Amazon Seller News: Sellers Charged Extra For Automated Switch to Fulfillment By Merchant
In recent weeks, we have seen a number of Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) sellers who have been affected by a rare issue where they are accidentally converted to Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), leading to additional fees and other charges. In this blog, we walk sellers through what happened and how we helped our client resolve this issue.
Sellers Accidentally Converted from FBA to FBM
Recently, the team at Amazon Sellers Lawyer was contacted by a client who had been affected by a rare issue. Some of their FBA products had been converted to FBM without their knowing and had also been hidden on their seller central dashboard. This led to our client being charged extra fees for using FBM despite Amazon being the fulfiller for these products.
This kind of issue likely arose from an automated system error which used the seller’s existing inventory to create these faulty FBM listings. Because of the extra fees charged as a result of these products being categorized as FBM, our client was eligible for reimbursement from Amazon.
We argued for reimbursement by showing that our seller did not have access to view the listings that were wrongly converted to FBM, meaning they had know way to recognize the systematic error that had been made on Amazon’s part. Using that, along with documentation of the additionally charged fees, we argued that our seller should be reimbursed for the additional fees that Amazon charged them.
Removal Order Reimbursements on eBay and Etsy
These types of system errors are not exclusive to Amazon by any means. We have recently been contacted by clients on other e-commerce platforms like Etsy and eBay who have had their inventory wrongly destroyed or removed, leading to incorrect charging of disposal fees. Like in the above case, automated systems likely marked products for removal, meaning that our clients’ inventory was charged for destruction of their inventory.
Winning reimbursement for these cases can be vital for sellers who have lost their products and then been charged for destroying them. The Amazon Sellers Lawyer team has done this through extensive documentation of the error that occurred on the part of the e-commerce platform.
Contact Amazon Sellers Lawyer Today!
The team at Amazon Sellers Lawyer is always looking for ways that we can help our clients recover money on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms. With over a decade of experience focused on helping sellers, we know the strategies that help lead to reimbursement on these platforms. If you are currently struggling with lost inventory, suspensions, or withheld funds, give us a call today. You can find us online at our form linked here, or call us at 212-256-1109.
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About the Author
CJ Rosenbaum, Esq.
CJ Rosenbaum is the founding partner of Amazon Sellers Lawyer. He’s been practicing law since 1995, and since 2016 his firm has focused exclusively on helping Amazon sellers deal with issues like suspensions, intellectual property disputes, and withheld funds.
CJ has written six books on Amazon seller legal issues including the Amazon Sellers’ Guide to Copyright Law. He has spoken at major industry events like the Prosper Show, Global Sources Summit, Retail Global. CJ also works with the Amazon Sellers Lawyer team to provide free content for Amazon sellers. This is available through their online blog and YouTube channel, frequently covering major Amazon updates and important topics relevant to the seller space.
Through BrandProtectionAmazon.com, the firm also supports brands in protecting their products. This gives the team the unique opportunity to learn from case wins on both sides of the fence, strengthening protection for both the sellers and brands that Rosenbaum & Segall P.C. represents.
Amazon repeatedly rejecting your Plan of Action? Amazon Sellers Lawyer handles suspension appeals and account reinstatement cases – including arbitration against Amazon when they’re withholding seller money. Contact us to discuss your situation and figure out the best path forward.