Amazon's new policy takes effect, sellers and buyers are overwhelmed

Amazon has issued many policies during this period. In particular, starting from March 1, 2024, Amazon Logistics Warehouse Configuration Service Fee will officially take effect, making many sellers feel the pressure of rising costs.

The warehouse configuration service fee, also jokingly called the "transshipment fee" by sellers, ranges from $0.12 to $6. If sellers do not want to pay this fee, they can choose to disperse their inventory to 4 or more warehouses, or use Amazon services such as AGL and AWD.

This change is crucial for sellers using Amazon's FBA service, not only affecting the cost structure, but also profoundly affecting logistics management strategies. According to official explanations, the warehousing configuration service fee refers to the fees incurred when Amazon assists sellers in transferring inventory to an operations center closer to buyers . In short, although Amazon is responsible for the transfer of goods, the relevant costs are borne by the seller .

Before this fee has time to be absorbed, Amazon FBA is imposing a new fee: return processing fee .

I thought that was the end of it, but Amazon announced that it would shorten the return period for some products .

All these new policies have made both sellers and buyers overwhelmed.

Return processing fee

According to Amazon's announcement, starting from June 1, 2024, Amazon will charge a return processing fee for products with high return rates in all categories except clothing and footwear .

So, how do you calculate the return rate of a product?

According to Amazon's official statement, the return rate is the percentage of items returned by buyers in a given month compared to the items returned in that month and the following two calendar months .

Starting from May 1st, you can directly see the average return rate here in the "Amazon Logistics Return" of Amazon backend .

If the return rate of your own products is higher than this average return rate, you should be careful at this time, because Amazon’s fee is levied on products with return rates exceeding the specific return rate threshold of each category .

In addition, products with high return rates will be labeled as "high return rate" by the seller, which means that the return rate of the product is relatively high. Once the product is labeled with this, the buyer's desire to shop will be greatly reduced.

Previous surveys have shown that a "high return rate" label may cause a product's conversion rate to drop by 50%-80% , which is no less than sentencing a product to "death". Therefore, Cross-border Knowledge recommends that sellers check product details and review information before placing an order.

Shorten the return period

Cross-border Knowledge learned that recently, Amazon Germany issued an announcement stating that from March 25, 2024, the return time for most electronic products will be shortened from 30 days to 14 days .

It is worth mentioning that after the German site, the Italian site also announced this new policy, and it is expected that this new policy will be implemented on other EU sites one after another. Once multiple European sites go online with this new policy, the scope of influence will be very wide.

According to the announcement, the return time for the following categories will be shortened from 30 days to 14 days (from the date of delivery): cameras, electronics, office supplies, computers, wireless, video games, music and video/DVD. It is worth noting that Amazon devices and Amazon refurbished products are not included .

Amazon also said that in order to allow buyers to enjoy a consistent shopping experience, this change applies to all categories sold on Amazon . Regardless of the shipping method adopted by the seller, such as Amazon self-fulfilled sellers (MFN), the new return period will be automatically displayed on the product's detail page.

Of course, Amazon also considerately provides buyers with a buffer period.

Amazon said that it will continue to implement the original policy (return time is still 30 days) from March 25 to April 25, 2024. During this period, buyers can still apply for a 30-day return period through the online return center . As in the past, sellers need to process buyers according to Amazon's return and refund policy. Starting from April 25, 2024, buyers ' return requests can only be made within 14 days of delivery.

Looking at the whole incident, on the surface it increases the shopping risk for buyers and reduces the time for buyers to consider, but in fact it also makes more demands on sellers.

Cross-border Knowledge learned that due to the fierce competition in the electronic products market, many buyers will compare multiple stores when shopping and then return the goods. After the new return policy takes effect, the sellers' return rate may further increase . In addition, Amazon's own products are not included in this policy, which has intensified the competitive pressure among sellers .

The return processing fee will have a certain impact on the seller's costs, and the shortened return period will require sellers to spend more time on pre-sales and after-sales services, and product quality must also be improved accordingly.

This set of policies will benefit sellers who focus on product quality, supply chain integration and refined operations. On the Amazon platform, the comprehensive management requirements for sellers are getting higher and higher, and the trend of profits tilting towards high-quality sellers is becoming more and more obvious.