Sell on Amazon? Find Out if You're Missing out on Instant $$$

[QDF]

Let me start off by saying this may just be me....but once I send my FBA shipments into Amazon, I tend to kind of assume that all my units are received. After all, if anything's missing, it's only usually one or two units - no big deal (I sell small items).

So today I went in to manage my FBA shipments and went over all of my previous shipments to see which ones were still "IN RECEIVING". To my surprise, quite a few of my old shipments were still in this status, and even a few that were closed still had units missing. I don't know how these units went missing, whether it was goods lost in shipping or it was Amazon's fault.

Altogether, between 4-5 shipments, I had probably around 30 units missing, which would retail for $500-600 for me.

Little did I know that if you click on these shipments, there is a "reconcile" tab which takes maybe 30 seconds to fill out. I filled it out for each shipment, and Amazon pretty much automatically reimbursed my account for the full retail price.

So after 5 minutes of work, I was able to gather roughly $500 in reimbursements that would have otherwise been left sitting on the table.


Like I said...could just be me, but thought I would post this in case anyone else has the same situation.

 

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[biophase]

Let me start off by saying this may just be me....but once I send my FBA shipments into Amazon, I tend to kind of assume that all my units are received. After all, if anything's missing, it's only usually one or two units - no big deal (I sell small items).

So today I went in to manage my FBA shipments and went over all of my previous shipments to see which ones were still "IN RECEIVING". To my surprise, quite a few of my old shipments were still in this status, and even a few that were closed still had units missing. I don't know how these units went missing, whether it was goods lost in shipping or it was Amazon's fault.

Altogether, between 4-5 shipments, I had probably around 30 units missing, which would retail for $500-600 for me.

Little did I know that if you click on these shipments, there is a "reconcile" tab which takes maybe 30 seconds to fill out. I filled it out for each shipment, and Amazon pretty much automatically reimbursed my account for the full retail price.

So after 5 minutes of work, I was able to gather roughly $500 in reimbursements that would have otherwise been left sitting on the table.


Like I said...could just be me, but thought I would post this in case anyone else has the same situation.

You have to track each shipment to FBA. Amazon loses alot of them. Make it a point to track each shipment, don't just send and forget about it.

 

[amp0193]

Also, you have to check to make sure the refund actually went into your account. Sometimes they say you have a refund coming, but it never shows up.

 

[QDF]

Also, you have to check to make sure the refund actually went into your account. Sometimes they say you have a refund coming, but it never shows up.

Yes, I've noticed they said the funds will show up within the "next 5 business days". I'm keeping an eye on it for sure now.

 

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[biophase]

Yes, I've noticed they said the funds will show up within the "next 5 business days". I'm keeping an eye on it for sure now.

Sometimes, they find some your stuff and the refund amount gets lowered. I think if they find anything within 30 days they will also take back the refund.

 

[QDF]

Sometimes, they find some your stuff and the refund amount gets lowered. I think if they find anything within 30 days they will also take back the refund.

I noticed it said that too. I'd be kinda surprised if this happens since these shipments are all at least 30 days old now.

 

[JDawg]

Amazon also overcharges quite often for returns. I recently had a return the other day, where Amazon fully refunded a buyer, paid the buyer an additional compensation of $7.50, and charged me over $18.00 in FBA return fees.

I was like..."what the heck"? After quite a few phone calls, I was able to get the money back.

I feel like there is a lot of money that can be left of the table with Amazon if you don't pay close attention to payments/orders/product shipments!

 

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[amp0193]

I noticed it said that too. I'd be kinda surprised if this happens since these shipments are all at least 30 days old now.

That doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes all it takes is them being notified, and they'll magically find a whole box that was missing. I've had them find old shipments that I didn't reconcile for a while.

 

[amp0193]

Sometimes, they find some your stuff and the refund amount gets lowered. I think if they find anything within 30 days they will also take back the refund.

I successfully fought a refund take-back one time.

My first inbound shipment ever sent to Amazon UK was lost. They refunded me for the entire shipment The refund hit my bank account, and I sent the 4k to my brother to pay off a loan. The next week, after finally finding the units, they tack on a -4k balance on seller central account and put my units back in stock. I quoted the following Terms of Service at different reps for 2.5 months and they eventually dropped the charge and took away the inventory.

From the FBA LOST AND DAMAGED REIMBURSEMENT POLICY:

"In the event that we locate any lost Unit after having paid you the Replacement Value and the Unit was inadvertently added to your inventory, we may take such Unit from your inventory and dispose of the Unit pursuant to our FBA terms."

"if we have previously reimbursed you for a lost Unit that was subsequently found in our network, we may use the found Unit to satisfy a future claim you may have for that product."


From the AMAZON SERVICES EUROPE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AGREEMENT:

"If there is a loss of or damage to any Units while they are being stored, we will, as your sole remedy, compensate you in accordance with the FBA Guidelines [...] Compensation in accordance with the FBA Guidelines is our total liability for any duties or obligations that we or our agents or representatives may have as a bailee or warehouseman, and your only right or remedy that you may have as a bailor. If we compensate you for a Unit, we will be entitled to dispose of the Unit pursuant to Section F-7."

 

[amp0193]

Amazon also overcharges quite often for returns. I recently had a return the other day, where Amazon fully refunded a buyer, paid the buyer an additional compensation of $7.50, and charged me over $18.00 in FBA return fees.

I was like..."what the heck"? After quite a few phone calls, I was able to get the money back.

I feel like there is a lot of money that can be left of the table with Amazon if you don't pay close attention to payments/orders/product shipments!

You didn't need to make any phone calls, just opening a case by email would've done the trick. I've been refunded for these 100% of the time. I'm going to make a post soon on the different refunds you can get, and how to filter out your orders to find the ones that match different criteria.

 

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[Dinho7]

It is definitely in seller's best interest to have a close eye on Amazon. After selling there for about a year, I have noticed all kinds of weird things happening.

• Double refunds. I have had two customers getting TWO TIMES THE PRICE in refund of an item I sold. All deducted from MY balance, of course.
• "Reimbursements" that are "credited" to your account but never show up anywhere (as discussed earlier in this thread)
• Partial refunds given for no stated reason. Upon contacting SS, it turns out Amazon gave the customers the difference between my sales price and what a customer claimed the same item costed in a store. I appreciate the fact that Amazon probably saved the sale, but I feel a bit powerless that they can just adjust your price without any notice.
• $700 disappeared from my balance right before the cutoff period on a Wednesday. I had no refunds in that window, and the balance did NOT carry over as Amazon claimed. Despite complaining several times and asking for detailed transactions, Amazon said that I had to prove that the balance dropped. From now on I always take screenshots around 7 PM (ET) every other Wednesday.

I have planned to do a massive "reimbursement audit" for a while now, and this prompts me to take action sooner rather than later. I had saved a tutorial in my bookmarks that looks pretty solid:

http://www.fbamaster.com/get-your-billions-back-amazon-sellers/

I honestly expect a few grand from this. I will report back when I am done going through a gazillion transactions.