Amazon Found Listing Created

[Tried_Tested]

I just got an email saying that an Amazon Found listing was created:

So it’s my SKU and its an offer on my listing but sold by be.

Are these just SKUs amazon already paid me for and is listing under my offer? I still have the buy box but under my buy box there are two offers - both sold by me.

Just a tad weird.

A tad.

Additionally, there are 37 units of this new
Amazon.Found.MySKU under Manage Inventory.

I am afraid to say anything to sellersupport lest they interpret it as unauthorized claim (despite me not having said so) and nuke my account - This was their counter during the arbitration.

Advice? So far, keep it as is as no harm done (or so it seems).

[oneida_books]

I’m guessing FBA?

If paid for they would list it themselves … unless they back charged you.

[Tried_Tested]

Yes FBA. Ok will fun this will be.

[VTR]

I am getting the same thing. About 10 different SKU’s now. Not sure why they don’t use the FNSKU it was shipped under but MEH.. I should be thankful they used the right ASIN… assuming it’s even our stuff, and not some China dildo sellers inventory.

[Tried_Tested]

I doubt its wrong SKU only because of the limited quantity under Manage Inventory. Otherwise, I’d be worried. Unless, you’re seeing something different.

[Dogtamer]

@Tried_Tested

I doubt its wrong SKU only because of the limited quantity under Manage Inventory. Otherwise, I’d be worried.
…

It’s not; it’s a relatively-new (we first saw it ourselves in Q1, but I recall seeing mention of it last year) “feature improvement” in the ‘clawback’ portion of Amazon’s inventory reconciliation process.

The most-applicable SHC page explaining the appearance of these SKUs is “Reversed Reimbursement” (link), which includes this note:

"…
Note: SKUs that start with “Amazon.Found” represent your inventory that was previously mislabeled during the inbound process and could not be assigned to your Seller account at that time. You received a reimbursement for these items when they couldn’t be properly identified in our fulfillment network due to labeling issues. We’ve now identified that this inventory belongs to you and returned it to your account. We’ve also reversed a previous reimbursement that was issued against a defect for the same item.
These units contain the same products as your original listings. They’re identified with a separate merchant SKU that starts with “Amazon.Found” because they lack the original labeling that would connect them to your existing listings.
…"

It’s our practice to remove each of these as it appears, and file switcheroo claims when needed.

[Tried_Tested]

@Dogtamer

It’s our practice to remove each of these as it appears, and file switcheroo claims when needed.

Can you expand on this please.

[oneida_books]

I can’t believe I overlooked the “Amazon Found” as the “Amazon.Found.”

I believe what @Dogtamer is saying, and I would agree if so, is that they always create removal orders for these new SKUs to inspect that they are actually the ASIN listed on (and I’m sure the proper condition) instead of trusting Amazon to get it right.

[Tried_Tested]

Yes but how are switcheroo claims filed against Amazon?

[oneida_books]

I believe through a Safe-T claim, but I’ve not had to do one on FBA stock …

[Dogtamer]

@Tried_Tested

Can you expand on this please.

@Tried_Tested

Yes but how are switcheroo claims filed against Amazon?

@oneida_books

I believe through a Safe-T claim, but I’ve not had to do one on FBA stock …

Over the last few years, I’ve been surprised to see quite a few mentions - by 3P Sellers & NSFE FMT-CMTs alike - advocating for the filing of SAFE-T Claims against FBA Orders, but I’m unaware of any mechanism for doing so.

SAFE-T claims, by policy, are limited to FBM Orders, as may still be seen from the ‘SAFE-T Coverage and Eligibility’ section of the SHC’s oft-renamed “Reimbursement for seller-fulfilled orders” (link) - a page which, 3 major revisions back, was once titled “File a reimbursement (SAFE-T) claim” - quoted here:

"…

1. SAFE-T Coverage and Eligibility

When Amazon issues a refund to a buyer via Refund at First Scan (RFS) or Customer Service issued refunds for sellers enrolled in Customer Service by Amazon (CSBA) or Seller Fulfilled by Prime (SFP) programs and you believe it was not your fault, you may file a claim for reimbursement via SAFE-T. In addition, if you offered the buyer a free replacement for a return and you believe the return’s condition was not your fault, you may file a SAFE-T claim.

Note: Automated Refunds issued when you don’t process refunds within four calendar days of receiving a returned item are not eligible for SAFE-T claims. Instead, you can use the Guided Refund Workflow (GRW) within the four-calendar-day assessment period to grade returned items, apply appropriate restocking fees, and upload evidence when items are returned in a different condition than shipped.

Below is a list of cases where you will be eligible for a reimbursement. These situations do not guarantee a reimbursement, and Amazon maintains sole discretion to determine what reimbursement amount, is issued.

You may be eligible for a reimbursement in the following cases:

• The buyer said they received the item late or never received it, but you have proof of delivery. In this case, you may be eligible for reimbursement if:
  • You purchased a “Claims Protected” shipping label through the Amazon Buy Shipping service, and the tracking confirms that the order was shipped on time and met the Maximum Estimated Delivery Date, or
  • You provided a signature confirmation of delivery to the buyer’s address, and the tracking confirms that the order was shipped on time and met the Maximum Estimated Delivery Date.
• The buyer returned an item in a damaged or unsellable condition, and Amazon determines you were not at fault.

Note: As per Amazon’s restocking fee policy, if the product is damaged by the buyer, you will be reimbursed up to 50% of the order sales price of the product depending on the extent of damage as assessed by Amazon.

• The buyer returned an item that was materially different from the item you shipped to the buyer, and Amazon determines you were not at fault.

Note: As per Amazon’s restocking fee policy, if the product returned by the buyer is a materially different item, you will be reimbursed up to 100% of the order sales price of the product.

• The buyer did not return the product, even though the buyer has received a refund. Whether or not an item has been returned is determined by either of the following:
  • a lack of a “Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)” for the particular return item, or
  • a lack of a carrier’s “first scan”.

Note: Items that are Hazmat or Non-Returnable, as determined by Amazon, would not be returned by the buyer, and thus no reimbursement will be provided.

• Buyer returned item after the return window: You are eligible for reimbursement if Amazon initiated a return on behalf of a buyer for an item that is outside of the return window.

Note: As per Amazon’s restocking fee policy, if the buyer returns an item in the original condition more than 15 days past the return window, you will be reimbursed up to 20% of the order sales price of the product. The 15 days allow for return transportation from the buyer to the seller.

• Amazon provided buyer a refund of item price or return shipping cost (in cases where the return reason is considered the buyer’s fault as described at Return Reason codes for prepaid returns as you failed to provide a refund within 2 business days of receiving a US domestic return. You may be eligible for a reimbursement.

Note: For Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) items under 50 lb, you are responsible for paying return shipping cost regardless of the return reason. For Prime items with 50 lb or higher, you may be eligible for reimbursement of return shipping cost if the buyer selected a return reason that Amazon deems “buyer fault”.

• You may be eligible for reimbursement for a free replacement if the buyer requested a free replacement via the Online Return Center, you shipped the replacement, and the buyer sent back an incorrect item or an item in an unsellable condition.

Note: You must submit the reimbursement claim for the “Replacement Order ID” in such cases.

• The buyer requested a free replacement via the Online Return Center, you shipped the replacement, and Amazon also issued a refund to the buyer.

Note: Only replacements requests by buyers through the Online Returns Center may be eligible for a reimbursement, requests accepted through the Buyer Seller Messaging are not covered by the SAFE-T policy.
…"

As intimated there, SAFE-T Claims are oriented to a specific Amazon Order ID - which is why that’s the ‘default’ filter set for the File a SAFE-T Claim (link) Dashboard, no doubt - and as far as I can tell, the search routine to determine eligibility is limited to only accepting standard 17-digit Order IDs, which precludes using the 10-character-limited naming capability afforded for Seller-initiated Manual Removal Orders.

Of the other two search filters available, RMA only applies to Returns, and while it’s possible to extract the Tracking No. of a Removal Order via various methods - notably, the Removal Order Details Report - I’ve yet to see the SAFE-T Claim dash accept the eligibility of one.

---

Be that as it may, we simply follow the same process we do with normal Removal Orders, of collecting photo evidence of the unopened shipping package, its label(s), & comparison(s) of what was received and what the FC (purportedly) dispatched, and open a case including that, the original & reversed Reimbursement IDs (extracted from the Reimbursements Report, which, like the Removal Order Details Report, is available from the Fulfillment Reports Dashboard), and a request for reimbursement; if any other details are available, we’ll include that, too, in some instances, albeit I prefer to keep our people pretty-tightly bound to the notion that less is sometimes better than more…

[papy]

@Dogtamer

They’re identified with a separate merchant SKU that starts with “Amazon.Found” because they lack the original labeling that would connect them to your existing listings.

Ok Amazon, but WHY do they lack the labeling? Especially if…

@Dogtamer

SKUs that start with “Amazon.Found” represent your inventory that was previously mislabeled during the inbound process and could not be assigned to your Seller account at that time.

…so how did the labeling error occur upon receipt?

And what can Sellers do to prevent such an error at the destination warehouse?

[oneida_books]

@Dogtamer

Over the last few years, I’ve been surprised to see quite a few mentions - by 3P Sellers & NSFE FMT-CMTs alike - advocating for the filing of SAFE-T Claims against FBA Orders, but I’m unaware of any mechanism for doing so.

SAFE-T claims, by policy, are limited to FBM Orders, as may still be seen from the ‘SAFE-T Coverage and Eligibility’ section of the SHC’s oft-renamed “Reimbursement for seller-fulfilled orders” (link) - a page which, 3 major revisions back, was once titled “File a reimbursement (SAFE-T) claim” - quoted here:
…

In my mind a “Removal Order” of FBA inventory, and in this case relating to previously unsold inventory, would not really fall under a standard FBA.

@Dogtamer

and as far as I can tell, the search routine to determine eligibility is limited to only accepting standard 17-digit Order IDs, which precludes using the 10-character-limited naming capability afforded for Seller-initiated Manual Removal Orders.

I’ve not had one in a looooooong time, so I was thinking my OrderId for Removals was listed as FBM … but apparently not.

So definitely this!

@Dogtamer

Be that as it may, we simply follow the same process we do with normal Removal Orders, of collecting photo evidence of the unopened shipping package, its label(s), & comparison(s) of what was received and what the FC (purportedly) dispatched, and open a case including that, the original & reversed Reimbursement IDs (extracted from the Reimbursements Report, which, like the Removal Order Details Report, is available from the Fulfillment Reports Dashboard), and a request for reimbursement; if any other details are available, we’ll include that, too, in some instances, albeit I prefer to keep our people pretty-tightly bound to the notion that less is sometimes better than more…

[oneida_books]

@papy

Ok Amazon, but WHY do they lack the labeling?

@papy

…so how did the labeling error occur upon receipt?

So many possibilities …

• Product was to have Amazon label them
• Label fell off
• Label misapplied
• Label received warehouse damage
• Bubba didn’t like the original label, maybe he thought it was wrong, and put a label over the existing one
• Bubba just put on the wrong label to start with
• Bubba peeled labels and tried to sneak out with them
  … but overall … it’s usually Amazon doing something.

@papy

And what can Sellers do to prevent such an error at the destination warehouse?

You can’t do anything, but labeling yourself reduces frequency in my mind.

[Tried_Tested]

There is an impact on rank. And here is some guesswork:

a. Amazon looks at stock count and FC proliferation and a contributor to rank
b. The Amazon.Found SKU is on the buybox currently but has limited stock
c. This then trips the algo into thinking I have less than 1 day of stock
d. Pushes my rank down not seeing that the actual SKU has plenty of stock and meets a.

Amazon problems. Should rectify in a couple of days but really dumb.