Amazon and the One-Stop-Shop: What Sellers Need to Know

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The One-Stop-Shop is a new VAT scheme that was introduced in July 2021 across the European Union. It offers an alternative for online entrepreneurs and Amazon sellers who, until then, had to register for VAT in a variety of countries if they wanted to expand their business across the EU.

The One-Stop-Shop was accompanied by changes concerning the delivery thresholds in the EU, the taxation of goods sold to end customers across borders, and the VAT registration and filing duties.

In this article, we will dive into the specifics of the One-Stop-Shop program and discuss what opportunities the OSS offers to Amazon sellers and FBA users.

Threshold Changes that Came With the Introduction of the One-Stop-Shop

Until July 2021 online sellers had to register for VAT in their home country and in all EU countries to which sales exceeded the delivery thresholds. The thresholds were set by each European country individually and were usually set at 35,000€ or 100,000€. 

In all countries in which sellers were registered for VAT, they also had to submit VAT returns. Following the filing of returns, VAT needed to be paid separately to each tax authority, following differing deadlines and formats. Furthermore, all sales prior to the crossing of the threshold limit were taxed with a domestic VAT rate and the VAT had to be paid to the domestic tax office. This meant that sellers had to continuously monitor several threshold limits and payment deadlines at once.  

The country-specific thresholds were replaced by an EU-wide threshold of only 10,000€ when the One-Stop-Shop was introduced. This new, lower threshold is reached by all cross-border sales to European countries combined and, therefore, crossed much earlier. This also means that sellers often have to register in several countries at once. A solution to this is the voluntary registration for the One-Stop-Shop scheme.

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The One-Stop-Shop for Amazon Sellers

For business-to-consumer cross-border sales, a One-Stop-Shop registration replaces foreign VAT registrations. Additionally, the EU-wide delivery threshold is no longer applicable. This means that all sales – even the first – are subject to country-specific foreign VAT rates. Thresholds do no longer need to be monitored and no further VAT registrations are necessary – as long as goods are only stored in the home country.

Since no further VAT registrations are necessary, neither are regular foreign VAT returns. Instead, a regular OSS report needs to be prepared and submitted to the tax authorities in the country of OSS registration, the sellers’ home country in the European Union or their country of choice if they are not based in the EU.

Of course, a VAT registration in the home country and the submission of domestic VAT returns are still necessary, as the One-Stop-Shop only applies to cross-border transactions. For the same reason, the usability for the One-Stop-Shop is greater for basic Amazon sellers than for sellers making use of Fulfillment-Programs such as Amazon FBA. Amazon sellers generally only store their products in their home country and the goods are then delivered from there to customers EU-wide. FBA programs, on the other hand, enable sellers to store their products in a variety of foreign European countries.

The One-Stop-Shop and Amazon FBA Sellers

Within the PAN-EU FBA program for example, sellers’ products might be stored in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic. As soon as products are stored in a country, VAT registrations are mandatory. Therefore, sellers participating in the PAN-EU program need to register for VAT in all countries mentioned above. However, participation in the One-Stop-Shop is still possible.

Deliveries from the home country to foreign countries are taxed with foreign VAT rates and appear in the OSS report, as detailed above. Deliveries from foreign warehouses to customers in the same country are settled in a foreign VAT return, while cross-border deliveries to third countries are again appearing in the OSS report filed in the home country. Lastly, deliveries from foreign warehouses to customers in the seller’s home country appear in the domestic VAT return.

As evidenced, the usability of the One-Stop-Shop for Amazon sellers using FBA is smaller than the advantages of the OSS for basic Amazon sellers storing only in their home country. However, the new scheme can still be advantageous. This depends on the delivery volume, the chosen FBA program, and the customer base and is best decided on a case-by-case basis.

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Technical Solutions for the One-Stop-Shop

If you want to or have to use the OSS to fulfill your VAT duties in Europe as an Amazon seller another challenge facing you are the different VAT rates. This is especially true if you sell products from several niches or Amazon product categories to which country-specific reduced VAT rates apply. A solution comes in the form of the hellotax OSS full-service package.

This VAT service provider specialized on the Amazon and FBA E-Commerce business offers their proprietary OSS software in combination with an OSS registration. The software automatically calculates VAT rates and compiles reports which aid in the creation of OSS reports. The hellotax team of local tax accountants then regularly files your OSS returns.

The OSS service can also be used in conjunction with the regular VAT services, which include VAT registrations EU-wide and the submission of regular VAT returns. All your VAT duties are therefore taken care of by one service provider and you can concentrate on scaling your Amazon business while staying worry-free and VAT compliant across the European Union.

Dominik Larcher

Author:

Dominik Larcher
Content Manager, hellotax

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Amazon Announces Q4 Deal Submission Deadlines

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As sellers and Amazon arrive at the conclusion of Prime Day 2023, all eyes have shifted to the fall and Q4 holiday shopping season that lies ahead. The online retailer wants sellers to start planning, and it has already announced the Lightning Deal submission deadlines for the rest of its major 2023 deal events – the Fall Prime Deal Event and Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

What Events / Weeks do These Include?

The company has announced Lightning Deal Submission deadlines for 2 events: 

  • Fall Prime Deal Event (known informally as the 2nd Prime Day)

Amazon announced this event, available exclusively to its Prime members for the first time in October 2022. While many speculate the company introduced it to force another wave of shopping from its customers in the lull between Prime Day and Q4, it is still a great opportunity for sellers to capitalize on. 

  • Black Friday / Cyber Monday week

Amazon, like every other retailer, aims to capitalize on the surge in sales during this festive time of the year, as the holidays approach. 

When do I Need to Get my Deals in?

  • For the Fall Prime Deal Event, you must get your Lightning Deals in by August 11, 2023. 
  • For Black Friday / Cyber Monday, you must get your deals in by September 1, 2023 

Note: Amazon has only announced deadlines for Lightning Deals so far. You can also submit Coupons and Prime Exclusive Discounts for these events. The company will announce the deadline for these later.

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Indy Pereira

Indy Pereira

Indy Pereira helps ecommerce brands optimize their shipping and fulfillment with Cahoot’s technology. With a background in both sales and people operations, she bridges customer needs with strategic solutions that drive growth. Indy works closely with merchants every day and brings real-world insight into what makes logistics efficient and scalable.

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Amazon Expands Free Shipping for ALL Orders to Non-Prime Members

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Starting Monday and for an unspecified limited time, all Amazon customers — and not just Prime members — will get free shipping with no minimum purchase, which the e-commerce giant in a press release said will apply to “hundreds of millions of items.”

The news comes as rivals have also boosted their free delivery. Target last month, for example, announced free two-day shipping between Nov. 1 through Dec. 22 with no minimum purchase or membership required. And Walmart has expanded free two-day shipping (with a $35 minimum) to “millions of additional items” sold by third-party sellers on its online marketplace, and customers can return marketplace items to any Walmart store.

Read the article here.

Written By:

Jeremy Stewart

Jeremy Stewart

Jeremy Stewart leads customer success at Cahoot, helping merchants achieve high-performance logistics through smart technology and process optimization. With a background in both ecommerce operations and client services, Jeremy ensures that every merchant using Cahoot gets measurable results—whether they’re scaling from one warehouse to many or managing complex returns.

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October 2023 Seller Fulfilled Prime Guidelines – What’s New, What’s Changed, What’s Important?

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On August 8, 2023, Amazon announced a wide range of changes to the criteria it expects sellers to meet on its Seller Fulfilled Prime program. The company introduced new requirements, while updating its expectations from merchants across other metrics. These include on-time delivery, valid tracking, nationwide delivery, delivery speed, free returns and program fees. Amazon has also removed the use of the On-Time Shipment metric and no longer requires the use of its Buy Shipping services.





No time to read? No problem! Watch this quick video summary instead.

In this article, we breakdown each criteria – explaining the old requirements and the new ones that will go into effect on October 1, 2023. We also explain the impact we expect sellers to face from each of these changes.

changes to Amazon SFP requirements

Program Requirements and Criteria

On-Time Shipment (OTS)

The On-Time Shipment Rate is defined by Amazon as the number of units that shipped on or before the Promised Ship Date / Total No. of Shipped SFP Units.

Amazon tracks this metric based on when the carrier scan occurs. 

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
> 99% OTS rate expected.
Amazon is no longer going to track this metric on Seller Fulfilled Prime. The company claims that it is doing this to provide greater flexibility of shipping services and carrier options.
Positive (but only if you have the right technology in place!).

Previous Expectations

If an order is received before the cut-off time Mon-Fri and Sat/Sun (whichever the seller prefers to enable), carrier scan must occur the same day.

A carrier scan must occur the next day if an order is received after the cut-off time.

This is the most important metric in the current Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements.

New Expectations

Sellers will no longer be judged on this metric.

You don’t have to ship the same day if shipping tomorrow is optimal

Under the current Seller Fulfilled Prime guidelines, Amazon requires sellers to ensure a carrier scan is conducted the same day for all orders received before the cut-off time. 

There are situations where this rule forces sellers to unnecessarily use expensive air shipping, at the expense of more economical services. It’s best to understand this with an example: 

Let’s imagine you’re a seller with 2 warehouse locations – one in Los Angeles and the other in New York. Imagine that you receive an order from a customer in Connecticut at 3PM ET on a Monday:

same-day carrier scans

Ideally, you would like to use an economical ground service which can reach the customer in time by fulfilling the order from your New York warehouse. However, because it is past the cutoff time in New York, but before the cutoff time in Los Angeles, Amazon will expect a carrier scan that same day.  The only way for you to ship from Los Angeles and deliver to the customer by the promised date is through an expensive air shipping service. 

However, with carrier scans no longer required on the same day, you can now choose to ship the next day from your New York warehouse through a service like UPS ground – which is 3.5X cheaper than the air service. Such cost savings can only be achieved, however, if you have the right technology in place. Your shipping software needs to intelligently compare warehouse locations, carriers and shipping services to determine the most economical option to use, which still satisfies the customer expectation.

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On-Time Delivery (OTD)

The On-Time Delivery Rate is defined as Number of Units delivered on or before the Promise Date (which the customer sees at the time of checkout) / Total No. of SFP Units Shipped. 

Amazon tracks this metric based on 2 parameters – the delivery date committed to the customer when they checkout, and when the package is actually delivered at their address.

on-time delivery metrics

Previous Expectations

Under the old program, Amazon heavily pushed the use of its Buy Shipping Service. Amazon might also believe that only the services on Buy Shipping are capable of meeting the delivery promises made to customers. 

Therefore, it was only in cases when labels were bought off of Buy Shipping that sellers were held to the high bar of 97% on-time delivery.

New Expectations

This becomes the most important metric under the new Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements.

Amazon is also going to minimize the provision of “Promise Extensions” (in some cases, the customer is shown a later delivery date because Amazon factors in buffer time due to logistical challenges at the seller’s end).

They encourage sellers to begin by looking at their On-Time Delivery Rate for orders without Promise Extensions (to get a sense of their ‘true’ order fulfillment levels).

No More Protection Through Buy Shipping Usage Available

While the 93.5% on-time expectation is a reduced one, which is more favorable for sellers (they don’t have to be perfect every time), this metric could still work against them.  The major reason for this is that sellers now lose the protection that the previous program afforded – so long as they bought the label on Amazon Buy Shipping, and performed the carrier scan in time, they could not be held accountable for any delays in order delivery due to carrier issues. Now, it no longer matters whether the label was bought through Buy Shipping or if a carrier scan occurred in time – sellers must meet the 93.5% benchmark. The biggest contributor to making it happen are the shipping carriers. The biggest criteria by which Amazon measures success on the program is now in the hands of a factor that the seller cannot entirely control – the ability of the shipping carriers to execute operations smoothly and without disruption.

Buy Shipping Usage

Amazon Buy Shipping is Amazon’s system through which sellers and merchants can purchase shipping labels to fulfill their orders. 

The Buy Shipping Usage % is defined as the Number of Units for which labels were bought with Buy Shipping / Total No. of SFP Units Shipped 

Amazon Buy Shipping is now Optional
Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
>99% Buy Shipping usage
No longer tracked
Positive

Previous Expectations

Buy Shipping usage is extremely important. Sellers must print nearly every label on Buy Shipping. Complying with program requirements boiled down to printing labels on Buy Shipping, and then ensuring carrier scans occurred on the same day.

New Expectations

Sellers will not be judged any longer by this metric – this is the biggest step Amazon claims it is taking to provide sellers and merchants “greater flexibility of shipping services and carriers”.

In return for being able to pick services off of Buy Shipping, a timely carrier scan will not suffice – the orders need to actually reach the customer within the Promised Delivery Date >93.5% of the time.

More flexibility in picking carriers and services

Amazon Buy Shipping has one major issue that numerous sellers have reported anecdotally. The platform does not do a good job of estimating the delivery speeds of USPS services.  Buy Shipping sometimes excludes USPS services that are actually capable of meeting the delivery date, forcing the seller to pick a more expensive shipping label that it does believe is capable of reaching the customer in time. Buy Shipping also occasionally runs into errors, where it does not return a particular carrier for no particular reason. In all these cases, merchants are forced to buy labels off Buy Shipping, which reduces their usage less than the 99% bar.  

With this requirement gone, sellers are now free to pick the ‘truly’ cheapest service. However, you can see the benefits of this only if you have an intelligent multi-carrier shipping software in place that rate-shops multiple carriers and shipping services to identify the truly cheapest label on each order.

Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)

Amazon provides its customers tracking numbers for them to be able to see where their order is at. 

An order has valid tracking if it receives a first carrier scan (the scan that is performed by the carrier to indicate that the order is in transit). 

Amazon defines the Valid Tracking Rate as Number of Prime packages with a Valid Tracking ID / Number of Prime packages for which shipment has been confirmed.

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
Not tracked currently
>99% – Amazon requires that the scan be made by an Amazon – integrated carrier.
Neutral

Previous Expectations

Sellers were not assessed on this metric.

New Expectations

Sellers are responsible for updating shipping carrier, shipping service and tracking number information on Amazon for each order, to enable customers to track the status of their packages.

Less Hassle for Merchants in Meeting This Metric

Amazon expects each package to have at least one carrier scan. This scan must occur before the customer receives their order, so that they can use the tracking number to see where their order is on Amazon. The fact that the carrier scan does not have to occur the same day is a positive for sellers. Many sellers have reported issues with carrier operations on the weekends – their packages are picked up, but no scans are actually conducted on a Saturday. Under the current program, this leads to violations of the OTS metric.  

Under the new program, sellers should not face too many hurdles with getting packages scanned once before they reach customers.

Nationwide Delivery Coverage

This refers to the ability for products to be made available with fast shipping across the contiguous United States (the lower 48 states). 

This expectation is based on the size tier that the item falls into (Standard Sized / Oversized / Extra Large). 

oversized SKUs must now ship nationwide
Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
Only for Standard-sized Products
Expected for every SFP SKU, across all size tiers
Has Positives and Negatives

Previous Expectations

Standard-sized products must be made available within the entire contiguous U.S. on fast shipping.

Oversized items can be serviced within specific regions (also known as Regional SFP) – nationwide fast shipping is not required for them.

New Expectations

Products across all 3 of Amazon’s size tiers – Standard Sized, Oversized and Extra Large – must be made available in the contiguous U.S. on fast shipping.

Any product (regardless of size tier) that is configured with a Prime shipping template has a minimum delivery speed of 3-5 calendar days – sellers cannot edit this.

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Prime Badge Available Nationwide For all SKUs, but with the Caveat of Higher Shipping Fees

Amazon is now willing to provide sellers the Prime badge nationwide on oversized and extra large SKUs, whereas previously it was restricted to just the specific regional part of the country the seller operated from. The metrics for 1- and 2-day delivery are not yet extremely high. This is on the whole a positive for sellers because the Prime badge boosts search rank, conversion and sales on these SKUs. 

The negative is that the minimum delivery speed across every size tier is 3-5 days. This is a calendar-day based metric, which includes Sundays and Holidays. Therefore, it may not be possible to always use discount services capable of meeting the delivery timeline, such as USPS Priority Mail, FedEx Home or UPS Ground. In some cases, the seller might still be forced to use expensive air shipping.

Delivery Speed Metrics

Amazon tracks this based on the % of Product Detail page views that promise same-, 1- or 2-day delivery to customers. 

This percentage will be calculated based on pageviews from customers across the entire contiguous United States, not just those in your defined regions for Same-, 1- or 2-day deliveries.

faster delivery expected

Previous Expectations

Amazon introduced the delivery speed metric as a percentage of product detail pageviews that promise customers same-, 1- or 2-day delivery. 

The calculation is based on calendar days, and includes Sundays and holidays.

New Expectations

The delivery speed metrics across all size tiers have increased. They will now be based on pageviews from customers all over the lower 48 states, in addition to those in your defined regions for same-, 1- and 2-day deliveries.

Amazon has said that it does not have targets for Same-Day Deliveries initially.

However, as Amazon focuses on same-day deliveries for its inhouse FBA logistics network, there might be revisions to this in the coming months.

Delivery Speed Expectations Increase Across Every SKU

delivery speed expectations
  • This is how delivery promises will be displayed to customers (assuming a cut-off time of 2PM, and that you deliver every order within 1 day after it ships). 
  • These metrics have always been the most crucial and challenging for sellers to meet. Sometimes, they’ve been unfairly penalized for them also. Let’s say you’re based in New York, and a customer in Connecticut is browsing your product detail page at 6 PM ET. Even though you may be capable of delivering the package to them the next day, Amazon will still show only a 2-day delivery promise. 


Achieving a high % of 1- and 2-day delivery pageviews nationwide is not easy, and relies largely on ensuring that your inventory is strategically distributed in a network of USA fulfillment centers so that customers from everywhere see fast shipping promises.

Trial Period

Sellers hoping to be a part of the SFP program must go through a trial period where they can prove to Amazon that they are capable of meeting the rigorous criteria of the program. 

During this trial period, when customers shop their products, they will not see the Prime badge on the listings. On successfully completing the trial period and meeting the SFP criteria, Amazon will enable the Prime badge for the listings.

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
A short pre-trial process, followed by a 90 day trial where 200 orders have to be shipped, while meting all SFP criteria.
A 90 day pre-qualification process, followed by a 30 day trial where 100 orders have to be shipped, while meeting all SFP criteria.
Positive for Some, Negative for Others

Previous Expectations

Before the trial:

Have a Professional seller account, and activate Premium Shipping. Fulfill 30 Premium orders in 1 month. 

During the trial: 

Fulfill 200 orders in 90 days. Do so while meeting all requirements of the SFP program. 

New Expectations

Products across all 3 of Amazon’s size tiers – Standard Sized, Oversized and Extra Large – must be made available in the contiguous U.S. on fast shipping.

Any product (regardless of size tier) that is configured with a Prime shipping template has a minimum delivery speed of 3-5 calendar days – sellers cannot edit this.

Time to Enrollment Shortens for Some Sellers, While Others May No Longer Be Eligible

Previously, the trial period was longer in length and order volumes – having to fulfill 200 orders in 90 days while meeting the program criteria. Now, if you’ve self-fulfilled 100 packages in the last 90 days (or under, say 60 days) – you can get on the shorter trial of 30 days.  The overall time to Seller Fulfilled Prime enrollment is potentially shorter (if a merchant can move past pre-qualification quickly).

However, when comparing 200 packages in 90 days to 100 deliveries in 30 days, sellers are expected to ship nearly 50% more orders per month – this can exclude sellers with small monthly volumes who were previously eligible to participate in the program. 

Performance Evaluation

Amazon periodically assesses how its SFP sellers are faring, and to check whether they are meeting the expectations set for them.

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
Tracked every 7 days, and every 30 days
Tracked every 7 days
No change

The evaluations that Amazon conducts on sellers continues to occur at the same cadence that it always has – sellers will not face anything new.

Amazon will begin tracking sellers against the new set of metrics beginning October 1, 2023. 

Resolving Disputes

Needless to say, order fulfillment is complex and mistakes can occur. While merchants face no penalties for mistakes that FBA makes, sellers on Amazon SFP face severe penalties for issues with orders. 

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
If a requirement is missed, Amazon will suspend SFP for you and require you to submit a Plan of Action.
If a requirement is missed 3 times, you lose SFP eligibility.
Positive (if your SFP Fulfillment Partner has responsive support)

Previous Expectations

The Plan of Action needs to explain why you slipped up, what specific steps you’re taking to fix the current situation and measures that will be put in place to ensure it does not repeat.

New Expectations

An email will be sent the first time a requirement is missed. The Prime badge will be “paused” the 2nd time you miss the same requirement. If you are sure the issue is fixed, you can restart the Prime badge. If you make it through four weeks without violating the same requirement after you restart the Prime badge, your account will be reset. If you do miss the same requirement the 3rd time, you will lose the Prime badge. If you go through the pre-qualification process, you can start an SFP trial again.

Amazon Gives Sellers More Chances, but the Road Back is Extremely Tough

Under the previous Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements, when Amazon found sellers missing a certain metric, it would suspend them from the program and require submission of a Plan of Action. This was harsh – a single mistake could lead to suspension of the Prime badge. This was exacerbated by the resolution process – it can take a long time for Amazon to get back, and if they deemed the Plan of Action not good enough, they could delay reinstatement on the program.

 Now, sellers have 3 strikes per program requirement. Additionally, this gives a chance to sellers to dig into why they missed a metric and work with their fulfillment partner to ensure it does not repeat again. Sellers that have an SFP fulfillment partner with responsive, reliable customer support should not face too much trouble in ironing out their errors and continuing their participation in the program. However, if the 3 strikes do occur, then it is a long, long way back – sellers must begin all over again – right from the pre-qualification process.

Free Returns

When a customer wishes to return a Return-eligible Prime item, the sellers are in most cases required to pay for the cost of the return shipping label, and to provide the customer a full refund. In a small number of cases, the customer might be required to bear the cost of the shipping label – in these cases, a refund is provided after deducting the price of the label.

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
Sellers are required to bear the cost of the return shipping labels in all cases, EXCEPT certain Buyer reason codes.
For any return eligible item under 50 lb, the Seller must provide free returns – irrespective of the buyer / seller reason code.
Negative

Previous Expectations

When the return had these Buyer codes, sellers were exempt from bearing the cost of the return label: 

  • Accidental order
  • Better price available
  • No longer needed or wanted
  • Performance or quality not adequate
  • Incompatible or not useful for intended purpose
  • Part not compatible with existing system
  • Excessive installation or did not install

New Expectations

Sellers must bear the cost of the return shipping label even in the cases of the above-mentioned buyer reason codes.

Return Costs Rise for Sellers – Even When the Onus is on the Buyer

Previously, in certain cases, sellers could provide refunds after deducting the cost of the shipping label. Now, even in cases where the onus may lie on the buyer’s side, the seller must bear the cost of the return shipping label. This is an additional expense that they must bear, which was not the case previously.

Program Fees

Old SFP Requirements
New SFP Requirements
Impact on Sellers
Does not exist
No Fee (a charge was originally planned by Amazon and subsequently withdrawn)
No Impact

Amazon originally announced that they would charge sellers 2% of the unit price for every item shipped via Seller Fulfilled Prime, or a minimum of $0.25. 

Amid growing scrutiny from regulators over anti-competitive practises, the company withdrew this fee for concerns over how sellers and officials would perceive such behavior. Amazon withdrew the fee a few days before September 26, 2023 when the Federal Trade Commission and 17 US states sued the company for anti-competitive behavior.

Amazon Resources

We hope you found our breakdown helpful and informative!

To read more about the old requirements that the program wanted sellers to meet, visit this page on Amazon Seller Central: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G202072550 

To read about the new requirements that Seller Fulfilled Prime will enforce starting October 1, 2023, visit this page on Seller Central:

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/GXCRLXHNJNPE2DHM

You can also read our guide to selling and winning on Amazon Seller fulfilled Prime to learn everything there is to know about SFP before you start the process in October 2023. 

Written By:

Jeremy Stewart

Jeremy Stewart

Jeremy Stewart leads customer success at Cahoot, helping merchants achieve high-performance logistics through smart technology and process optimization. With a background in both ecommerce operations and client services, Jeremy ensures that every merchant using Cahoot gets measurable results—whether they’re scaling from one warehouse to many or managing complex returns.

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Protect Your Amazon Listings from Search Suppression, Hijackers, and Stockouts

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Amazon is a competitive platform. You need to have a quality product, excellent listing content, and plenty of reviews to catch the attention of busy shoppers. You also need to have plenty of inventory in stock and be prepared to fulfill orders quickly.

Selling on Amazon also requires you to be extremely vigilant. Unfortunately, hijackers and fierce competitors abound. You must pay close attention to the details to keep your business running smoothly. One critical aspect to monitor is suppressed listings, which can significantly impact your sales and visibility. In this article, we’ll share why you need to monitor your Amazon listings for suppression and how to do it.

Understanding Amazon Listing Suppression

When an Amazon listing is suppressed, it is removed from Amazon’s search results, making it invisible to potential customers. This can happen for various reasons, including policy violations, poor product quality, or incorrect listing information. Understanding the causes and consequences of listing suppression is essential for sellers to take proactive measures to prevent and fix listing suppression. A suppressed Amazon listing can lead to a substantial loss in sales and visibility, which is why sellers must stay vigilant and ensure your listings comply with Amazon’s guidelines.

Causes and Prevention of Listing Suppression

Listing suppression can be caused by a range of factors, including missing product details, incorrect or misleading information, low-quality images, and policy violations. To prevent listing suppression, sellers must ensure that their product listings are accurate, complete, and compliant with Amazon’s policies and guidelines. Regularly reviewing and updating product listings, using high-quality images, and monitoring customer feedback can help prevent listing suppression. Additionally, sellers can use tools like Seller Central’s Inventory Tab and Amazon’s Search Suppressed Listings Report to identify and address potential issues before they lead to suppression. By staying proactive and attentive, you can correct suppressed listings before they impact your business.

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Search Visibility is Essential for Amazon Listings

Simply put, shoppers won’t see your listings in Amazon’s search results if they are search-suppressed. Since over 50% of product searches begin on Amazon, a suppressed listing is a real problem that can quickly hurt your bottom line.

Amazon suppresses listings from search for a variety of reasons, including failure to meet its image requirements, incorrect listing content, and titles that are too long. You can check to see if any of your listings are currently search suppressed on the Manage Inventory page in Seller Central. If you have suppressed or inactive listings, a hyperlink that says “Search Suppressed and Inactive Listings” will be displayed at the top of the page. Clicking that link will take you to the Fix Your Products page where you can learn more about the issues and find out how to resolve them.

Inactive Amazon listings are not available for purchase and will not appear to customers who are searching for your product. If your product goes out of stock and you don’t have a restocking process in place, the listing will become inactive. Changes such as the manufacturer discontinuing the product or you choosing to stop selling the product can also cause a listing to become inactive. Policy violations are another common reason that listings are inactive.

If your listing is inactive due to a change you’re aware of, it’s not a surprise that you’re not selling that particular product. However, policy violations can be a surprise, particularly if someone else made changes to your listing that caused a violation. Having a process in place to regularly check for search-suppressed and inactive listings can save you a lot of time and money.

Fixing Suppressed Listings

Fixing suppressed Amazon listings requires a thorough understanding of the reasons behind the suppression. Sellers can use the Suppressed Listings Report in Seller Central to identify the issues and take corrective action. This may involve updating product information, uploading new images, or addressing customer complaints. Sellers can also appeal the suppression by providing additional information or evidence to Amazon. By taking prompt action to correct the issues, sellers can restore their listings to Amazon’s search results and regain visibility for their products. Utilizing the tools available in the Amazon seller central dashboard can streamline this process and help you fix suppressed listings efficiently.

Staying in Stock

Amazon customers expect fast and free shipping. Failing to provide it can quickly lead to lost sales and a decline in your product’s organic search ranking on Amazon. It takes a lot of time and resources to build momentum for your product listing at launch, but it takes even more effort to rebuild that momentum for a product that goes out of stock.

Having a system in place that tells you what to restock and when can help prevent these issues. It’s also important to have backup systems in place if you rely on Amazon FBA to fulfill your orders. Delays in shipping and receiving can cause your product to go out of stock. Inventory management is a delicate balance and trends can change very quickly. Having a product go viral on social media is every seller’s dream, but if you don’t have the inventory available to fulfill those orders, your listing is going to suffer while traffic diverts to your top competitors. But you also don’t want to overstock and get stuck paying for aging or excess inventory! Working with a fulfillment solution such as cahoot can help you manage your inventory for Amazon and other channels so you can deliver the best experience to your customers.

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Look Out for Suspicious Activity

Hijackers take over existing Amazon listings, making changes to the listing or price and sometimes even selling a counterfeit version of a branded product. Being hijacked can cause you to lose the Buy Box, revenue, and your excellent seller reputation. After all, buyers who receive a sub-par version of your product or who experience shipping delays will leave product reviews and seller feedback reflecting their experiences.

Battling Amazon hijackers is tough, but regularly monitoring your listings for unauthorized changes can help you identify suspicious activity so you can start building a case with Amazon. Look for changes to your listing content, such as the title, images, and brand name. Look out for keyword stuffing and misleading images that can damage your high-quality listings. Changes to the number of offers available or Buy Box ownership may signal hijacking activity if you sell a private label product.

If you suspect hijacker activity on your listing, start by making a test purchase from the other seller so you can determine whether the product is counterfeit. Send a cease-and-desist letter if your intellectual property or trademark is being used without permission. Report counterfeit products and any trademark infringement or copyright violations to Amazon.

The Impact of Search Suppression on Your Business

Search suppression can have a significant impact on an Amazon seller’s business, leading to a loss of sales, revenue, and visibility. Suppressed listings can also damage a seller’s reputation and credibility, making it harder to attract new customers. Furthermore, suppressed listings can lead to idle inventory, which can take up valuable storage space and impact a seller’s Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score. By understanding the causes and consequences of search suppression, sellers can take proactive measures to prevent it and maintain a healthy online presence. Ensuring your listings are always visible in Amazon’s search results is crucial for sustaining and growing your business.

Aim for Five Stars

Both seller feedback and product reviews are ratings provided by customers via a five-star scale on Amazon. Doing your best to provide a five-star experience to every buyer will set you up for success with both ratings.

Maintaining a strong Amazon seller feedback rating helps protect your overall account health. Seller feedback is provided by buyers about their experience with you as a seller, including packaging and shipping. Ensure that you have consistent and reliable fulfillment processes. Amazon looks at your seller feedback score to evaluate how well you meet buyer expectations.

Amazon reviews impact your product’s performance in Amazon’s search results. They also build buyer trust. Strong customer reviews positively impact your ad performance and marketing efforts. Having recent and relevant reviews shows Amazon that buyers like your product, leading to better positioning on the platform. After all, Amazon wants buyers to buy products that meet their expectations. Great reviews along with strong seller feedback show Amazon that you are prepared to deliver the customer experience it expects.

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Protect Your Amazon Business

Growing and protecting your Amazon business requires careful attention, but there are tools to make it easier. Amazon doesn’t send alerts for search suppression and other changes to your listings, but eComEngine does. Our Amazon seller software is designed to make selling on Amazon simpler, from monitoring your listings to getting more reviews.

Written By:

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Becky Trowbridge, eComEngine

Becky Trowbridge is the Digital Marketing Manager at eComEngine. Her mission is to empower Amazon sellers with the information they need to be successful in a competitive market. When she’s not creating content, she enjoys spending time outdoors, trying new recipes, and reading.

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