Happy Holidays from Amazon Services

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!

- Amazon Services

Getting Paid - How It Works

A top concern for every seller is getting paid. To get paid for your Amazon sales, you need to be sure you've set up your seller account correctly and then remember to confirm your shipments.

The Basics

After you first register to sell on Amazon, the funds from your sales will accumulate in your Marketplace Payments account for 14 days. This holding period is a very important security requirement.

At the end of this time, we settle your account – that is, we subtract amounts you owe, such as for selling and subscription fees and customer refunds.  The remaining funds are then sent off to you via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer to your checking account. This is your first disbursement. After this, disbursements from your Marketplace Payments account will occur automatically every 14 days.

Disbursements usually appear in your checking account within 3-5 business days. Note that for a disbursement to take place, you must have a positive balance in your Marketplace Payments account. Amazon fees and customer refunds, if any, can affect your balance.

Important Details

Enter the information for a valid U.S. bank checking account into your selling account

Amazon transfers funds from your transactions directly to the bank account you specify in your seller account. If you enter your checking account information too late (less than 24 hours before your first scheduled disbursement) it can delay  disbursement of your funds for another 14 days. We suggest entering all requested checking account information when you first set up your selling account, or before you list your first item.

Confirm shipment of each order you have fulfilled

After you receive an order and mail the item to the buyer, you must confirm shipment in order to be paid. We charge the buyer after you confirm shipment (rather than when the buyer places the order), and then we credit your Marketplace Payments account. If you do not confirm shipment of an order within 30 days, we automatically cancel it and you will not be paid for the order. Learn more about confirming orders in our online "Charge When Ship" Help pages.

Payment Hold-ups

There are several reasons why you might not have been paid as you expected:

• You have not confirmed shipment of every order you have fulfilled.
• You have not yet entered your bank account information into your selling account.
• You recently began selling on Amazon.com and your first 14-day settlement period has not concluded.
• The bank account information you entered is incorrect. Contact your bank to confirm the checking account number and ACH (Automated Clearinghouse) routing number.
• You entered debit card information instead of checking account information. A checking account with an ACH routing number is required for seller disbursements.
• Your bank does not accept ACH transfers. Contact your bank to confirm that they accept ACH transfers. If they don't, provide a checking account from a bank that accepts ACH transfers.
• Your bank is outside the United States. A checking account in a US-based bank is required for seller disbursements.
• You entered information for a bank account that is now closed. Contact your bank to obtain the checking account number and ACH routing number for your new bank account.
• You do not have a positive account balance.

If you still have questions about disbursements, please contact Seller Support via our online Contact Us form and we'll be happy to assist you.

We hope our Holiday Selling Tips have been helpful.  Happy holidays from all of us at Amazon Seller Support!

Handling Post-Order Problems

The majority of holiday sales on Amazon.com go well, but occasionally you may encounter a problem.  Let’s look at some of the most common things that could go wrong with an order and the ways to handle them.

I:  The buyer has made a mistake with an order and wants to fix it.

Below are the most common things buyers may ask you to do to fix an order and how you can respond:

Cancel the order

• If you have not yet shipped the order, you can cancel it.  Buyers only have a 30-minute window to cancel their own orders, but you can cancel them up until the time you ship them.
• If you have already shipped the order, you can't cancel it, but you can ask the buyer to return it for a refund. It's best to wait until you have the item in hand again before you return funds to the buyer.

Upgrade the shipping

• If you have not yet shipped the order, it is up to you to decide whether to upgrade the shipping at the buyer’s request.  Sellers aren't obligated to provide a service that a buyer hasn't paid for or to accept promises of future reimbursement from buyers (sellers can't invoice buyers for extra costs, including postage).
• If you have already shipped the order, provide the buyer with information about the shipping method you used, give them a realistic timeframe for delivery, and ask them to be patient. Here's the information Amazon provides to buyers about delivery expectations: Marketplace Shipping Times.

Ship the order to a different address

• If you have not yet shipped the order, and the buyer says they cannot receive the order at the address they provided originally, you should cancel the order. The buyer can then return to Amazon.com to place a new order using the correct address.  Amazon policy requires sellers to ship only to the address provided in their Seller Account.
• If you have already shipped the order and the buyer states that they won't receive the package at the address they provided, you can’t cancel the order but it may still be possible for the buyer to get the package re-routed if they know the recipients. Packages should be routed back to you and you can then refund the buyer.

II:  The buyer hasn't received the item they ordered.

As you might expect, buyers are often anxious to receive their holiday orders and will contact you by e-mail to check on the shipment status.

• In many cases, the shipment isn't late but may not have arrived as early as the buyer hoped. It's possible that the package didn't arrive at the earliest estimated date.  In the case of "slow" packages, you will often need to explain the delivery time frames.
• If the outside delivery date has passed, the best solution is to refund the buyer. Compensating buyers for lost shipments is simply a cost of doing business.
• In the case of a "lost" item arriving in an empty box, you should contact the shipper to report the issue and ask about the options available to you. For a "late" item that may be lost, you may want to engage your carrier for assistance in locating the package and moving it along.
• For an item that never arrives and is truly lost, you may be still able to recover your costs if you purchased insurance originally. You will need to determine your own level of acceptable loss when deciding to insure packages.

III: The buyer has received the order but wants to return it.

Here are the basics on handling returns:

• As per your selling agreement, your return and refund policies must be at least as favorable as the current Amazon refund policies. You have to accept returns within the guidelines spelled out in the policy, even if the item was exactly as described and the buyer simply no longer wants it.
• Returns of new items are different from returns of damaged/defective/materially different items.
• Buyer returns should be postmarked within 30 days of the original shipment sent by the seller.
• Returns should be posted to the address included on the outside of each package. It's a good idea to also include your return address inside the package and to confirm it with the buyer before a return is shipped.
• In cases where there is nothing wrong with an item, buyers should cover the cost of return shipping.
• In cases where an item is damaged or defective, or when it is materially different than the item described on the product detail page, sellers should cover the costs of return shipping. You can do this by issuing a concession to the buyer in advance of the return.
• Sellers can charge restocking fees (up to 20%) for returned items that are not damaged, defective or materially different. These fees are meant to cover the extra handling costs to take the item back into inventory and relist it for sale.

We hope this information has been helpful.  If you have further questions about how to deal with order issues, please see our online seller Help pages.

The Reviews Are In!

This Christmas I asked my sister to give me an idea of what my 7 yr old nephew wanted for Christmas.  I asked her to give me links things that he wanted while looking around on Amazon.com.   Next year I’ll have him create his own wish list.   After looking at the 4 or 5 toys she sent me I wasn’t sure which to buy.  I ended up reading the product reviews to help me decide which toy to buy for him. 

If you’re selling with Product Ads, you may have noticed that ads in targeted placements now show stars and product reviews for the product if they are available.  This enhancement helps qualify the traffic to your website by sending customers that are ready to purchase.

I certainly appreciated reading the reviews on the products and I’m sure your customers will too!

-Michelle S.

Amazon sends the order and shipping notifications to buyers

With Charge When Ship, it is important that only Amazon send order and shipping notifications to buyers.

In addition to sending buyers the order notification shortly after an order is placed, we send them the shipping notification as soon as you confirm the shipment. We include all of the shipping information you provide, and we also post this information in the buyer's account.

Receiving one order notification and one shipping notification provides a better buyer experience than receiving multiple notifications, so it's important to leave the notification step to Amazon.

Though we handle order and shipping notifications, we encourage you to work directly with buyers to resolve their questions and concerns about products and orders.  Happy holiday selling!

Holiday Selling Tip: Using Tracking Numbers Improves Seller Feedback (p.s. Buyers Love Them)

It’s no secret to Amazon Sellers that timely, effective shipping is central to creating satisfied Buyers. A recent study showed that customer satisfaction with Seller shipping performance is at an all-time high. This is a credit to the hard work and great customer service provided by Sellers.

When we drilled in we were struck with one fact: The improvement in Buyer satisfaction in shipping correlated to an increase in the use of tracking numbers. Tracking numbers give Buyers confidence that a package was shipped and allows them to check its progress. In fact, we found that packages that use tracking numbers are 2X less likely to get negative customer feedback than those that don’t.

When you consider that tracking numbers protect most Sellers from lost items and A-to-Z Guarantee claims they seem like a no-brainer. If you use a tracking number, make sure it’s entered correctly, and if you don’t currently use them, we encourage you to give them a try - it is well worth the investment.

Get notified if you reach your daily budget

With the increased traffic on Amazon.com during the holidays you may reach your daily budget for your Product Ads account.  If you exceed your daily budget your products are removed from Amazon.com.  Be sure this doesn't happen by raising your daily budget. 

Also don’t forget opt in to receive the Daily Budget Exceeded notifications.  You will receive an alert if you reach your budget cap more than one time in a seven day period. This is an easy way to be notified and take immediate action. Make sure these emails are directed to the appropriate contact at your company and add additional email addresses if needed.

Here’s how: Log into Seller Central > Settings> Account Info> Notification Preferences

-Michelle S.

Package Orders With Care

A great deal of orders placed in the weeks before Christmas are intended as gifts. Buyers not only expect to receive them on time, but also in excellent condition. Having to return items that got damaged in transit would not be a good buying experience any time of the year, and even less so during the holiday season.

To help protect your items and provide a world-class buying experience, follow some "best practices" when packing orders for shipment:

Package Orders Carefully

• Prepare a professional, clean package. Wipe away dust or debris that may have collected on the item while in storage. Use new shipping/packing materials. Seal all shipments tightly.
• When sending fragile items, package them using bubble wrap or polystyrene chips. Use a “Fragile” sticker or mark the package clearly.
• Put your item in its original box (if you still have it), then put it in a slightly larger box and fill out the gap with paper, polystyrene or cardboard. Shake the box and add more packaging if there's movement.
• Include a packing slip in the package. You can print one from the Manage Orders page.

Label Packages Clearly

• Use a complete shipping address. You can cut an address label from your printed packing slip and attach it to the package.
• Use a complete return address, typewritten or printed in a neat and legible manner, on all packages.
• Orders may arrive sooner if you use the nine-digit ZIP Code associated with the buyer's shipping address. You can find the extra four digits for any U.S. shipping address at www.usps.com.
• The use of metered postage is recommended. Avoid excessive postage and the use of small-denomination postage stamps.

Preparing your packages with care and professionalism makes good sense. Happy holiday selling!

Take advantage of record holiday traffic on Amazon.com

This holiday season we have seen record number of visits to Amazon.com. Experian Hitwise reported Amazon.com as the most visited retail website on Cyber Monday, a record we have held since 2006.  Make sure that you take advantage of the increased visits to the site by taking steps to ensure your product ads are displayed without interruption.  Here’s how:

1. Raise your daily budget.  Don’t miss out on increased traffic to your website.  Make sure your ads are listed the entire day by increasing your daily budget.  Continue to monitor your Product Ads account  performance meets your goals.

2. Update your feed regularly.  We continuously review products in our catalog for accurate pricing and stock quantities.  Update your feed file when you run out of stock or change product prices.

-Michelle S.

Offer Expedited Shipping for Great Customer Service

Speedy shipping is especially important to buyers during the holiday season. Offering expedited shipping on your orders shows you care about customer satisfaction.

Sellers can offer priority expedited delivery to domestic addresses for all products sold on Amazon.com. Depending on the products you are selling and features that have been enabled for your account, you may also offer additional shipping options to buyers.

New expedited shipping options for Books, Music, Video and DVD products (BMVD Products) allow sellers to provide higher levels of shipping services for those customers who want premium expedited delivery. Sellers who offer 2-day and next-day domestic shipping or expedited international shipping can increase order volume, as it provides buyers with a couple of extra days to place an order with you before Dec 25.

Here are delivery expectations for BMVD orders. All of the available options are provided for comparison.

Domestic Standard
The buyer should receive their order within 4-14 business days from the shipment date (up to 21 days in some cases).

Domestic Expedited
The buyer should receive their order within 2-6 business days after shipment.

Two Day Domestic
The buyer should receive the order within 48 hours after shipment.

One Day Domestic
The buyer should receive the order within 24 hours after shipment.

Standard International
The buyer should receive their order within 3-6 weeks, though it may take up to 8-12 weeks depending on customs delays

Expedited International
The buyer should receive their order within 3-7 business days, though it may take longer depending on customs delays.

Sellers are expected to ship all BMVD orders within two business days of the date the order notification is made available by Amazon.

When you sell a BMVD Product on Amazon.com, Amazon automatically charges the buyer a per-item fee for shipping and passes that amount on to you. The shipping rate depends on the product you are selling and the shipping service selected by the buyer. To learn more about BMVD shipping rates, enter "Ship BMVD" into the search box on our seller Help pages.

You can select any of the new shipping options on an item-by-item basis when listing or editing single BMVD items. If you are using inventory files, you can enter values for the new shipping options in the "expedited-shipping" field for each SKU in your file. The Book Loader, Music Loader, and Inventory Loader all support the new expedited shipping options. (See the Data Definitions tab of the latest version of the file for instructions on coding the "expedited-shipping" field.)

Happy holiday selling!

P.S. Seller Holiday Tip: You can use the condition note to alert buyers of your cut-off dates and ensure buyers that orders placed before your cut-off  dates will get delivered by Christmas.