Ep. 06 - Jan 18, 2021 - Amazon & E-commerce News! Your ALMOST accurate source of information!

Amazon has begun testing a new feature on the iPhone that lets you text Alexa instead of speaking to her:
You can ask questions, order products, call people and more. Now when your angry wife is sleeping next to you, you can order her chocolate and flowers without having to yell out “Alexa!” in the dead of night.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/03/how-to-text-amazon-alexa-from-your-iphone.html?&qsearchterm=amazon
https://www.imore.com/ios-11-will-let-you-type-queries-siri

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Amazon is changing the rules and interface for inventory in Seller Central again:

A Beta for inventory replenishment called “Send to Amazon” has been implemented in Seller Central. There is more information to fill out upfront but over all, it is a much more streamlined process. However, you will be bound by Amazon’s inventory planning numbers which FBA sellers have been complaining about due to throttled inventory.

In addition to this, Amazon has lowered the Inventory Performance Index threshold, also known as IPI, to help mitigate storage volume. The IPI score is basically a number telling you and Amazon how well your products are moving. The better your products sell, the more you can have in storage.

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/inventory-performance-index-threshold-will-change-to-450/755699
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G6925SDD66GDLXJW?language=en_US&ref=efph_G6925SDD66GDLXJW_cont_201074410

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As of January 1st, Amazon is responsible for collecting VAT on the following sales of goods delivered to customers in the UK:
Goods delivered from inventory stored outside the UK with a parcel value of up to £135; and
Goods delivered from inventory stored in the UK, irrespective of value, where you, the seller, are not established in the UK
Please note that the current VAT exemption for sales of goods under £15, where goods are delivered to UK customers from inventory stored outside of the UK, has also been removed.

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/headlines.html?id=GWV6MZJ7MXL5Z6P2&ref=nslp_at_0_GWV6MZJ7MXL5Z6P2_ttl_rf_recent_news_1

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Amazon postpones annual fee increases this year until June:

Normally Amazon increases storage and handling fees at the beginning of the year. Last year we saw some of the highest increases since the tradition began. This year though, Jeff Wilke (Chief of Consumer Business aka Jeff numero dos), announced that this is to help sellers recover from Covid.

Of the sellers who replied to his post, more than half were not happy. In digging into why, sellers on the forums are bringing up the same concerns our ManageByStats users have been complaining about recently. (And us over the last five) Amazon’s lack of effective seller support and their tendency to shut down seller’s without warning, and many times, without a legitimate reason.

Most sellers would rather the money that is being spent on building new warehouses and hiring new employees be spent on handling the ineffective seller support. Many sellers are reporting having accounts shut down, cases open for several months or cases “resolved” with no actual resolution, sometimes no reply.