SP-API PUT call changed ~10,000 used listings to “New” – confirmed behaviour, no safeguards – major seller impact
Hi all,
I wanted to raise a serious issue we’ve recently experienced, partly to document it for others, and partly in the hope that a moderator can escalate this internally.
Context
We are a high-volume UK used book seller, and all of the affected inventory was used stock only — we do not list these items as new.
What happened
We ran a bulk update via the SP-API to change shipping templates on our FBM used book listings (~10,000 SKUs).
API used: putListingsItem (PUT)
Intent: update merchant_shipping_group only
We did NOT include condition_type in the payload
Following this update, a large number of listings were surfaced on Amazon as “New”, despite our internal data still showing them as used.
Timeline / Mitigation
The issue was not immediately apparent because we experienced a noticeable increase in sales following the update, which we initially attributed to improved shipping settings.
Once we identified that listings were incorrectly being surfaced as “New”, we acted immediately:
Placed the account into holiday mode to prevent further orders
Investigated and identified the root cause
Implemented a fix (migrated to PATCH requests)
Began correcting affected listings
By this point, approximately 600 orders had already been placed under the incorrect condition display.
Amazon’s response (important)
In Case ID 12422628992, Amazon has confirmed:
PUT replaces attributes and drops anything omitted
Because condition_type was not included, it was effectively removed
Listings then defaulted/surfaced as New
The API returned 200 ACCEPTED with no warning or validation error
There are currently no safeguards in place to prevent this
So to be clear — this is confirmed platform behaviour, not speculation.
Impact
As a direct result:
Customers purchased items believing they were New
They received correctly described used books from our inventory
This led to:
Negative feedback
Returns
Refunds
Return postage costs
Account health impact
Example feedback:
“I ordered a new book and received a used one”
“Advertised as new but looked worse than a library book”
“Ordered NEW and received a damaged used copy”
Current situation
We’ve fixed our integration (now using PATCH)
We are correcting listings
API support have been helpful in explaining the cause
However:
Seller Support is refusing to remove feedback
No reimbursement is being offered
The position is essentially: “feedback reflects customer experience”
The problem
The customer experience was incorrect because:
Amazon displayed the wrong condition at the point of sale
Given we only sell used inventory, this was not a listing or stock error on our side.
So we are in a position where:
Amazon acknowledges the root cause
But the seller absorbs all consequences
Financial impact
So far:
Dozens of refunds issued
Return postage costs incurred
Outbound shipping losses
Current estimated impact is already £500+ and rising as returns continue.
Why I’m posting
Warning to other sellers/developers
If you are using putListingsItem, be extremely careful
Omitting attributes like condition_type can silently alter listings
Request for moderator escalation
There is a clear gap between:
acknowledged platform behaviour
and seller-impact resolution
Request
Could a moderator please review and escalate this internally?
Specifically:
Whether feedback caused by incorrect condition display can be removed
Whether losses directly caused by this behaviour can be reimbursed
Whether safeguards are being considered for this type of scenario
Happy to provide:
Case ID (12422628992)
Order IDs
Transaction breakdowns
API logs
Thanks in advance,
SP-API PUT call changed ~10,000 used listings to “New” – confirmed behaviour, no safeguards – major seller impact
Hi all,
I wanted to raise a serious issue we’ve recently experienced, partly to document it for others, and partly in the hope that a moderator can escalate this internally.
Context
We are a high-volume UK used book seller, and all of the affected inventory was used stock only — we do not list these items as new.
What happened
We ran a bulk update via the SP-API to change shipping templates on our FBM used book listings (~10,000 SKUs).
API used: putListingsItem (PUT)
Intent: update merchant_shipping_group only
We did NOT include condition_type in the payload
Following this update, a large number of listings were surfaced on Amazon as “New”, despite our internal data still showing them as used.
Timeline / Mitigation
The issue was not immediately apparent because we experienced a noticeable increase in sales following the update, which we initially attributed to improved shipping settings.
Once we identified that listings were incorrectly being surfaced as “New”, we acted immediately:
Placed the account into holiday mode to prevent further orders
Investigated and identified the root cause
Implemented a fix (migrated to PATCH requests)
Began correcting affected listings
By this point, approximately 600 orders had already been placed under the incorrect condition display.
Amazon’s response (important)
In Case ID 12422628992, Amazon has confirmed:
PUT replaces attributes and drops anything omitted
Because condition_type was not included, it was effectively removed
Listings then defaulted/surfaced as New
The API returned 200 ACCEPTED with no warning or validation error
There are currently no safeguards in place to prevent this
So to be clear — this is confirmed platform behaviour, not speculation.
Impact
As a direct result:
Customers purchased items believing they were New
They received correctly described used books from our inventory
This led to:
Negative feedback
Returns
Refunds
Return postage costs
Account health impact
Example feedback:
“I ordered a new book and received a used one”
“Advertised as new but looked worse than a library book”
“Ordered NEW and received a damaged used copy”
Current situation
We’ve fixed our integration (now using PATCH)
We are correcting listings
API support have been helpful in explaining the cause
However:
Seller Support is refusing to remove feedback
No reimbursement is being offered
The position is essentially: “feedback reflects customer experience”
The problem
The customer experience was incorrect because:
Amazon displayed the wrong condition at the point of sale
Given we only sell used inventory, this was not a listing or stock error on our side.
So we are in a position where:
Amazon acknowledges the root cause
But the seller absorbs all consequences
Financial impact
So far:
Dozens of refunds issued
Return postage costs incurred
Outbound shipping losses
Current estimated impact is already £500+ and rising as returns continue.
Why I’m posting
Warning to other sellers/developers
If you are using putListingsItem, be extremely careful
Omitting attributes like condition_type can silently alter listings
Request for moderator escalation
There is a clear gap between:
acknowledged platform behaviour
and seller-impact resolution
Request
Could a moderator please review and escalate this internally?
Specifically:
Whether feedback caused by incorrect condition display can be removed
Whether losses directly caused by this behaviour can be reimbursed
Whether safeguards are being considered for this type of scenario
Happy to provide:
Case ID (12422628992)
Order IDs
Transaction breakdowns
API logs
Thanks in advance,
4 replies
Ken_Amazon
Hi @Seller_iUcF35YSDwxDs,
Thank you for sharing this.
I've escalated this issue for further review.
We will get back to you once we get response from the relevant team.
Best Regards,
Ken
Seller_ZQyopdiwkUHOZ
The way the system works is unintuitive, but this was something you did.
Amazon didn't randomly change them, and the Amazon system didn't experience a fault that caused the problem.
The system worked as expected. You just didn't know that's how the system worked. The only way you have a case here is if you can demonstrate that it was impossible to know that the system worked this way. That Amazon have obfuscated that information and so the responsibility is theirs.
Manny_Amazon
Hi @Seller_iUcF35YSDwxDs,
I'm following up on Ken's behalf. The escalation team has reviewed your request, and determined that you were provided correct information that the feedback is not eligible for removal. Amazon removes feedback only for the reasons outlined on the Can Amazon remove customer feedback? page.
Additionally, losses as a result of using the incorrect operation are not eligible for reimbursement by Amazon, however your feedback about the API has been taken into consideration.
Thanks for your understanding.
Regards,
- Manny
Seller_iUcF35YSDwxDs
Thank you for the follow-up, @Manny_Amazon
I appreciate the clarification regarding Amazon’s current feedback removal policy, however I do not believe the response adequately addresses the underlying issue here.
To reiterate:
We did not misrepresent inventory
We did not switch condition states intentionally
The issue was triggered solely by an SP-API operation intended to update shipping templates
Amazon has already confirmed that:
putListingsItem replaces attributes and removes omitted values
Omitting condition_type caused listings to surface as “New”
The API returned 200 ACCEPTED
No validation warning or safeguard exists to prevent this behavior
The core concern is that there were effectively no guardrails in place for what is clearly a high-risk operation affecting live offer conditions.
At no point did the API indicate:
that condition data would be removed,
that listings could default to “New”,
or that customer-facing offer states would materially change.
For sellers operating at scale, this creates a significant platform risk.
While I understand Amazon’s position regarding reimbursement policies, it is difficult to accept that:
Amazon acknowledges the root technical cause,
acknowledges there are currently no safeguards,
and yet all operational, financial, and account-health consequences remain entirely with the seller.
This was not a case of sending incorrect inventory data. The customer experience became incorrect because Amazon surfaced the wrong condition state after processing a structurally valid request with no warnings or validation failures.
I would strongly urge the internal teams to review:
clearer SP-API documentation around destructive PUT behavior,
validation/warnings when condition attributes are removed,
protections preventing used inventory from defaulting to “New”,
and whether feedback resulting directly from confirmed platform-side behavior should be treated differently.
At minimum, I hope this thread helps prevent other developers and sellers from encountering the same issue.
Thanks again.
