Amazon Has CHANGED! 6 Ways Amazon Changed this Year (and the future of selling on Amazon)

Discover the 6 ways that Amazon changed this year that you NEED to know about it.
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This year, Amazon changed and updated their policies. Some of the policy changes were good for sellers… but some weren’t so good - so it’s crucial you know what they are.

Change #1: Amazon no longer offer a free Pro Seller Account trial

In the past, Amazon offer a free 30-day trial for a Pro Seller Account (which usually costs $39.99 a month). This was fantastic for new sellers on a limited budget. However, this year Amazon quietly got rid of this. You now need to pay for a monthly membership upfront.

If you are on a limited budget, you can still create a free account by opening an Individual Seller account. However, we don’t recommend that you do this, because to be eligible for the Amazon Buy Box, you need to have a Professional account. And as the Buy Box accounts for about 80% of all sales on Amazon, it’s crucial that every seller be eligible for the Buy Box.

Change #2: Amazon has opened in Australia!

After a long wait, Amazon have finally opened in Australia (Amazon.com.au). At the time of filming this video, it is invitation only. That means that unless Amazon has invited you to sell on the site, you cannot become a seller yet. However, they are planning on opening it up for new sellers ASAP.

Amazon also plan to open an FBA warehouse in Australia, although at the time of filming this video it had not been opened yet. The first Australia FBA warehouse will be in Melbourne.

A common question we get asked here at Wholesale Ted is whether people based in the UK should sell on Amazon.co.uk rather than Amazon.com etc. The answer to this is that Amazon.com is and always will be the biggest marketplace, so if you want to make the most money you need to sell on there: but if you find the idea of importing to the USA to be intimidating and it’s stopping you from getting started, begin by selling locally.

Change #3: Amazon didn’t restrict new sellers over Christmas

Last year, Amazon restricted new FBA sellers over Christmas time. They could not send in any packages to an Amazon FBA warehouse between October 10-December 19th, and they did not give any warning in-advance. They did this to manage inventory over the Christmas period.

This year, they did not choose to restrict new sellers. Instead, they did something else to manage inventory over Christmas.

Change #4: Amazon increased 4th quarter storage fees AGAIN

To help manage inventory over the 4th quarter when the Amazon FBA warehouses get overloaded, Amazon chose to once again increase storage fees. On the flipside they reduce fees per sale to encourage you to make as many sales as you can.

Change #5: Automatic refunds for 3rd party sellers

In the past, Amazon allowed 3rd party sellers to require buyers contact them first before getting a refund. It meant that oftentimes, 3rd party sellers could provide customer support to the customer, and save the sale.

Now, Amazon has implemented a new policy that means customers from 3rd party sellers have the exact same refund policy as if they were buying straight from an Amazon FBA seller. This means they can print off a return address and get a refund immediately. This has increased the number of refunds 3rd party sellers are getting.

To help minimize refunds, add in an email marketing campaign that is sent out after the sale encouraging buyers to contact you if they are having any problems.

Change #6: No more price refunds

In the past, Amazon allowed customers to claim a refund on the difference in price if it had changed within 30 days. Amazon then changed it so that customers had 7 days to claim the refund. Now, they have removed it altogether. This is great news for sellers!

3 Ways we expect Amazon to change in the future:

* We expect Amazon to favour FBA sellers more and more. This is because Amazon is very good at fulfilling orders which keeps customers happy. If you’re a 3rd party seller, make sure you’ve got your fulfillment process up to scratch.

* We expect Amazon to keep making it easier for customers to get refunds, even if it costs sellers money. Be sure to sell items that have decent profit margins (at least 30%) to allow for any increased costs of selling.

* We expect Amazon to keep making it harder to get started selling on the site. That is why we have always recommended and always will that if you want to open an Amazon store…

… That you do so ASAP. The sooner you do it, the easier it will be!

Questions? Please ask them in the comments section. We’ll try to answer as many as we can!