Amazon Policy Change Royal Mail 24 / 48 (CRL) scanned on delivery and VTR
Hi, I am letting people know that Amazon have changed their policy on Royal mail 2D Bar codes i.e Royal Mail scanned on delivery. Sometime ago I raised this with Amazon that all our packages have "valid tracking" but Royal mail only scan about 80% and was told not to worry as Amazon are aware and will disregard if when needed we provide valid tracking proof. ie we sent them copies of the delivery label. Well that has changed. Last Friday some listings were deactivated and I had to provide the appeal which I did as usual, but this time it was turned down After a long conversation the result was we either change to a different post method (which would add about £1.00 to the cost and on cheap items that is a big percentage) or buy the same service from Amazon!
I am uncertain what the motive behind this is, to be competitive we will need to buy postage from Amazon? What I tried to explain is that as far as the customer is concerned there will be no improvement Royal mail will continue to fail scanning packages. In addition as we use 3rd party software to process all orders, will it be more difficult? Will Amazon then get details of my orders from Ebay and our own website? I think this stinks and anyone using Royal Mail 24 / 48 (CRL) should take note. Short term we will change to Royal Mail Tracked and accept less orders, longer terms we may have to buy shipping from Amazon, but before we do we need to consider the pros and cons
Seller_zKEt2RiaID5EU
Thank you for letting us know, as i do still use this on the odd occasion!
Just a shoutout to you, depending on your volume, of course, we got Royal Mail Tracked rates cheaper than RM 24/48 CRL, I would give ask to get some rates from your Account manager.
Thanks
Seller_d8YGbIjNqwFxn
Have you checked your VTR report to ensure tracking has been updated correctly? I would suspect if there was a change in policy that many sellers would be impacted.
The VTR FAQ still states that unscanned packages will be validated with the carrier before suspension occurs in a category. If Amazon have made a change they haven't updated the FAQ yet.
There have been some issues recently with VTR not updating correctly. It maybe that this has had a knock on impact for you?
Seller_1ATynBzHSqBhc
Our VTR has dropped dramastically with Royal Mail at the moment. Only thing I can see is that Royal Mail haven't scanned them at point of drop off. The tracking numbers are what Royal Mail gives us yet Amazon says they are invalid (Royal Mail 48 Parcel)
Seller_IVuzF5F26xipN
we find that if buy using click and drop we get vtr issues but if buying from amazon direct they seem to be 100% vtr whether scanning or not at the doorstep, if you link ur RM account to amazon you will pay your custom prices with RM though so shouldnt cost you any more.
Seller_tRuvBEHDedp4q
Seller_ztaOlsnPiZSvE
I dont know what 3rd party system you use but I seriously doubt Amazon will get details of any non-Amazon orders. If it did that could be a breach of data protection laws because Amazon have no need for this information unless you are doing MCF of course - when obviously they will need to know.
I would also doubt whatever Support are telling you on the issue because if Amazon are no longer validating tracking in the background then this is a big policy change and it should have been announced.
I send all my orders Parcel48 (unless customer upgrades to a Premium service) and dont have issues (yes my VTR runs at approx 80% and I get a warning from Amazon) but I have never had listings suspended on the issue because (I assume) Amazon have validated the number in the background.
I would check that whatever 3rd party software you are using to upload tracking to Amazon it is doing it correctly. If it is incorrectly configured and not uploading correct courier and service (in the format Amazon expects) then Amazon will not be able validate tracking in the background.
I use Packing Partner to buy all my shipping labels across multiple platforms and upload tracking back to those platforms. It integrates with both Click & Drop (which is all I use even for Amazon) but also integrates with Amazon Buy Shipping for your Amazon orders so you could get labels via Buy Shipping which guarantees 100% VTR.
Seller_hk02yt1EBBFen
can you use Evri instead? thats about £2.45 with reverse charge for vat if you sign up via packlink website. You will have the tracking number and easy to make a claim or small orders
Seller_zkETYNYu5AkMT
Make a class action suit against amazon for forcing sellers to use it's service.
As a seller we need to stand up to this scumbag company called amazon.
Seller_M2gYzBhzzryL0
Seller_M2gYzBhzzryL0
In simple terms, if you buy shipping from Amazon either from Amazon directly or by linking your Royal Mail account with Amazon, when you order shipping as it is going through Amazon they know that you actually booked shipping and therefore your valid tracking rate will be 100% even for letters regardless if they are scanned or not.
The reason for this is that you can just enter random tracking numbers and in this case, amazon then check to see if these were scanned or not. if not it has a negative impact. Because your only providing a number there is no way for amazon to know if this is a valid tracking number or not, so all Amazon can go by is the scan. If its not scanned it can't verify.
However, if you order the shipping through amazon directly or via your linked RM account on amazon, it knows its a valid tracking regardless if it has been scanned or not as you ordered it through amazon..
It does not cost you more, and has nothing to do with other market places. you order your shipping for other markets as you do already
