We’re hearing rumours that Amazon has stopped taking on new sellers into the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) programme until the end of the year. Have you heard anything?
Firstly, there is this article on helium called Amazon Closes Its Doors to New FBA Sellers. It says: “New sellers who have not yet sent in their first shipment to Amazon will not be able to do so until January 2017.”
And one Amazon seller has reported that his new FBA shipments to eBay.com were not accepted. He shared this screengrab (sorry for the quality):
He was a new Amazon.com seller based in the UK and the story also refers to .com so it could be that this is only impacting sellers on Amazon on the US site. We haven’t received any Amazon.co.uk examples.
The most likely reason for not taking on new sellers with new stock is a lack of capacity at their fulfilment centres. Amazon’s scale and capacity is formidable but it’s not limitless and existing sellers will have been filling the shelves in anticipation of the peak selling season.
This will be a bitter blow for anyone who has been planning to get up and running on Amazon.com FBA and likely already made significant investments of time and resources. However, the silver lining comes for existing sellers who won’t be gaining new competition for the next few months.
Let us know if you hear more.
8 Responses
Comes as no surprise. Amazon in Dunfermline seem very stretched judging by the lorry chaos outside some days. Well remember not all F has to be BA. We have plenty of capacity to accommodate sellers wanting to be trading for Christmas and do hold our customers in higher esteem than some market places seem to. Rant and plug over
I’ve had two invites to the Small and Light program in the last 2 days.
Yup, it’s right there in small print on the FBA benefits page:
https://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon/benefits.htm
“If you have not completed your first shipment to Amazon before October 10, 2016, we invite you to start shipping to Amazon after December 19, 2016.”
Interesting to see how early FBA appear to be responding to peak season, especially as we are not yet mid-October. 3P Logistics have capability and capacity to take on new sellers on all marketplaces, details to be found on our website.
Yes this has been confirmed to us by our US rep this morning. To be reviewed early in the year.
Interesting to see how FBA are responding to peak season demand, especially as we are only mid-October. We have the capability and capacity to bring in new traders selling through all marketplaces in the run up to Christmas.
Order Fulfilment providers other than FBA would likely be in a position to help.
Yes it would be a disappointment for some who sell on FBA as they have invested money and resources. This is the season for every seller to make more sales.