Amazon drop shipping policies: The dos and don’ts you need to know
Drop shipping has been a hotly debated topic here on the Seller Forums. And there’s a good reason. It’s a popular concept and can be a good way to jump start your business, but it’s easy to do it incorrectly—which can lead to serious consequences.
Today, let’s explore drop shipping business models and policies via some dos and don’ts.
What is drop shipping, exactly?
Drop shipping on Amazon refers to the process of allowing a third-party to fulfil orders for customers on your behalf. The main point for sellers to know is that drop shipping is not an acceptable practice unless it’s clear to the customer that you’re the seller of record.
With that in mind, let’s review the key dos and don’ts every seller must keep in mind in order to comply with Amazon’s Drop Shipping policy.
✅Drop shipping: the DO list
If you intend to fulfil orders using another company’s fulfilment service, a third-party logistics company, or a drop-shipper, you must always:
- Have an agreement with your supplier where you are the only seller of record and the only entity identified as the seller of your products on all packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or any other information included or provided in connection with the products.
- Remove any packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or other information identifying a different seller or third-party supplier prior to shipping the order.
- Remain responsible for accepting and processing customer returns, and always comply with the Business Solutions Agreement (BSA) and applicable Amazon policies.
🛑Drop shipping: the DON’T list
Examples of Amazon Drop Shipping Policy violations include:
- Purchasing products from a third party, including Amazon or another seller in Amazon’s stores, and having that third party ship directly to customers, if the shipment does not identify you as the seller of record or if anyone other than you (including the third party) appears on packing slips, invoices, or external packaging, is strictly prohibited without exception.
- Shipping orders with packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or other information indicating a seller name or contact information other than your own is also strictly prohibited.
Be sure to check out the drop shipping video in Seller University for more information on how to appropriately drop ship on Amazon.
Amazon drop shipping policies: The dos and don’ts you need to know
Drop shipping has been a hotly debated topic here on the Seller Forums. And there’s a good reason. It’s a popular concept and can be a good way to jump start your business, but it’s easy to do it incorrectly—which can lead to serious consequences.
Today, let’s explore drop shipping business models and policies via some dos and don’ts.
What is drop shipping, exactly?
Drop shipping on Amazon refers to the process of allowing a third-party to fulfil orders for customers on your behalf. The main point for sellers to know is that drop shipping is not an acceptable practice unless it’s clear to the customer that you’re the seller of record.
With that in mind, let’s review the key dos and don’ts every seller must keep in mind in order to comply with Amazon’s Drop Shipping policy.
✅Drop shipping: the DO list
If you intend to fulfil orders using another company’s fulfilment service, a third-party logistics company, or a drop-shipper, you must always:
- Have an agreement with your supplier where you are the only seller of record and the only entity identified as the seller of your products on all packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or any other information included or provided in connection with the products.
- Remove any packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or other information identifying a different seller or third-party supplier prior to shipping the order.
- Remain responsible for accepting and processing customer returns, and always comply with the Business Solutions Agreement (BSA) and applicable Amazon policies.
🛑Drop shipping: the DON’T list
Examples of Amazon Drop Shipping Policy violations include:
- Purchasing products from a third party, including Amazon or another seller in Amazon’s stores, and having that third party ship directly to customers, if the shipment does not identify you as the seller of record or if anyone other than you (including the third party) appears on packing slips, invoices, or external packaging, is strictly prohibited without exception.
- Shipping orders with packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or other information indicating a seller name or contact information other than your own is also strictly prohibited.
Be sure to check out the drop shipping video in Seller University for more information on how to appropriately drop ship on Amazon.
0 replies
Seller_ZJhFeE3tNKzfh
Agree - more like this. In fact - the help pages would be far more understandable if written like this!
Seller_FQHkqHJI5SqTh
Yet for decades you have allowed dropshippers masquerading as booksellers operate seemingly with impunity.
The trade knows who they are and how Amazon can't work it out is beyond us. No seller has, or ever will have, 5 million used books in stock.
Seller_IQo80d99W2DzP
Your other issue is Drop-Sellers buying products from Amazon Sellers, but sold on their own website, eBay, ETSY, etc.
You can often tell they are a Drop-Shipper, as they have purchased a number of times and deliveries to different addresses.
We provide a Packing Slip with prices on for virtually all deliveries, so, when the end-user Buyer receives the item, they often locate us and ask why the Packing Slip is far cheaper than they paid. We explain they bought from a Drop-Shipper, but then we often then find somehow the Amazon Buyer says the item is defective to get a free return. So we are the loser as a return costs us money.
Amazon cannot really ban this, but they could assist, maybe making it official, so if anyone has had maybe more than 10 delivery addresses in the last 6 months, they have to explain why. Or, register as a Drop-Shipper (and it is showing on the Order Screen), that way Sellers know, Amazon could also then ensure no prices on the Packing Slip, no free returns, etc.
Seller_YcVj3IObF7ZOZ
@Sakura_Amazon_
Your next post could be the difference between the different types of Selling Accounts available and what you can sell on them
Seller_RAXEWLxQ2dbmN
Unfortunately, most (all?) of these type of dropshippers are based overseas, outside the UK and the EU.
As far as I know, this means they can bypass the postage rules that govern domestic orders.
I still get the odd dropship order and there are dozens of sellers with millions of listings between them still active so it must still be going on.
The most annoying thing about it now is all the bogus ASINs littering the catalogue. They confuse the search engine and mislead buyers.
