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Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

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Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#81

Post by johnbrodie »

fenwick67 wrote: post #6

> Additionally, Amazon said that it's introducing "returnless refunds," a feature that the company said is "highly requested by sellers." The change enables sellers to offer a refund without taking back an item that may be expensive to ship and hard to resell. Wow, I can literally just say "I don't like it", and there's a chance they'll literally just give me my money back, but let me keep it?

Wayfair has done this. Sent them pictures of a (fairly pricey) door handle/deadbolt set that had scratches on it. They said to just keep it and do whatever with it, they'll mail out another one. Super convenient, and now the door from my garage has a nice handleset with just a few small scratches.

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#82

Post by Karunamon »

Leader2light wrote: post #36

eBay needs to reduce seller costs and they will take over with buying it now prices. Also no tax.

eBay is already tremendously hostile to sellers before the fees. Can't leave feedback for buyers, a refund policy via PayPal that seems tailor made to allow scam buyers to get free stuff, and so forth.

Basically it seems like the only thing a buyer can be sanctioned for is simple non-payment.

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#83

Post by richthegeek »

cfn wrote: post #73
richthegeek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I really am amazed how few consumer protections you seem to have! In the UK we're protected on two levels: firstly the "Distance Selling Regulation" means we have the right to cancel many contracts/purchases made not-in-person within 14 days of delivery. And secondly, if a good is faulty, not as described, or unfit for purpose then we have a right to a refund under those terms also. Probably because of these alr…

Be that as it may, I had a similar experience with an independent seller at Amazon UK. I bought a pan that arrived with a small defect and they told me I would have to pay the postage back (25 Euros on a £30 or £40 pan - I was buying from abroad). I also ended up keeping the pan and now avoid independent sellers as much as possible.

Interesting - I certainly would have raised that to support!

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#84

Post by dgfgfdagasdfgfa »

qznc wrote: post #42
mattnewton wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's a fair viewpoint, it's not realistic for most businesses to create international commerce powerhouses to sell their bespoke goods. Complaining is the only realistic leverage they have in this game. When you get as big as Amazon it's reasonable to expect some concessions to the people who use your platform, just like if you get as big as GM your workers will want to unionize.

So they should create an "Amazon Sellers Association" or something like that?

Well, they can go to jet.com instead. It's not like Amazon is without competition.

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#85

Post by jorvi »

cfn wrote: post #73
richthegeek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I really am amazed how few consumer protections you seem to have! In the UK we're protected on two levels: firstly the "Distance Selling Regulation" means we have the right to cancel many contracts/purchases made not-in-person within 14 days of delivery. And secondly, if a good is faulty, not as described, or unfit for purpose then we have a right to a refund under those terms also. Probably because of these alr…

Be that as it may, I had a similar experience with an independent seller at Amazon UK. I bought a pan that arrived with a small defect and they told me I would have to pay the postage back (25 Euros on a £30 or £40 pan - I was buying from abroad). I also ended up keeping the pan and now avoid independent sellers as much as possible.

Why not do a chargeback on your creditcard (or raise a PayPal claim)? The law is very clear, if an item is faulty or not as described the seller is on the hook for all costs. This includes return shipping and/or sending you a replacement.

A lot of sellers will try to strong-arm you but if you just do the chargeback/claim they have no option but to eat the loss. Creditcard companies and PayPal thankfully nearly always back buyers, tilting the power balance back to the consumers' side :)

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#86

Post by Sleeep »

sxates wrote: post #60

Anecdotal experience buying on Amazon recently: Bought a new induction cooking pan. A nice one at $90. Didn't really pay much attention to who was selling it, just bought it like I do everything else from Amazon. It took about two weeks to arrive because it was from an independent seller, and was not 'Prime eligible'. When it arrived, I took it out of the box and was immediately disappointed. It was really heavy, and…

From what I hear from Amazon sellers if a buyer contacts Amazon directly in this case Amazon will (usually?) refund the buyer no matter what the seller's return policy is.

Maybe the buyer has to have "Prime" though?

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#87

Post by s73ver »

falcolas wrote: post #17

Yes, this is very consumer friendly on the surface. But remember that Amazon operates is retail arm with little or no profit margin, even with the benefits of scale keeping their costs low. Small businesses don't have the same benefits of scale, and will be forced to close down when their revenue drops below their costs as a result of too many returns. And that is ultimately bad for consumers.

I'd say the wave of scammers operating on Amazon is worse for consumers.

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#88

Post by joshgachnang »

Shank wrote: post #16
fenwick67 wrote: post #6

> Additionally, Amazon said that it's introducing "returnless refunds," a feature that the company said is "highly requested by sellers." The change enables sellers to offer a refund without taking back an item that may be expensive to ship and hard to resell. Wow, I can literally just say "I don't like it", and there's a chance they'll literally just give me my money back, but let me keep it?

Amazon customer support has told me to discard items that've been defective, rather than ship them back, on multiple occasions. There's probably an internal policy about how many of these can be performed by a customer, but it's extremely convenient when they let you.

I had a $180 car battery that was supposed to fit according to their site but didn't. They refunded me and said they couldn't have me ship it back (I'm assuming because it's a hazardous material), so a friend wound up with a free battery. That was pretty surprising to me.

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#89

Post by Sleeep »

nonamechicken wrote: post #56
Shank wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon customer support has told me to discard items that've been defective, rather than ship them back, on multiple occasions. There's probably an internal policy about how many of these can be performed by a customer, but it's extremely convenient when they let you.

On the other hand, recently I received a different color item than what I ordered. Since I didn't want to go through the hassle of returning, I asked them to refund the price difference. They refused to do that and asked me to return. The refund would have been cheaper than returning and shipping a new one.

The two colors were different prices?

Re: Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers say

#90

Post by xiaoma »

javajosh wrote: post #20

It is outrageous, but it's not new. About 2 years ago I sold an item through the marketplace, shipped through Amazon, and at +30 days the buyer requested to return (my return policy stated no returns after 30 days). I ignored him, and then he filed a "Did not receive item" complaint with Amazon. They refunded him $250 and billed me $250. I fought it, using email, multiple phone calls (a trial in and of itself), showi…

>"About 2 years ago I sold an item through the marketplace, shipped through Amazon, and at 30 days the buyer requested to return. I ignored him, and then... (blah blah blah) I haven't used Amazon to buy or sell anything since"

So it sounds like buying on Amazon is great way to avoid merchants who ignore support requests. Thanks for the info.

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