Issues with the Supplier Verification Process for Legally Sourced Used items from Individuals
Hello, everyone in the forum.
Our company operates in compliance with Japan’s antique trade laws, verifying the identity of individuals who visit our physical store before purchasing pre-owned items from them. These products are then refurbished and listed on Amazon as used goods. Additionally, we have direct trade agreements with manufacturers, primarily for new products.
In the past, there have been cases where inventory was either lost within Amazon’s warehouses or incorrectly registered as a different product upon arrival. When requesting reimbursement, we are required to submit inventory verification documents.
Reference Policy Requirements:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/GGA969XZCZZPEVY5
However, Amazon’s documentation requirements are designed for new products, making them unsuitable for our directly sourced used goods, which do not follow traditional procurement routes through manufacturers or distributors. This results in inconsistent and disadvantageous requirements for sellers, even though Amazon allows the sale of used items.
Another major challenge is that most of our used product suppliers are individuals whose identification is verified at the time of purchase. Providing their personal information to a third party like Amazon raises privacy concerns and makes compliance difficult.
Given these circumstances, I would like to seek advice from the forum community.
For large-volume sellers who source used goods directly from individuals under antique trade regulations, how do you protect your personal suppliers’ privacy, submit inventory verification documents, and obtain approval from Amazon?
Issues with the Supplier Verification Process for Legally Sourced Used items from Individuals
Hello, everyone in the forum.
Our company operates in compliance with Japan’s antique trade laws, verifying the identity of individuals who visit our physical store before purchasing pre-owned items from them. These products are then refurbished and listed on Amazon as used goods. Additionally, we have direct trade agreements with manufacturers, primarily for new products.
In the past, there have been cases where inventory was either lost within Amazon’s warehouses or incorrectly registered as a different product upon arrival. When requesting reimbursement, we are required to submit inventory verification documents.
Reference Policy Requirements:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/GGA969XZCZZPEVY5
However, Amazon’s documentation requirements are designed for new products, making them unsuitable for our directly sourced used goods, which do not follow traditional procurement routes through manufacturers or distributors. This results in inconsistent and disadvantageous requirements for sellers, even though Amazon allows the sale of used items.
Another major challenge is that most of our used product suppliers are individuals whose identification is verified at the time of purchase. Providing their personal information to a third party like Amazon raises privacy concerns and makes compliance difficult.
Given these circumstances, I would like to seek advice from the forum community.
For large-volume sellers who source used goods directly from individuals under antique trade regulations, how do you protect your personal suppliers’ privacy, submit inventory verification documents, and obtain approval from Amazon?
0 replies
Seller_Hi7wbO2Kbo6bl
You are not going to get approval from Amazon for used goods. Either you can list them without approval, or you cannot list them.
As you state yourself, the requirements are aimed at selling New.
Emet_Amazon
Hello @Seller_659aI6fA7oPZR,
Thank you for posting your concerns with a supplier verification.
So I can best assess your situation and provide correct guidance, can you share your original notification associated with this request? Additionally, I wanted to inquire if this was for a category or brand approval, or if there was a policy violation you had concerns with.
If you have any related cases on the situation, I would advise posting them here as well. Cases provide more insight into the situations and any provided documentation that may have been requested, this information helps us in providing further guidance or even working with the appropriate teams to review a situation.
Once you are able to share more information on this situation, as mentioned I will follow up and provide further information and guidance.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Emet.
Emet_Amazon
Hello @Seller_659aI6fA7oPZR,
Thank you for following up on the situation.
Case IDs: 18047485491, 17441628231, 17446358111, 17740110841
In most instances where we are asked to provide inventory documentation for used items, the request arises during investigations into inventory discrepancies—such as losses or miscounts—within Amazon fulfillment centers or during inter-warehouse transfers. These investigations typically require us to submit proof of inventory ownership.
However, despite the fact that our listings are clearly marked as used, Amazon Seller Support consistently demands invoices or delivery notes issued by the original brand manufacturer. Unfortunately, they do not accept U.S. customs invoices or other legitimate documentation issued at the time of importation.
This requirement is incompatible with the realities of the global used goods market. The vast majority of used inventory is sourced from individuals under Japan’s Secondhand Articles Dealer Act, not directly from manufacturers. Only a very small portion of our used inventory—such as B-grade items—is supplied directly by manufacturers.
I do appreciate you sharing the cases and additional context on your situation, however there is still a few concerns I have with the situation and gaps in information. After reviewing all related case ID's I was able to identify 4 different ASIN with 3 different issues. There are concerns of customer authenticity complaints, concerns of used products and lost FBA inventory.
Surrounding the concern of used and authentic product concerns, we will require valid invoices that show proper sourcing. Seeing that the authenticity concern surrounding the ASIN ending in "LD1H" is a branded product, we need to confirm that the products you were selling are in fact related to the brand in question. These documents should also be able to validate the condition of the product.
When you shipped your inventory into the fulfillment center, do you have a bill of lading that confirmed what exactly was being shipped and received? Do those shipping documents match your sourcing documents? If you are able to provide the necessary documentation to confirm compliance all related issues should be resolved. At this time, these documents will be required to address the situation.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Emet.
Emet_Amazon
Hello @Seller_659aI6fA7oPZR,
I do appreciate you following up and sharing more information.
As requested, we would like to share details about the documentation available from our end:
* Shipping label PDF provided by the export agent at the time of outbound shipment.
* Customs clearance documentation created by the export agent, including product names and serial numbers of the used items.
* FedEx export certificate from Japan.
* FedEx tracking details confirming the international shipment.
Additionally, for context, the export flow to your fulfillment centers follows this path:
Our company (based in Japan) → Japan's postal pickup service → Japanese export agent (documentation and customs) → FedEx → U.S. branch of the export agent (listed importer on customs documents) → FedEx → Amazon warehouse in the U.S.
These steps are consistent and compliant with Japan’s Secondhand Articles Dealer Act, under which our inventory is sourced and exported.
If any of the listed documents are acceptable, we would be more than happy to provide them to facilitate a resolution. Please kindly note that obtaining certain documents may take a few business days, as we coordinate with our external logistics partners.
The documentation themselves should not be an issue, so long as they meet our requirements. So I can provide some transparency, I cannot access or see your appeals unless you provide them in a case ID and share that case with me here. Can you confirm if your invoices meet the following points?
Required:
- A clearly displayed issue date within the past 365 days before the receipt of the performance notification.
- Quantity sufficient to cover your sales volumes for each ASIN cited in the performance notification over the past 365 days.
- Sales records for each of the ASIN associated with the policy violation. You may choose to highlight the specific product that you are appealing for, if the invoice has multiple different products bought on it.
- Product identifiers that are easy to understand. These can include product name, model number, or Universal Product Code (UPC) that can be validated online.
- Contact information of your supplier, including a name, phone number, address, and website. We won’t share this information with our retail team or other Amazon sellers.
Important considerations:
- Any document you provide must be authentic and unaltered.
- You can remove pricing information from the invoices, but make sure that all other information is visible and clear.
- We might reach out to the supplier to verify your documents information and will always keep your suppliers’ information confidential.
- The invoice must be in PDFs (.pdf) or image files (.jpg, .png, or .gif) format.
- The invoice must document a completed and fulfilled transaction.
As noted, your invoices should not only validate your products, but also that you where the one who purchased and received them. If your invoices does not include all required information, you will need to attach additional documents such as tracking or delivery confirmation, proof of payment that all match the invoices you have to confirm the information provided.
If you would like me to look over any additional information or documentation, I would advise submitting your information to a case and sharing it here as mentioned above. Once you do so I can look further into your submissions and provide feedback or work with the appropriate teams to review them further.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Emet.
