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,
