Book sales are in a holding pattern, along with the rest of the stagnant economy these days. So, like other booksellers, I’m looking to expand into other categories, such as toys. And, as luck would have it, I just received an e-mail from Amazon’s seller support department, with the subject line “Your Amazon.com Toys & Games Selling Account.” (Good news! I didn’t even know I HAD a toys account!)
There are so many qualifications, it makes me feel I’ll get left out somehow — although Fulfillment by Amazon users get the benefit of the doubt, it seems. Here’s a related message board thread, and here’s the whole message:
Hello from Amazon Services,
To maintain buyer confidence in Amazon this holiday season, we are implementing Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store.
Effective September 20, 2010, we will stop accepting new non-FBA sellers in Toys & Games.* Effective November 15, 2010, only those sellers who meet the following performance criteria will be eligible to sell in Toys & Games from November 15, 2010 through the first week in January 2011:
- Seller’s first sale on Amazon.com must be prior to 09/20/2010 (sale does not need to be Toy-specific).
- Seller must have processed and shipped at least 25 orders (do not need to be Toy-specific) during the 60 consecutive days preceding 11/1/2010.
- No greater than 1% short term order defect rate as of 11/1/2010,
- No greater than 2.5% pre-fulfillment cancel rate for the trailing 30-days preceding 11/1/2010.
- No greater than 5% late shipment rate for the trailing 30-days preceding 11/1/2010.
*Orders fulfilled by Amazon will not be subject to the holiday season restrictions provided your account is in good standing.
You can find your Customer Metrics in the Reports section of your seller account. If your performance does not meet the above criteria, we encourage you to take corrective action.
We will provide final notification about your eligibility to sell in the Toys & Games store by the middle of November 2010.
Beginning November 15, 2010, we will monitor the performance and listings of sellers who are approved to sell in Toys & Games during the holiday season. Amazon Services reserves the right to cancel listings, suspend accounts, and prohibit the sale of specific products to maintain a marketplace that is safe for buyers.
Here are some steps you can take to remain eligible to sell in Toys & Games throughout the holiday season:
- Monitor your Customer Metrics and take corrective action if necessary.
- Utilize Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to ship products to your customers.
- Check your orders frequently in the Manage Orders section of your account
- Minimize order cancellations; don’t show more stock for sale than you have available to ship.
- Ship orders and confirm shipment in a timely manner.
- If you work with outside drop-shippers, solidify their SLA commitments for providing prompt shipping confirmation.
For answers to common questions, please see the FAQ below. Thank you for selling at Amazon.com.
Regards,
Amazon ServicesFrequently Asked Questions:
- Why does Amazon implement Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store?
Buyers have high expectations for purchases made during the holidays. We want to ensure that our sellers in Toys & Games provide a high-quality customer experience.- When will all sellers be able to list in the Toys & Games store again?
All sellers will be able to list in Toys & Games during the first week in January 2011. We will post an announcement in your seller account when the holiday season restrictions have been lifted.- How will I know if I’m approved to sell in the Toys & Games store during the holiday season?
Amazon will notify you by e-mail of your eligibility by mid-November. Note that as of September 20, 2010, no new sellers will be eligible to sell in the Toys & Games store until the holiday restrictions have been lifted.- How do the Holiday Selling Guidelines affect me if I use FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)?
Orders that are fulfilled by Amazon will not be subject to the holiday season restrictions provided your selling account is in good standing.- What is the “order defect rate” (ODR)?
An order has a “defect” if it incurs a negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or a service credit card chargeback. Your order defect rate is defined as the number of orders with a defect divided by the number of orders in the time period of interest. Order defect rate is the key measure of your ability to provide a good customer experience.- What is the “pre-fulfillment cancel rate”?
Pre-fulfillment cancel rate is the number of orders cancelled by the seller prior to shipment confirmation divided by the number of orders in the time period of interest. When computing this metric, we consider all order cancellations initiated by the seller for any reason.- What is the “late shipment rate”?
A late order is one whose shipment confirmation is overdue by 3 or more days. The late shipment rate is the number of late orders divided by the number of orders during the period of interest. It is important to confirm the shipment of your orders by the expected ship date so that customers can see the status of their shipped orders online. Orders that are confirmed late may lead to increased customer contacts and negatively impact the customers’ experience.
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3 Comments
They’ve been doing this for several years, and it doesn’t look like any of the qualifications have changed. I get these emails each year and am approved to sell in the toy category — although I don’t sell toys. Since I’m a longtime seller, I’ve been automatically approved for this category — whether I want to be or not — each time they announce this.
I’m glad to see a post here.
Gip
I have a feeling this is in reaction to what happened in 2009 holiday season with Zou Zou Pets toys. If you are not aware they are these stupid little fuzzy hamsters that run on batteries and sell for about $7 full retail. They were scarce and the “in toy” for 2009. People were on line at stores and stampeding to get some for their kids.
Amazon Marketplace sellers suddenly popped up selling these for multiple times the full retail value.
I recall a discussion thread on an Amazon chat board calling for Amazon to do something about the price fixing. This was from a customer not a seller.
In any event, it seems to me this new Amazon policy will keep out newbie sellers who seek to rip people off such as with fad toys and high prices, and it hopefully will increase customer confidence in the Marketplace sellers too if only experienced, reliable Marketplace sellers sell toys in the holiday season.
This is not ment to keep newbie sellers from selling things and ripping people off. It is to make sure that only those high volume sellers that make amazon the most money can sell during the holiday season. One of the qualifications is that you sell 25 items between November 1 and November 25. Only high invetory sellers can do this. Those high invetory sellers are also part of Amazon’s prime seller club and pay a yearly fee. Also you dont have to have the qualifications if you are Fulfilled by amazon because you are paying a huge fee to have your things stored by them and they make mega money on it. This is just a scam to make every day sellers unable to sell during the holiday season. The idea that making the rest of us unable to sell during the holidays makes the products more better quality is a lie. Things like games and toys usually only sell real well during the holiday season. I sell well but am not a huge seller. The one time that I sell real well is during the holiday season and ever since these scam rules were put up the one time of the year when I can actually make money I cant. They just want the rest of us to pay for fulfilled by amazon or pay for there expensive prime program and be high invetory sellers