March 26, 2021

Hello Amazon Seller,

Thank you for being a subscriber, and thank you for opening this email.

Amazon FBA Fees in Are Going Up

Amazon has announced new seller fulfillment fees that will take effect on June 1, 2021.

From Amazon:
Most referral fees will not change, and we are making only modest increases (about 2-3% on average) to fulfillment fees, in line with or below industry averages. We will also reduce certain fees, like the returns processing fee, which reflects the feedback we have received from sellers and our continued efforts to reduce costs.

Click the link below to see an excellent breakdown of the changes.
See the changes analyzed>

See Amazon's Before and After Chart>

What To Do About Fake Amazon Reviews

Amazon is well aware of its fake review problem and has been working on solutions for years to mixed results. The eCommerce giant made headlines in 2015 with mass lawsuits against thousands of sellers for fake Amazon reviews, and the Federal Trade Commission even got involved in 2019 with its first case of this kind.

Amazon certainly has its hands full with this issue, so you need to be proactive in order to protect your business. And remember, a review doesn’t have to be negative to be fake. However, the negative ones will be the most damaging from a public standpoint. Here are a few helpful tips for combating fake negative reviews.

Read more on this topic>

The Relationship Between Amazon Helpful Votes and Review Ranking

What we’re talking about here are the ramifications of upvotes on negative product reviews that innocently or even maliciously spread misinformation about your product. You obviously want to defend your product and seller reputation, so what can you do, especially now that review commenting is dead?

While Amazon's helpful votes feature on reviews can unquestionably be useful for shoppers, they can also be the exact opposite, especially if the review is biased or the result of user error. Here are a few helpful tips if you find yourself facing something similar:

Read further on this>

Dodgy Amazon FBA stock to be disposed of – New Policy

This article talks about Amazon’s recent announcement that any dodgy stock will be binned or disposed of under its new policy as of March 19th. Find out the grittier policy details and what exactly this means for you.

(We say "Great". The more steps Amazon takes to get rid of fake products, the better off we all are".)

Read the article>

Walmart Now Will Let Non-U.S. Vendors In Its Marketplace

Walmart has put its gloves on and is going head-to-head with Amazon. The retail giant has gotten rid of a rule that sellers on its marketplace had to be registered in the U.S. This means that foreign sellers can now sell on Walmart too.

(Sure, what could go wrong? Amazon certainly has its problems with Chinese sellers, so it is surprising that Walmart wants a piece of that particular pie.)

Read about it>

Free PPC Advertising Course

PPC doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn PPC basics in a free, easy-to-understand PPC course. It's designed for beginners. It comes courtesy of Helium 10.

Sign up here:

Consumer Trends Report | Q1 2021

This quarterly study from Jungle Scout of 1,000 U.S. consumers explores changing behaviors and preferences, with a focus on the financial strain in a pandemic economy and new eCommerce tech.

Excerpt:
More than half of American consumers (56%) say they are living “paycheck to paycheck,” and 48% have experienced unexpected financial setbacks in the last three months. 73% say they are becoming more conscientious of where they spend their money and 70% are looking for less expensive products when shopping.

(Choose the option that you are thinking about becoming an Amazon seller if you don't want to give up too much info)

Get the report here>

Amazon is Removing Customer List Downloads

Amazon Sellers will no longer be able to re-market to their customers or build customer lookalike audiences on 4/8/2021. These lists are extremely valuable and something that every brand should have in their arsenal. I suggest all sellers download all customers lists as far back as they can so you can always retarget or create lookalike audiences to target new customers similar to yours.

Amazon Added New Product Types and Attributes

In the month of March, Amazon introduced new product types and attributes to improve your product detail pages. To view what product types and attributes were launched, refer to their Help page.

When creating a new listing, you can view these new product types in Seller Central when classifying your product in the Add a product tool and when selecting the appropriate template to download via Add a product via upload.

These changes will not affect your existing selection but you can provide these additional attributes by editing your products via Manage Inventory or by updating your listings in bulk.

Here are the new product types:
BRASS_AND_WOODWIND_INSTRUMENTS
HIP_FLASK
KEYBOARD_INSTRUMENTS
LAP_DESK
MANUAL_FOOD_MILL_GRINDER
MUSICAL_INSTRUMENT_AMPLIFIER
MUSICAL_INSTRUMENT_STRING
NETTING_COVER
PET_DOOR
PLAY_SLIDE
PLECTRUM
POPCORN_POPPER
SELF_DEFENSE_SPRAY
SONAR_FATHOMETER
STEAM_CLEANER
TARGET_TOSSING_GAME
TASK_TRAY
UNINTERRUPTIBLE_POWER_SUPPLY
AQUARIUM_POND_WATER_TREATMENT
CARBURETOR
CUP_HOLDER
ELECTRONIC_SENSOR
FERTILIZER
FURNITURE_LEG
HAMMER_MALLET
HOLE_PUNCH
MACHINE_LUBRICANT
MODEM
OUTBOARD_MOTOR
POOL_SPA_WATER_TREATMENT

Brand Owners Can Now Upload Manuals & Guides

Brand owners can now upload product documents like installation manuals, compatibility guides, and troubleshooting guides so that they will be available to customers on the product detail pages. Customers will benefit from this content pre-purchase to make shopping decisions and post-purchase to make the most of the products that they buy.

Brands can reduce customer service calls and product returns, and increase customer satisfaction via this program that is free and open to all brand owners

Prime Yourself For Prime

Prime Day submission dates have been announced.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 23, 2021, for Lighting Deals, and Friday, May 28, 2021, for Prime Member Vouchers.

As you may remember, Amazon keeps Prime Day a secret until it is time.

Read about how to submit>

Seller Investigators

Seller Investigators helps FBA Sellers get back reimbursements from Amazon for missing or damaged inventory, incorrectly handled returns, overcharged FBA fees, overcharged refunds, improper weight fees, unreturned returns, or shipments not received. They have developed a proprietary refund search engine that reviews your Amazon account looking for money you are owed. Your case manager handles everything from filing and replying to cases manually.

It is definitely worth a look. You can find our write-up on it, including videos showing how it works here.

Other news:

Payability is currently funding Amazon and eCommerce businesses with capital advances up to $250k and accelerated daily payouts. There are absolutely no checks, simply connect your Amazon account and the other channels you sell on and get an offer within 24 hours. With over $3.5 Billion of growth capital deployed, Payability remains the largest and most established eCommerce funding solution. High volume businesses with $100K+ per month in sales may qualify for reduced rates. Go to Payability.

Deals we know about....

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Use this Promo Code - A2Z_20_6MON for 20% Off For 6 Months for A2X software
Use this Promo Code - A2ZSC50 for 50% off your first month for Helium 10.
Use this Promo Code - SAPPHIRE for 20% off your first three months for Seller Labs software.
NOTE: Above offers are subject to change.
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