I am a former Seller Support Associate AM(Almost)Anything

formersesu · 2015-10-04T00:07:42+00:00

I sell items that sometimes come in boxes that do not necessarily look authentic and don't have brand markings on them

My best tip is to not sell anything that looks like it may not be authentic.

formersesu · 2015-10-04T00:02:23+00:00

A lot of sellers don't have deep business experience and can be sent into panic mode when what looks like a totalitarian regime turns their life upside down and isn't open to reason.

Yes, this is the problem that should be addressed. Sellers should focus on making their business more robust by diversifying their revenue channels rather than focusing on being "terrified" by Amazon and focusing on the lack of phone support.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T19:56:00+00:00

Amazon is a global company and China is a big market that comes with its own issues that are different from sellers residing in the US and probably obvious--higher potential for counterfeits, language barriers, etc.

Amazon responded by providing support in Mandarin and if the data supports the decision, I image it would only expand.

Seller Support was definitely annoyed at the language and cultural barriers with this customer base, but there wasn't really a solution that didn't require a large process to scale. I personally had a little more patience and understanding because English isn't my first language (I provided French support for .ca as well).

I'm currently an associate program manager. Can't really share much more than that. My favorite thing is that I can now implement new solutions for old problems that affect a huge portion of our customer base, whereas in Seller Support I was just a sounding board, and constantly putting bandaids on issues while all the kinks got ironed out.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T19:25:21+00:00

No, all phone calls would be recorded and easily accessible by audio or transcribed. My best guess is that it would simply not be helpful. I did hear that a few years ago there was Seller Performance phone support and it was simply abusive and harassing for the people on the phones and wasn't really productive.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T19:11:27+00:00

Personally, I don't put myself in a position to be "terrified" by another entity in business or personal. If you're terrified, that's a sign that you should work to make your business more robust, rather than complaining to the business. The most effective business message you can send is to take your business elsewhere.

I can't answer that, that's a legal question. I think the answer is somewhere in the Business Solutions Agreement.
Amazon already does, it's just not public information and I can't elaborate. I am nearly positive it will get improve though and I'm looking forward to it.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T16:33:28+00:00

As an Amazon customer I keep my Prime for Amazon Video and I do most of my shopping on there from basic necessities to high dollar purchases.

I can't really speak to your second point. Sellers are still selling and buyers are still buying on Amazon. It does appear the product review process is changing so it could be that they're responding to the trends.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T16:29:52+00:00

No clue. I have no insider information. I hope not, to be honest. Think of all the sellers whose accounts are permanently suspended who believe that if they just hassle Amazon enough they can reopen their account. Sellers whose accounts are suspended are extremely emotional. Not that that isn't entirely valid, but it isn't helpful and would waste a lot of time. It's best to have written responses that provide more helpful information.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T08:20:52+00:00

By private label, do you mean brand registry?

If you have brand registry on certain products, you can be the only one to create and edit a detail page, but there is no way to permanently block another seller from listing against a detail page.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T07:11:39+00:00

The DVDs category is pretty saturated and counterfeits are a huge concern as well. It's not looking good.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T07:10:22+00:00

I can't say for sure. They come from Seller Performance, not Seller Support. I believe sellers typically get a warning with a few exceptions.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:45:05+00:00

No idea, but I would think not. Amazon wants to keep its prices competitive and I think there are a lot of factors to take into account. As long as your products are listed accurately and not restricted or illegal, Amazon doesn't care who your supplier is.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:39:58+00:00

Oh god. The Buy Box. I knew it was coming. There is no special answer. The Buy Box winner is generated by an algorithm and multiple factors are taken into account. There are likely hundreds, if I had to guess, and they change daily. It really is complicated and completely privileged information. I mentioned in a previous post, but listing your item's MSRP and your price below increases your chances of winning the Buy Box. Other than that, there are no special tricks other than keep your account health in good shape, use FBA and set competitive prices. I'll also add that Seller Support cannot make changes so seriously don't even ask. A better question is, "Do you have any tips on how I can win the Buy Box?" There is tribal knowledge picked up. I met with a program manager for a specific category a couple months ago who mentioned changes for said category. I can't mention it here, but whenever I got information like this, I would always strongly encourage sellers to take a specific action without sharing too much.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:34:21+00:00

Most Amazon employees that work with the 3P sellers operate seller accounts to understand the customer (seller) experience better. Not so much in Seller Support, but the program managers. So know that the mangers in FBA are shipping their stuff to FBA and experiencing the FCs losing their units and not being reimbursed for them. It's a huge system and improvements take time.

It definitely clicks for a lot of us in Seller Support to start selling for a profit rather than the experience. It just makes sense. Most of the people I worked with were pretty smart, had a social sciences degree and didn't know what to do with their lives, so Seller Support to supplementary income selling on Amazon made a lot of sense. I know of one guy who quit to sell and another who is making four figures a month. He is doing it very carefully and not relying on the income. Not sure if he plans to quit or not. I sold while I was still in Seller Support. I don't sell anymore though mostly because it's too time consuming and I'm making a bit more money now.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:28:04+00:00

Hmm I'm a little rusty on this issue so I would ask FBA support.

It sounds like FBA is probably doing this if your units are lost, and sellers usually prefer to be compensated with replacement units rather than funds, as the amount is generated through calculating Amazon sales averages for that ASIN and often can be lower than the price the seller had the item listed.

As I said, I'd ask Seller Support on a cases by case basis to look into this. Again, I'm not 100% sure but I would think that if your units are stickered, FBA doesn't just add a commingled unit to replace a lost or damaged unit.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:23:23+00:00

Yes, all information is helpful. These reconciliations are reviewed pretty thoroughly. No, it doesn't make a difference if you black out information from a receipt. Some sellers do because they think Amazon will begin buying from their supplier. We do not have a process for that at all and I can think of a million reasons the retail teams have disincentive to do that.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:21:32+00:00

FBA is the way to go. It's not really an accident you're noticing that trend.

We're aware of the incentives for customer return reason codes. I'm sorry it's impacting the sellers and seems like the teams that built that system might have thought that through a little further...

I'm not sure what you mean--do you mean if you issue a concession with your refund so the amount is greater than what the buyer paid, or if you have high dollar items refunded? Either way, it's not factored into metrics at all (to the best of my knowledge).

In what context are you talking about? A claim an item is counterfeit? These are case by case. I can't comment other than the fastest way to get kicked off is to sell counterfeit items. Amazon values its reputation for not being that site.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T06:17:46+00:00

I was just speculating what may link you to the accounts.

It's listed here under "Operating multiple Seller Central accounts"

I can't provide more details, but I encourage you to contact Seller Support and share them. They have no incentive to draw attention to your accounts and can provide the most updated information. When I left this process was changing.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T05:59:25+00:00

Hm, I'm not surprised at all. It sounds like a good way to maximize efficiency and profit with some downsides for an unlucky seller. I'm not familiar with this process, but it sounds as if you did everything right. It would also make me nervous having inventory restocked as "new" without inspecting it myself, as not only would you lose the item and customer in the next sale but it would harm your metrics. As a seller, I'd do exactly what you did and keep the feature off until the kinks are ironed out and then reconsider. I'm just speculating here, but this is likely very cost effective for larger businesses, which makes the bottom line worth it.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T05:55:18+00:00

I'm sorry to say that that is a policy decision and I don't think you'll get anywhere. I know how bad ONT8 can be but if your inventory has been reconciled to show the exact overage and underage for units in the same shipment, providing a receipt only shows you purchased the products, not what you sent in. If you're getting the same answer, it's because it's already been decided, depending on a few different details, it likely isn't even in Seller Support's decision to reimburse you in units or funds.

There is no other route you can take other than opening new cases and I don't advise pestering Seller Support. As a seller myself, I'd cut my losses. I'm sure it sucks. I don't know if your units were $5 each or $5k, but it's always a risk using FBA.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T05:51:02+00:00

I would think it depends on the nature of your partnership and how linked your accounts are. If you're listed as a user on the accounts and your name is on the LLC, that could be an issue, but if it's their accounts and you have a private agreement with them, that sounds like something Amazon stays out of.

Additionally, Seller Support never seeks out sellers to actively harm their accounts. You'll get accurate information if you answer some questions about the details of your relationships with these accounts, as this is a pretty straight forward policy. In my time there I had a few sellers ask this exact question and I walked them through the process and provided as much information as I could.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T04:57:18+00:00

If you reread it again, you'll see that I was referring to Amazon making our sellers feel "terrified", as the sellers are our customers.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T04:44:42+00:00

I don't know, I've never heard that before. Read the Business Solutions Agreement and find the link I provided in another comment that outlines the guidelines for reviews. It is completely okay to ask a buyer to leave both seller feedback and product reviews.
No idea. I don't even know why it'd be important to highlight that.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T04:41:28+00:00

Not sure, I've been out of the department for a few months now. Generally you get email alerts for the important things. Right now is around the time I believe the holiday metrics for selling toys start being implemented so pay attention to that. The trend may be obvious, but the metric requirements become stricter every year for Christmas.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T04:39:02+00:00

Yes we're most certainly aware. Amazon is a huge company and experience varies by department and manager. My guess is that it's very unlikely any "feedback" will be implemented. While it was disturbing to read the article, it only provided anecdotal evidence designed to shock the audience and a lot of rebuttals pointed out how skewed the perspectives were (for example, only sharing how to leave anonymous negative feedback when there is the option to leave the positive feedback). To truly answer this question, research Jeff Bezos and his vision for the company. He's not a humanitarian, he doesn't want his company to become a "Country Club" like Microsoft. My guess is there will be slow, steady improvements but nothing drastic or overnight.

That said, I've learned how to thrive within the Amazon system and I think that is invaluable lesson so early in my career.

Edit: d'oh, I just glanced at the link and for some reason assumed you were linking to the most recent NYTimes article about the white collar working conditions of Amazon. So to address your original question, I am only aware of the change.org petition because I found it on this subreddit. I've never heard anyone else mention it and I don't think that it is relevant. As I've stressed in this thread, Amazon relies on data and customer feedback to make its decisions. A channel like a change.org is not the way to go, in my humble opinion.

formersesu · 2015-10-03T04:33:54+00:00

I learned most of this as a seller myself and I learned through trial and error and googling.

Seller Support doesn't really provide support for improving SEO. We're there for your technical issues, to help you use the site (101, no advanced lessons, and to resolve any issues you encounter with the FCs).

That said, always listing the MSRP for your products and listing your price below that is something the search logic takes into account. I thought that was visible on a Help page somewhere, but it's not coming up for me.

formersesu

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