company and they say oh its £180 to test for lets say Battery testing UN38.3 and you say ok thats fine, but then you say but it needs to be TIC, then the company says oh thats £400 for the same test.
Thats absurd. But thats what people are facing, Amazon should be asking the companies to product a price list for generic services so people can compare.
Yes individual products maybe different, but largely the price list should be publiscised and amazon should remove any company that price gauges from the list of approved TIC firms.
Otherwise your going to loose a lot of products that are compliant, a lot of sellers who will get fed up and the companies doing the price gauging may even lead to some companies seeking legal advice.
We all want a platform where the products are safe and the customers can buy in confidence. But surely that cannot be at the cost of allowing price gauging by limiting the number of companies able to do the testing and they ramp prices up, as thats monopoloistic behaviour.
Despite this, even when items are clearly not compliant there are cases where Amazon are not taking action. I reported an item the other day, no safety information, no labelling, no warnings, no model number, nothing, no CE or UKCA mark.
Amazon are fulfilling this item from your warehouse and you now know about it, as of today almost a week later ? still for sale.
So how do these companies then justify the huge add on pricing for testing ? its simply price gauaging by the testing firms
Nobody is expecting the pricing to be identical, but four or five times the cost of CNAS and ILAC testing ? thats absurd
Seller_h44DwAVaFVB1W
I know how frustrating this is. Having to pay again for tests you’ve already completed is incredibly discouraging. You’re not alone—I’m in the same situation.What makes it worse is that there are only a limited number of approved partners, and they’re clearly overwhelmed by the demand for retesting. I’ve reached out to several partners but haven’t received any responses. If my listings are taken down through no fault of my own, there’s unfortunately very little I can do.
Seller_kRLZu1PD2uT6W
Hy,
I've been selling toys for the past year, I've provided all the test reports and certifications to Amazon & they accepted at the beginning. Since this new TIC issue has started I've got food & safety compliance and it appeared I need to DV my reports. Today I found out the lab which tested my products at the first place is suspended somehow & I need to get my products tested from TICs. The quotation they gave me for 1 ASIN is my monthly inventory cost. I'm now confused on selling on Amazon.
I hope someone responsible ( Who came up with this TIC idea ) idea is reading all this and get back to his senses. TICs are basically blackmailing the sellers nothing else.
