Customer returns are never ideal. From profit-loss to time and customer reviews, finding a beneficial way to deal with returns can be daunting. That’s where the Amazon FBA Grade and Resell programme comes in. There have been a couple of updates to the programme recently, so let’s find out all about it and how it can help you.
What is the Amazon FBA Grade & Resell programme?
The FBA Grade and Resell programme is designed to help sellers deal with customer returns in the most cost effective way. Should you receive an unfulfillable customer return, you’re able to relist and sell your product as ‘Used’, instead of having to remove them from your inventory and lose money. Not only is it beneficial to sellers, it means customers can get some great deals on products they love.
When Amazon receives the return, they will evaluate the product’s condition and automatically create a used listing on your behalf. The item will be graded under one of four used categories – Like New, Very Good, Good or Acceptable – which you can then set the price for and manage going forward. If your item is graded as unsellable, it will sit in your unfulfillable inventory to be liquidated, donated or removed, depending on what is most efficient for you. The grading and reselling process can take up to three weeks, sometimes longer during busy holiday periods.
One of the best parts is, currently Amazon are waiving the processing fees for this programme until further notice. They have advised should there be any change, they’ll give sellers 60 days notice before it’s implemented.
What are the latest updates to the programme?
Category expansion
The grade and resell programme is only available in certain product categories. Amazon have recently expanded into five more categories due to their popularity.
- Watches
- Jewellery
- Luggage
- Shoes
- Apparel
Automatic out-of-stock SKU removal
Now when items go out of stock, they’ll automatically be removed from the inventory management view. The aim is to help sellers manage their stock more efficiently, decluttering their inventory so sellers can focus on their active listings. This saves them time and improves their operational efficiency.
New ASIN inclusion feature
This is a new opt-in feature within the programme. Whilst previously the grade and resell programme had an ‘opt-out’ approach, meaning sellers enrolled their entire catalogue and then chose specific products to exclude, it now works the other way around. Sellers can now hand-pick up to 2000 ASINs to ‘opt-in’ to the programme. This makes it easier for sellers to have control over their inventory, and it’s great if you want to trial the programme with a couple of products to start with.
Those are the latest updates, and you can find out more about Amazon’s FBA Grade and Resell programme here, including the terms and conditions. The main thing to note is it’s only available to FBA sellers, and you can enrol in the programme through Seller Central.
For more news and updates from Amazon, check out our blog.