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I get that emotions are high when we discuss Amazon, but the article seems to imply that they were fined for not adding the "Prime" badge to items that were not

by belval 5y ago

I get that emotions are high when we discuss Amazon, but the article seems to imply that they were fined for not adding the "Prime" badge to items that were not fulfilled by Amazon (i.e. that didn't use Amazon warehouses). Frankly I don't see why that's a problem, the Prime badge is for one-day or two day shipping item. If the seller is not using Amazon for their logistics then they simply can't guarantee the time window so they don't add a prime badge? From a customer point of view it would make for a worse shopping experience if Prime items weren't fulfilled by Amazon

dncornholio 5y ago
What if I could guarantee one or two-day shipping without needing to use Amazon's shipping?
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  You can guarantee it, but you're asking Amazon to guarantee it on your behalf, which they don't want to do, because they don't know that you can keep your promises.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    "because they don't know that you can keep your promises." Oh, so 10 years of gathering shipping data is not enough to know that I deliver on time? Is that metric too difficult to track?
    - seoulmetro 5y ago
      Yes.
- MarcellusDrum 5y ago
  Well that's great, but still, Amazon won't guarantee it just because you did. They can't guarantee something they have no control over.
- belval 5y ago
  Then the "get it by" date will reflect that and if people want to pay for your one/two-day shipping they can. Shipping is also free on prime items if you are a prime member so the same general idea applies, Amazon is doing what's right for their customers here, the prime badge takes its value from their fulfillment service that is still stellar compared to everything else.
hef19898 5y ago
Amazon planned to enable Prime for Dropshippers working directly for Amazon (called Direct Fulfillment nowadays I think) and 3rd party sellers. It's a bitch to qualify for, so. Because the same performance thresholds apply for those third parties as they do for Amazon's own FCs and 3PLs, and those are strict.
darkwater 5y ago
> Frankly I don't see why that's a problem, the Prime badge is for one-day or two day shipping item. Europe countryside here: I get 3+ days delivery for Prime items regularly (not all the time, especially not in summer since I live in a touristic place and we get city-like Prime deliveries in August) but Prime <= 2 days delivery is not a written rule at all.
jtsiskin 5y ago
I thought the Prime badge meant fulfilled by Amazon
Fradow 5y ago
The article states "The authority said Amazon tied to the use of FBA access to a set of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label, that help increase visibility and boost sales on Amazon.it" That last part is the relevant part: either you use FBA or you loose visibility/sales. That combined with the dominant position of Amazon seems, from a layman perspective, a textbook case of abuse of market dominance.
- gimmeThaBeet 5y ago
  Fully transparent that this is just from a quick search, and maybe a degree separate from this, but I kinda didn't know Seller Fulfilled Prime was ever a thing (not accepting registrations now though?). I would have to look back through my order history, legit I thought prime was always fulfilled by amazon, and that was how they could guarantee the shipping process. But amazon's page even talks about why FBA might not be right for your products (too bulky large etc., i.e. whatever isn't efficient for amazon to store/distribute). But then amazon probably was not content to say "that entire class of products cannot be Prime". So my view to this was, amazon is selling a product (FBA) and part of what you get is use of the Prime label. But, certainly willing to cede being mistaken if that is not the case.

by belval 5y ago

dncornholio 5y ago

What if I could guarantee one or two-day shipping without needing to use Amazon's shipping?

chrisseaton 5y ago
You can guarantee it, but you're asking Amazon to guarantee it on your behalf, which they don't want to do, because they don't know that you can keep your promises.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "because they don't know that you can keep your promises." Oh, so 10 years of gathering shipping data is not enough to know that I deliver on time? Is that metric too difficult to track?
  - seoulmetro 5y ago
    Yes.
MarcellusDrum 5y ago
Well that's great, but still, Amazon won't guarantee it just because you did. They can't guarantee something they have no control over.
belval 5y ago
Then the "get it by" date will reflect that and if people want to pay for your one/two-day shipping they can. Shipping is also free on prime items if you are a prime member so the same general idea applies, Amazon is doing what's right for their customers here, the prime badge takes its value from their fulfillment service that is still stellar compared to everything else.

hef19898 5y ago

Amazon planned to enable Prime for Dropshippers working directly for Amazon (called Direct Fulfillment nowadays I think) and 3rd party sellers. It's a bitch to qualify for, so. Because the same performance thresholds apply for those third parties as they do for Amazon's own FCs and 3PLs, and those are strict.

darkwater 5y ago

> Frankly I don't see why that's a problem, the Prime badge is for one-day or two day shipping item. Europe countryside here: I get 3+ days delivery for Prime items regularly (not all the time, especially not in summer since I live in a touristic place and we get city-like Prime deliveries in August) but Prime <= 2 days delivery is not a written rule at all.

jtsiskin 5y ago

I thought the Prime badge meant fulfilled by Amazon

Fradow 5y ago

The article states "The authority said Amazon tied to the use of FBA access to a set of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label, that help increase visibility and boost sales on Amazon.it" That last part is the relevant part: either you use FBA or you loose visibility/sales. That combined with the dominant position of Amazon seems, from a layman perspective, a textbook case of abuse of market dominance.

gimmeThaBeet 5y ago
Fully transparent that this is just from a quick search, and maybe a degree separate from this, but I kinda didn't know Seller Fulfilled Prime was ever a thing (not accepting registrations now though?). I would have to look back through my order history, legit I thought prime was always fulfilled by amazon, and that was how they could guarantee the shipping process. But amazon's page even talks about why FBA might not be right for your products (too bulky large etc., i.e. whatever isn't efficient for amazon to store/distribute). But then amazon probably was not content to say "that entire class of products cannot be Prime". So my view to this was, amazon is selling a product (FBA) and part of what you get is use of the Prime label. But, certainly willing to cede being mistaken if that is not the case.