Referral fee increased by Amazon incorrectly changing the category
We received an email from Amazon indicating that some of our products will change categories on November 1st and it would affect the referral fee.
They sent me an excel sheet with a list of ASINS with one column showing the ''Estimated Current Referral Fee Per Unit'' and another one (generally higher fee) ''Estimated Future Referral Fee Per Unit''
Many ASINS will incorrectly change from a referral fee of 15% to 17% although they objectively belong in the previous category. For example, a life jacket was listed as ''Sports and Outdoors'' and will be changed from Amazon to ''Clothing and Accessories''. For most reasonable people, a life jacket is for sports and outdoors and not considered a clothing piece and not particularly an accessory.
Another example : hand warmers will change from ''Personal care'' to ''clothing and accessories''.
It seems like Amazon is pushing sellers to the maximum referral fee (17%) instead of actually considering the nature of the product like they should.
Is there any way to appeal the classification ? Is it even worth opening a case with Seller Support?
Thank you
Referral fee increased by Amazon incorrectly changing the category
We received an email from Amazon indicating that some of our products will change categories on November 1st and it would affect the referral fee.
They sent me an excel sheet with a list of ASINS with one column showing the ''Estimated Current Referral Fee Per Unit'' and another one (generally higher fee) ''Estimated Future Referral Fee Per Unit''
Many ASINS will incorrectly change from a referral fee of 15% to 17% although they objectively belong in the previous category. For example, a life jacket was listed as ''Sports and Outdoors'' and will be changed from Amazon to ''Clothing and Accessories''. For most reasonable people, a life jacket is for sports and outdoors and not considered a clothing piece and not particularly an accessory.
Another example : hand warmers will change from ''Personal care'' to ''clothing and accessories''.
It seems like Amazon is pushing sellers to the maximum referral fee (17%) instead of actually considering the nature of the product like they should.
Is there any way to appeal the classification ? Is it even worth opening a case with Seller Support?
Thank you
15 replies
Christine_Amazon
Hello @Outdoor_002
This is Christine from Amazon Forums.
I would like to recommend you to contact Seller Support to see if there is any other option for you.
Christine.
Seller_0jeAdEqibgD2o
Seller support will "send a request to change" but ultimately their team will reject because it was something along the lines of "how Amazon's customers most often find said item" and they decided on the change after "careful review".
I had a solid polishing compound last year (industrial/scientific, used with buffing wheels) classified as a chandelier and it was all but impossible to sell after. Seller support refused to change it because the brand owner (manufacturer) had to do it but they aren't active on Amazon Canada. Didn't matter we are their Canadian distributor with the letter to prove it.
Dropped the product from our lineup.
Seller_aKjpvLf9GNkXt
I can confirm this strategy. We sell microcontroller modules and boards together with other parts that are required for electronic device development. There have been 90% of our items correctly been in the "electronics-computer" category (8% referral fee), and 10% in "industrial-electrical" category (12% referral fee).
Over the years, Amazon pushed more and more products into home improvement and tools, and in lighting category, charging us more than twice of the expected referral fee.
Amazon's arbitrary acting is a true pain in the neck, and seller support tickets will not lead to adjustments.
The only thing that helps from time to time, is to talk to someone in the support chat. but email tickets are completely worthless since only answered with canned text that doesn't tackle the problem at all.
Seller_xJx7vH6fvZFD9
Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
We understand your query related to referral fee categorization of products.
Please note that this is a general update/change in Amazon policies and there is no path to appeal.
Amazon periodically reviews and updates its product categories to ensure that items are correctly classified based on changes in the marketplace and product definitions. These updates help us maintain an organized catalog, improve the customer shopping experience, and provide clarity to both sellers and buyers.
We understand that this change may appear unfavorable, but the reclassification is part of a broader effort to standardize product categories and ensure a fair and consistent fee structure for all sellers.
Please note that we cannot provide any additional information.
To help us continually improve, we ask that you take a moment to complete our survey below to tell us about your experience with this specific case.
Were you satisfied with the support provided?
Seller_kUzakg1k3vPbX
From my experience, fee categories seem to be assigned by not-good tools.
My products are electronic modules that can be used for industrial or education. But It categorized my products into "Tools and Home Improvement", which charged me 15%.
I created several cases to support but they said that the products were categorised correctly. It seems to be they keep using tools to find the tools' errors. No human checked.
