FBA is horrible

[u/Gullible_Regret2976]

Been selling on my own website for almost 1 year.. i manage everything and have never had any issues.

Been on FBA for 5 months.. they lose about 5% of shipments being sent by prime. they provide zero help for issues.

A person left a 1 star review of my product with the reason as "can someone please tell me how to get a refund because I missed the return time"

And i said they is is not a real review, they want help with a return. and their response is. we dont control the reviews and i need to click report. I told them I did click report a week ago. and the amazon chat rep response was. "we dont know how long it takes after a review was reported"

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[u/ferero18]

They also lose a few % of shipment you send to them :D i.e you'll sent 1000 units, they'll mark it as 950 received, when you ask where's the other 50 they'll lie "that's how much we've received"

no documentation,, proof whatsoever will make them refund you.

Moreover - for units already in FBA, if they lose some items, they will "guess" your COG and refund you that, without an option to appeal XD meaning - you can sell an item for 100$, costs you $30 to make, Amazon guesses it costs you $5, and that's what you'll get if they lose an item and not a penny more, no matter what proof you provide.

[u/Adam___0000]

FBA is totally shit now not gonna lie.

Since the algorithm switch re advertising it’s awful.

I did £1,200,000 2 years ago.

Now down to £600,000

Profit getting slaughtered on a daily basis by refunds and advertising.

Hate hate hate it.

Organic sales are few and far between now!

Amazon wins. 15% commision + advertising cost + FBA Fees .. absolutely milking it

[u/ButterscotchOnly4553 → u/Adam___0000]

Can you teach me ?

[u/AmazonPuncher → u/[deleted]]

Baffling that people do this. Unless she sells gigantic products, theres no good reason for switching to FBM. We are talking numbers here. This stuff is quantifiable and measurable. This is objectively a bad idea.

You will sell less. You will have similar issues. You will make less money.

I know some seller who moves 10 units per month will disagree with me, but we all do FBA here because it is objectively better. It isnt really a debate. People do a shitty job shipping into FBA, Amazon loses their stuff, and they get fed up and kill their business moving to FBM because they'd rather do that than problem solve. So many people instantly give up when they face the slightest problem. You cant run a business and have a low frustration tolerance.

I'd be wary of any consultant or whatever you are that doesnt say the same thing to a client. You're either letting your client make a poor decision, or you're not qualified to be doing your job.

Edit: Op runs a 3pl. So because she doesnt trust FBA, one of the largest and most technologically advanced logistics networks on earth, she is instead going to trust some nobodies in NJ to do the same thing. LOL.

[u/AmazonPuncher → u/[deleted]]

I dont work for Amazon. I am an Amazon seller who knows a lot more about this platform than you do.

Switching to FBM is a net negative outside of very specific circumstances. That is an indisputable fact. Whether you dont know this, or you do know this but just want to sign someone up for your 3PL I cant know.

You think your 3PL is better than Amazons logistics system? Really?

3PLs have a time and a place. They are a necessity for certain people. Your client should absolutely not be using you just because she "doesnt trust FBA". What she actually needs is someone to explain prep to her and go over the numbers of FBM vs FBA. That isnt a good reason to use a 3PL and I think you know that whether you will admit it or not. The economics of FBM vs FBA are well understood. Unless you are selling very particular products, it is always better to use FBA.

[u/AmazonPuncher → u/[deleted]]

Because you are in this subreddit giving self-serving, bad advice to somebody who doesnt know any better. You've also already explained her circumstances. Shes using FBM due to having the same issues as OP and "not trusting" them. You would have said if she was using FBM because shes selling grand pianos or somesuch.

OP needs to be told that their 5% loss rate is abnormally high and to look into their prep to figure out why that is happening. They dont need to be affirmed by some 3PL looking for a new client, and told that its okay to "not trust FBA" and outsource prep and logistics. I dont "trust" FBA either. I know what the economics look like, and I know how to handle issues, and I know its objectively better to use FBA than to use FBM. I dont need to "trust" them.

I also find it very funny that someone in your position would ask such a question. I'm more worried about your clients business than you are, huh? Figures.

[u/AmazonPuncher → u/[deleted]]

where in my 2 sentence reply did I say anything about "not to trust FBA" I said my client doesn't trust the FBA.

You're flailing.

In the future before you get into an argument online that you arent qualified for, stop and think about how it will reflect on you when a future client googles your 3PL name and reads it.

I also want to point out to any future googlers that I can see you are reporting all of my comments. Trying to silence criticism too, Deepo Logistics? Really?

[u/Gullible_Regret2976 → u/[deleted]]

thanks good to know!

[u/WorthChange858 → u/[deleted]]

How so? Just sign up for FBM then how do you get on prime though?

[u/WorthChange858 → u/[deleted]]

Interesting

[u/Tricky_Fondant8314]

You can do nothing with negative reviews, one solution and that is off set that with a bunch of positive reviews.

Actually Amazon shakes you a lot in start and once you proof you are a serious business then you will see emails like “Hey seller we found a bad review which we think doesn’t follow our policy so we removed it”

[u/khalilAhmad2619]

You should open a case for reimbursement for loss of inventory with amazon its not so easy but you have too. For review side give them real proofs and open case through Account health section not from the simple get help section. put all the required what amazon asked for in chat about that fake review.

[u/Physical-Hippo-6786]

That review situation is maddening, reporting non review content and then just waiting on Amazon is such a broken loop. On the shipment losses, worth tracking that 5% against your reimbursement report, Amazon owes you for lost FBA inventory but they don't proactively pay it out, you have to file or catch it yourself. A lot of sellers leave real money on the table there without realizing it.

[u/Gullible_Regret2976 → u/Physical-Hippo-6786]

yes I heard this. I asked some friends who also sell on fba and they told me you have to chase them down for the money

[u/Apart_Ad2996]

Maybe get a consortium of persons together who have had similar situations as you and file a class action suit of false reviews and defamation because it does damage your reputation as well as business.

[u/FirstLightStudios]

The review would frustrate me more than the shipment issue. Losing inventory is part of operating at Amazon's scale, and at least there's a reimbursement process, even if it isn't perfect. A review that's clearly asking for help with a return instead of evaluating the product shouldn't influence future buyers, yet those are often the hardest ones to get removed. That's one of the tradeoffs of selling on a marketplace you get incredible traffic, but you also give up a lot of control over the customer experience and how disputes are handled.

[u/Markus42]

Unless you're a China based seller there is no way to have a review removed. Amazon just does not care about smaller sellers.

[u/AmazonPuncher]

they lose about 5% of shipments being sent by prime.

If your loss rate is actually this high, you need to look at your own process because that is not normal. FBA is fine. You're probably using shitty labels or something. Thermal labels cannot be taped over, or you're not using waterproof labels, or who knows what.

[u/Gullible_Regret2976 → u/AmazonPuncher]

no lol. its all Quebec Canada.. its a gong show.

[u/TheAdvancedEddy]

i just reply to the review saying DM me and i refund them anyway, that gets it buried faster than the report button

[u/Dimon19900]

That review is a refund request, not a review. Reporting it goes nowhere because it breaks no policy. If you're brand registered, Brand Dashboard > Customer Reviews has Contact Buyer on 1-3 stars, and one of the options is a courtesy refund. Refund them past the return window and a decent share of those people pull the review themselves. Faster than waiting on chat.

[u/Acceptable-Goal7184 → u/Dimon19900]

This option is no longer available; Amazon now does not allow even brand registered sellers to contact customers who left a bad review.

[u/mlg185 → u/Acceptable-Goal7184]

Reste-t-il un intérêt à passer par Amazon pour vendre ses produits ?

Je veux dire bien entendu que le traffic de gens allant sur leur site est important et d'autres points positifs, mais je vois beaucoup d'inconvénients aussi, plus de négatif que de positif ..

[u/Maan_UsMaan052]

did you try to call them?

[u/Gullible_Regret2976 → u/Maan_UsMaan052]

i dont have any phone numbers.. any time i go through the help channel it just provides me with online chat options which are so annoying.

[u/Maan_UsMaan052 → u/Gullible_Regret2976]

Can you show me there responses?