4 ms·

> within a few weeks there are 4 or 5 versions of the same thing from different fba sellers If you have a successful product, could you mitigate this by secret

> within a few weeks there are 4 or 5 versions of the same thing from different fba sellers If you have a successful product, could you mitigate this by secretly creating an additional 4 or 5 FBA accounts yourself? The 4 or 5 FBA accounts would have different photos and slightly different descriptions, but would be selling the same product. The purpose of doing this: - Since all your FBA accounts are selling the same thing, there is no risk of some of them being poor quality and getting bad reviews. - You discourage other sellers from entering your market because the market looks crowded. - You can set different prices on your 4 or 5 FBA accounts and thereby capture people who are willing to pay a premium and those looking for the cheapest price.

dazc 8y ago
Maybe this explains the phenomena better than my theory of stuff being rapidly copied. Crowding the market with different versions your own product is a fairly common tactic elsewhere, afterall?
CodeWriter23 8y ago
You sure can, if you want the Amazon Death Penalty. Muliple accounts are clearly prohibited by the TOS. They will find out, the seller forums have plenty of threads of people crying about getting caught. And as an added bonus, you get to pay $2 each to have your units destroyed or $2 each plus shipping to get them back. And by “plus shipping” that means the standard package rate non-Prime customers pay. So if all your units are on the same shelf (never happens because FBA strategically ships between fulfillment centers) then you pay for one big box. Otherwise you get one package at full price for whatever is on that shelf or bin that the picker pulls your merchandise from. Times however many shelves your stuff is on. Also, different accounts might help you erase bad _Feedback_ but product reviews stay with the product listing regardless of who sold it. Edit: I should have put destroyed in air quotes. I believe this is where the items that have the “Warehouse Deals” badging come from. No proof, just a suspicion.
- pas 8y ago
  You can ask a few friends/relatives to open the account?
  - CodeWriter23 8y ago
    And use your friend’s computer for all access to that account, making listings, booking shipments, customer service. Because the tracking and identification they use makes Panopticlick look like a kid’s toy. And whose tax id will you use to meet the 1099-K requirements? I asked Seller Support about this because I started consulting to help people sell on Amazon, and was concerned about getting caught in a dragnet over multiple accounts. They said as long as my clients didn’t sell the same items it probably would not be a problem.
    - pas 8y ago
      I mean literally ask them to start these FBA shops. Are cartels prohibited by Amazon? How hard is it to get away with it still?
- ikeboy 8y ago
  This is false. The return fee is 50 cents a unit flat, no shipping costs added onto that.
ikeboy 8y ago
I've talked to people doing this but it's a lot harder than it seems. Accounts need to be totally separate, different company/tax id/ phone/bank/IP address etc, then managing different shipments for each is complicated, etc

dazc 8y ago

Maybe this explains the phenomena better than my theory of stuff being rapidly copied. Crowding the market with different versions your own product is a fairly common tactic elsewhere, afterall?

CodeWriter23 8y ago

You sure can, if you want the Amazon Death Penalty. Muliple accounts are clearly prohibited by the TOS. They will find out, the seller forums have plenty of threads of people crying about getting caught. And as an added bonus, you get to pay $2 each to have your units destroyed or $2 each plus shipping to get them back. And by “plus shipping” that means the standard package rate non-Prime customers pay. So if all your units are on the same shelf (never happens because FBA strategically ships between fulfillment centers) then you pay for one big box. Otherwise you get one package at full price for whatever is on that shelf or bin that the picker pulls your merchandise from. Times however many shelves your stuff is on. Also, different accounts might help you erase bad _Feedback_ but product reviews stay with the product listing regardless of who sold it. Edit: I should have put destroyed in air quotes. I believe this is where the items that have the “Warehouse Deals” badging come from. No proof, just a suspicion.

pas 8y ago
You can ask a few friends/relatives to open the account?
- CodeWriter23 8y ago
  And use your friend’s computer for all access to that account, making listings, booking shipments, customer service. Because the tracking and identification they use makes Panopticlick look like a kid’s toy. And whose tax id will you use to meet the 1099-K requirements? I asked Seller Support about this because I started consulting to help people sell on Amazon, and was concerned about getting caught in a dragnet over multiple accounts. They said as long as my clients didn’t sell the same items it probably would not be a problem.
  - pas 8y ago
    I mean literally ask them to start these FBA shops. Are cartels prohibited by Amazon? How hard is it to get away with it still?
ikeboy 8y ago
This is false. The return fee is 50 cents a unit flat, no shipping costs added onto that.

ikeboy 8y ago

I've talked to people doing this but it's a lot harder than it seems. Accounts need to be totally separate, different company/tax id/ phone/bank/IP address etc, then managing different shipments for each is complicated, etc