I now count this as the 2nd positive development update I can recall in 10+ years from Amazon (the first being the ability to set holidays and keep receiving orders):
Multiple Labels for Single Orders
For booksellers, this lets us ship large book sets that exceed 70lbs without having to worry about INRs on one or more of the boxes.
Credit where it’s due. One drop in the correct side of the scale… 1000000 more to go!
Just to make it easier …
Purchase multiple labels in Buy Shipping for multi-box orders
by News_Amazon
22 hours ago
Through Buy Shipping, you can now purchase multiple labels for single-quantity items that you ship in multiple packages within the US.
Previously, you were not able to purchase multiple labels for items that required multiple packages, such as sofa sets. Now when you buy shipping for your seller-fulfilled items, you can select the package count and review consolidated shipping rates. Each part or piece of your product listing will get its own label and tracking number.
We’ll create a unique shipment ID for each package, which means we can track your valid tracking rate and on-time delivery rate for each package. This package-level tracking also helps us process A-to-z Guarantee and Seller Assurance for e-Commerce Transactions (SAFE-T) claims.
Customers will get individual tracking and delivery dates for each package in their order, giving them clear visibility into when each one will arrive.
For step-by-step instructions on how to buy shipping labels for multiple boxes, go to Shipping products with multiple parts.
Sadly though, if you click into the fine print:
If a customer initiates a return for a Multi-Package order, Amazon will issue one return label. For questions about handling multi-package returns, contact Selling Partner Support.
Yeah there is a disconnect between the shipping department and the return department. I 100% expected this to be the case.
This should qualify as an exemption from Amazon issued return labels on the ASIN level, but I’m sure it doesn’t
I view this as an acknowledgement by Amazon that the “buyer” will only return part of the shipment like normal, so why waste an extra label.
Only SLIGHT sarcasm intended…