In March of this year, Amazon announced a new FBA charging policy, in which the long-term storage fee will be assessed from September 15th, with the assessment date changed from once every six months to once a month.
This means that in addition to facing increased costs and tariffs, sellers also have to bear the increase in storage fees, which is equivalent to increasing the burden on sellers in disguise. How can sellers save money on the rising Amazon FBA storage fees?
Long-term storage fee detailed charge sign
In order to ease the pressure on Amazon's warehouses, Amazon has begun to increase long-term storage fees every month this year.
in:
365 days > The goods are stored in Amazon warehouses for > 181 days, and the charge is $3.45 per cubic inch
If the goods are stored in Amazon warehouses for more than 365 days, the charge is $6.90 per cubic inch
Amazon’s move is forcing sellers to clear their inventory quickly. It is no longer asking you to consider it for another half a year, but it is cutting into you every month to prevent you from clearing your inventory!
Start from the source
The most important thing about FBA is naturally the goods, and the first thing to do is to select the goods.
1. Consider storage fees when selecting products
Compared with large and heavy products, small and light products have absolute advantages in terms of freight costs, delivery time, storage costs, etc., so make a good trade-off when selecting products and match different goods in an orderly manner.
2. Reasonable stocking
When stocking up, choose an appropriate quantity based on your daily sales volume, taking into account factors such as stocking cycle, delivery time, sales speed, etc. Do not over-stock and try to minimize out-of-stock situations.
Start with sales
The most direct way to save Amazon FBA storage fees is to increase product sales as much as possible. If sales are high, not only can you save long-term storage fees, but you can also have extra funds for turnover.
1. Product innovation
Infringement and homogeneity are serious now, and sellers are working hard on product selection and product innovation. The product listing must be written in a refined and perfect manner, and all preparations must be done well to achieve a good result.
2. Sellers with funds can operate overseas warehouses
If you are a seller with large sales volume, it is recommended to set up an overseas warehouse. Large quantities of goods can be placed in the overseas warehouse and replenished to the FBA warehouse immediately based on sales volume. This can control the problem of high long-term storage fees of FBA and avoid the subsequent backlog of inventory when there is a problem with the listing.
3. Sellers promote sales outside the site
Although the effect of off-site promotions is not so immediate, facing the monthly storage fees, sellers need to find ways to clear their inventory as soon as possible. Long-term off-site promotions can still help sellers clear out some of their inventory.
For Amazon sellers, FBA has irreplaceable advantages, such as fast delivery and less after-sales service, so choosing FBA is also a necessary operational means. Now that the number of sellers on the platform is constantly increasing, and the FBA storage centers are occupied by some long-stagnant products, a lot of resources are indeed wasted. Therefore, Amazon must influence the sellers by adjusting the fees.
In other words, this is also a plan officially adopted by Amazon to promote sellers. There are many ways to save Amazon FBA storage fees, but it is always right to increase revenue and reduce costs. I hope that all sellers can find a method that suits them.
So, what to do if a customer requests a return for an FBA order on Amazon? Are there any return fees?
General Returns Process
1. The buyer submits a "return request";
2. The seller can check the return application and the reason for return in "Order" - "Manage Returns" on the seller platform;
3. The seller processes the return application in "Orders" - "Manage Returns" on the seller platform according to the "Amazon Product Return Policy";
4. If the application is closed, Amazon will send an email notification to the buyer, which includes the reason why the seller closed the application;
5. If the return request is approved, the system will send the seller's return address to the buyer via email, and the seller will wait for the buyer to return the goods;
6. After the seller receives the return, he/she can refund the order on the "Manage Returns" or "Manage Orders" page.
If the buyer wants to return an FBA order, how should the order be handled?
1. The buyer has not received the goods yet
● If your goods are not officially shipped by the freight forwarder, intercept them if possible and make a full refund to the buyer.
● If the goods have already been sent and cannot be intercepted, it is recommended that you negotiate with the buyer and tell him that the goods have now been sent. After the buyer receives the goods, he can decide whether to take the goods or not based on whether he likes them.
● If the buyer still disagrees and wants to deal with it now, you can negotiate with the buyer based on your product cost to only refund part of the money, and the goods will be given to the buyer for free, so as to reduce losses.
● If the buyer still disagrees, it is recommended to refund the full amount if the value of the goods is not high, and the goods will be sent directly to the buyer, asking him to leave a review. If the value of the goods is high, about one or two hundred US dollars, it is recommended to follow the normal procedure and let the buyer refuse to accept the goods. Then the shipping cost will be borne by the logistics company, or you can ask the seller to send it to your other local warehouse.
2. The buyer has received the goods
For return issues caused by FBA orders, the goods will be returned to the FBA warehouse and FBA will handle it. It is recommended that the seller contact FBA to have them take the goods back to the warehouse, and then process the refund after the buyer returns the goods.
If the returned goods are not damaged, you can contact Amazon to relabel them and sell them again. If they are damaged, Amazon will prompt you that the product can no longer be sold. You can ask Amazon to destroy them, or ask a third-party overseas warehouse company to ship them back to China, or ask a third-party overseas warehouse company that can provide repair and return services to help handle it.
