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$370,000 Dirty Amazon Customer Return Scam
Amazon Customer Returns, Crazy Customer Return Stories by backtrack
$370,000 Dirty Amazon Customer Return Scam

Two men are arrested in Palma De Mallorca, Spain for scamming Amazon out of an estimated $370,000 by abusing their easy no questions asked customer return policy and one simple trick.

How Did They Abuse Amazon’s Customer Return Policy?

The two men James Gilbert Kwarteng (22 years old) and his partner only identified as Juan allegedly purchased expensive items from Amazon and then used their easy no questions asked “Customer Friendly” return process to initiate a return for the purchased item.  However, instead of returning the original item purchased they filled the box with dirt.

The trick that helped James and Juan get away with this scam for multiple years was they would fill the box with the exact weight of dirt in the box as the original item.  Once Amazon received the return back and weighed it, the system would automatically approve the refund.

amazon customer return fraud box of dirt

Amazon customer return fraud box of dirt

What Did They do with the Product?

The next stage of the scam, James and Juan setup their online business to resell the newly acquired goods at a deep discount.

This deeply discounted product hurts other legitimate Amazon sellers from being able to sell their products at a reasonable and profitable price.

The estimated loss is $370,000.

What Happens Next?

James and Juan were both arrested and the two appeared in court.  They were released for 3,000 Euros (approximately $3,338) and await their final court dates.  They both face up to 20 years in prison for customer return fraud against Amazon.

Amazon has closed their accounts.

The real question is: How did it take Amazon years to discover this fraud?

Why Does Back-Track Care About This?

Back-Track is on a mission to help Amazon sellers recover part of the $32 Billion in “Lost Value” in their Amazon customer returns.  Back-Track will reBOX, reNEW or rePAIR customer returns for Amazon sellers to help them resell the product once again as refurbished or through Amazon’s Renewed program.

We believe that re-purposing the product and extending its life is better economics for Amazon sellers and also better for our environment at the same time.  Having less Amazon customer returns destroyed is a good thing.

From our experience working with Amazon sellers, our data shows that about 80% of Amazon’s customer returns are “Not Defective”.  These are products that function as they were designed and can be resold again to someone else.

For every item that Back-Track reNEWS or rePAIRS that’s one less item going into a landfill prematurely.  That’s one less item draining profits away from Amazon sellers.  That’s one more item in the hands of a consumer like it was originally designed for.

Let’s Get Busy!

Ready to have Back-Track reNEW your Amazon customer returns?

Simply send us your contact information and our friendly staff will tell you more details about pricing, products and how to get started.  NO FEE TO START!

[contact-form-7 id=”875″ title=”New Client Form 1″]

Is this called “Dirty Money”?

Amazon FBA Customer Return Rules
Amazon Customer Returns by backtrack
Amazon FBA Customer Return Rules

Amazon 3rd party sellers should be fully aware of Amazon’s customer return rules.  As a seller on the Amazon marketplace you agree to follow these rules.  Amazon will change/update the return policy from time to time.  The following information was last updated on 7/21/19.

How Much Product Gets Returned to Amazon?

We estimate that $32 Billion of product get returned to Amazon 3rd party sellers as a customer return each year.  This estimate is calculated as 20% of the $160 Billion sold on Amazon by 3rd party sellers per year.  The return rate will vary greatly from product category to product category.

If Amazon customer returns are killing your profits, allow Back-Track to help you reNEW or rePAIR your returns and reCOVER your profits.

Amazon Customer Return Rules

Amazon’s standard return policy allows products to be returned within 30 days of receipt of shipment in most cases.  This includes items shipped from Amazon warehouses and from Amazon 3rd party seller warehouses.  This policy also covers both Amazon Prime and non-Amazon Prime orders.

There are many exceptions to Amazon’s return policy for the following items: Baby Items, Clothing and Accessories, Collectibles, Collectible Coins, Computers and Electronics, Digital Products, Fine Art, Gift Cards, Handmade at Amazon and Customizable Products, Hazardous Materials, Jewelry and Watches, Live Plants or Insects, Pet Food, Pre-Paid Phone or Game Cards, Software and Video Games, Televisions, Tickets.  Please refer to Amazon return exception page for more details on these items.

How Long Does a Buyer Have to Return an Item?

The standard time a buyer has to return an item is 30 days from the time they receive the item.  3rd party sellers must offer a minimum of 30 day returns for their items as well.  3rd party sellers have the option to offer a longer period of time if they wish.

Amazon uses an extended return policy rule during the holiday shopping season.  This is to allow for early “gift buying” and time for the recipient of the gift to inspect the item before decided if they wish to return it.  Read more about Amazon’s holiday return policy here.

Amazon Renewed

Amazon Renewed items are backed by Amazon Renewed Guarantee policy and are eligible for a replacement or refund within 90 days of receiving the product if the product does not work as advertised.  Renewed items can be returned within 90 days and qualify for free return shipping.  Find out more about the Amazon Renewed Program here.

Amazon Warehouse

Amazon Warehouse is a program for used or open box items sold across the Amazon marketplace.  Standard Amazon Warehouse items come with the standard 30 day return policy.  Certified Refurbished items sold through Amazon Warehouse come with a 90 day return policy.  Find out more about the Amazon Warehouse Program here.

Amazon 3rd Party Seller Return Policy

Amazon 3rd party sellers must offer a minimum of 30 days to return items purchased on the Amazon marketplace.  Amazon encourages sellers to consider extending this return window longer when possible.

Amazon 3rd party sellers must provide one of the following:

  1. A return address within the United States
  2. A prepaid return label
  3. A full refund without requesting the item be returned

Products that are eligible for Amazon Prime and sold by 3rd party sellers, will follow the same Amazon Prime return rules.

From our experience inspecting and reNEWing Amazon customer returns, we estimate that 80% of Amazon customer returns are not “defective”.

Does Amazon Pay for Return Shipping?

In many cases the return shipping will be pre-paid by Amazon for the customer return.  During the request to return process the customer will select a reason for their return and the reason they choose will determine if the return shipping is free (free to them) or not.

In general, if the reason for the customer return is due to an Amazon error, seller error, a defective product or misadvertised, the return shipping will be prepaid and Amazon or the 3rd party seller will pay the return shipping cost.

If the reason for the customer return is due to the customer changing their mind or ordering by mistake, then Amazon may require the customer to pay the return shipping cost.

Amazon has over 70 customer return reason codes and these codes determine who is at “fault” and therefore who will pay the return shipping label cost.  You can see the long list of Amazon return reason codes here.

How Quick Does the Customer Get a Refund?

Amazon has a very customer friendly return policy.  In many cases the customer will get a “Rapid Refund” the moment they ship the item.  Amazon receives notification once the shipping label they provided the customer is scanned as received and their system will refund the customer immediately.

Amazon deducts the money from the seller account even faster.  Amazon deducts the money from the seller account moments after the customer submits a request for refund.  Before the item is shipped, before the item is returned and before the item is inspected.

For most items, the customer will have 30 days to ship the item once they begin a request for return and the item must be received by Amazon within 45 days.

Sometimes a customer requests a return but never sends the item.  In this case Amazon will recharge the customer for the original purchase and reimburse the seller for the sale.  This will happen automatically after 45 days if the item is not returned.

Can a Customer Return Opened Items to Amazon?

Yes, items that are opened can be returned to Amazon.  There are a few exceptions where the item must not be opened to receive approval to return the item.

Do you Need Original Packaging to Return to Amazon?

Most items don’t require the original packaging to be returned to Amazon for customer returns.  However, there are some exceptions such as: fine art, customizable products, coins, jewelry and watches and sports collectibles are some examples where the original packaging is required.

Does Amazon Have a Limit on Customer Returns?

Amazon does not have a specific limit on the number of returns a customer can do.  However, in recent years Amazon has begun to better track customer behavior and has banned some customers viewed as “abusing the customer return policy” from buying or returning items on Amazon.

Amazon Holiday Return Policy

To help protect customers who order gifts during the holiday season but will not open the package until the gift is received, Amazon offers an extended holiday return policy.

Amazon’s standard return policy is 30 days.  During the holiday shopping period, items shipped between November 1 and December 31 will have until January 31 to return the item.  This allows for the 30 day return window to start after the gift has been received.

This is why Amazon sellers have re-coined January as “Returnuary“.

 

Let’s Get Busy!

Ready to have Back-Track reNEW your Amazon customer returns?

Simply send us your contact information and our friendly staff will tell you more details about pricing, products and how to get started.  NO FEE TO START!

[contact-form-7 id=”875″ title=”New Client Form 1″]

Amazon Customer Return Reason Codes
Amazon Customer Returns by backtrack
Amazon Customer Return Reason Codes

Amazon has over 70 customer return reason codes to help Amazon customer service personnel determine who will pay the return shipping label cost for seller fulfilled orders.  This process is mostly automated and determined automatically during the return request process by the customer.

If the return reason chosen is the customer fault, the customer will most likely pay the return shipping cost.  If the return reason code is Seller, the seller will most likely pay the return shipping cost.

Over time, customers have learned if they select certain return reasons they will get a free return label even if the reason selected is not the actual reason they wish to return the item.

This “Gaming” of Amazon’s automated customer return system has encouraged abuse of the system at the seller’s expense and why customer returns is one of the biggest complaints for Amazon 3rd party sellers.

Return Reason Fault
1 Other reason Customer
2 Accidental order Customer
3 Better price available Customer
4 No reason given Customer
5 Incompatible or not useful for intended purpose Customer
6 Damaged due to poor packaging Seller
7 Arrived too late Seller
8 Missing parts or accessories Seller
9 Damaged during shipping Seller
10 Different from what was ordered Seller
11 Defective/Does not work properly Seller
12 Arrived in addition to what was ordered Seller
13 I don’t want it anymore Customer
14 Defect emerged after use Seller
15 Unauthorized purchase Seller
16 I haven’t received this item yet Seller
17 Item was defective Seller
18 Item description was inaccurate Seller
19 Not satisfied with the quality Seller
20 Fabric not as expected Seller
21 No longer needed/wanted Customer
22 Item is too large Customer
23 Item is too small Customer
24 Item is too long Customer
25 Item is too short Customer
26 Arrived too late Seller
27 Other reason Customer
28 Wrong item sent Seller
29 Better price is available Customer
30 Product is not fully compatible with my existing system Seller
31 Part is missing Seller
32 Damaged upon arrival Seller
33 Arrived in addition to what was ordered Seller
34 Item is too small Customer
35 Item is too large Customer
36 Ordered wrong style/size/color Customer
37 Different from website description Seller
38 Didn’t like fabric Customer
39 Did not like the color Customer
40 Wrong size: too small/short Customer
41 Wrong size: too large/long Customer
42 Dead battery/does not work Seller
43 Missing paperwork/manual/warranty Seller
44 Broken or malfunctioning clasp Seller
45 Missing or loose stone Seller
46 Missing promised certification Seller
47 Tarnished/unacceptable condition Seller
48 Activation failure Seller
49 Poor service coverage Seller
50 Service package not as needed Seller
51 Number porting issues Seller
52 Not compatible with my phone Customer
53 Not compatible with my service Customer
54 Rebate eligibility issue Seller
55 Carrier bill not as expected Seller
56 Current carrier switching cost (termination fee) Customer
57 Item is the wrong color Customer
58 Shoe is a half size too large Customer
59 Shoe is a half size too small Customer
60 Shoe is a full size too large Customer
61 Shoe is a full size too small Customer
62 Shoe is too wide Customer
63 Shoe is too narrow Customer
64 Boot shaft does not fit Customer
65 Shoe arch does not fit Customer
66 Item is of the wrong material Seller
67 Shoe is uncomfortable Customer
68 Part not compatible with existing system Seller
69 Excessive installation/Did not install Seller
70 Recycle old item Seller
71 Product or Manual is not in Italian Customer
72 Product or Manual is not in Spanish Customer

Let’s Get Busy!

Ready to have Back-Track reNEW your Amazon customer returns?

Simply send us your contact information and our friendly staff will tell you more details about pricing, products and how to get started.  NO FEE TO START!

[contact-form-7 id=”875″ title=”New Client Form 1″]

Amazon Warehouses Trash Millions of Unsold Products
Amazon Customer Returns by backtrack
Amazon Warehouses Trash Millions of Unsold Products

Amazon Unsold Items and Customer Returns

What does Amazon do with unsold items, customer returns or surplus inventory?  Sometimes, they simply destroy or discard it into landfills, by the truckloads.  That’s right, new TV’s, unopened toys, baby diapers, kitchen equipment and other electronics, never sold, never opened are being trashed due to slow sales, over supply or lack of demand.

Before being kicked out of the area by Amazon security, reporters posing as Amazon employees went undercover to expose Amazon’s “Destruction Zones”, the place where products go to die within Amazon warehouses if they don’t meet sales expectations.

One facility alone reportedly sending 293,000 items to a dump during a nine month period.

Investigators used a drone to follow a loaded truck to their destination.  The trucks drove to a disposal center and then to a landfill.

While the investigation and finding of “Destruction Zones” was discovered in France, it is also believed to be common practice in Britain and other Amazon warehouses.

Amazon charges a fee called FBA Removal Order Fee to remove unsold, overstock or customer returns that are unfulfillable to be sent back to the seller.

Here’s why Amazon is destroying unsold products.

Sources

Source: Britain’s Daily Mail

Source: French TV documentary (video)

Source: CBS News

Why Does Back-Track Care About This?

Back-Track is on a mission to help Amazon sellers recover part of the $32 Billion in “Lost Value” in their Amazon customer returns.  Back-Track will reBOX, reNEW or rePAIR customer returns for Amazon sellers to help them resell the product once again as refurbished or through Amazon’s Renewed program.

We believe that re-purposing the product and extending its life is better economics for Amazon sellers and also better for our environment at the same time.  Having less Amazon customer returns destroyed is a good thing.

From our experience working with Amazon sellers, our data shows that about 80% of Amazon’s customer returns are “Not Defective”.  These are products that function as they were designed and can be resold again to someone else.

For every item that Back-Track reNEWS or rePAIRS that’s one less item going into a landfill prematurely.  That’s one less item draining profits away from Amazon sellers.  That’s one more item in the hands of a consumer like it was originally designed for.

Why Does Amazon Destroy Unsold Products?

Many times the answer is simply “Economics”

  • There’s a cost to store the goods inside the Amazon warehouse.  If items are not selling, the cost to hold, cycle count and move products that are not selling is wasteful in itself and so removing the product from Amazon’s warehouse removes these wasteful costs.
  • There’s limited space.  Even with all the square footage Amazon warehouses have, there’s limited space for products and Amazon needs to make productive use of every square foot within their warehouses.
  • The cost to ship the unsold merchandise back to the factories in China can be a higher cost than to simply destroy it locally.

Supply and Demand are NOT in Sync

  • With Amazon becoming more and more reliant on 3rd party sellers to generate the supply side of the equation, the market becomes “over-supplied” with multiple Amazon sellers (sometimes 100’s) competing for the same single Amazon customer.  This creates an excess of supply within Amazon’s warehouses at the cost of 3rd party sellers.
  • Trends change quickly in our rapidly evolving world.  What’s hot today, can be out the window tomorrow.
  • Cheap production costs in China and other Asia countries make it possible for factories to produce goods in excess of demand to help them with scale and lower “average cost”.

Hope

A wise friend once told me, “Hope makes the world go around”.

  • It’s every entrepreneur’s dream that their newest idea, latest private label brand or clever marketing scheme will be their quick path to the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  This hope brings products to market within an unproven “Market” demand to buy them.  Some entrepreneurs are success, but most are not as successful as they hoped.

Why Doesn’t Amazon Donate the Unsold Products?

This is one of the most common arguments of outrage you hear.  It’s a logical solution to the problem.  Give the products to people in need.  Donate or move the unsold products to poor countries where these items can really be used to make life better.  It’s a win-win.

If we lived in a perfect world, maybe Amazon would donate their unsold products in a way to “help others”.  We all know, the world isn’t perfect.

Again, “Economics” is a major reason here.  As mentioned earlier, hope + entrepreneurship = excess supply.  This excess supply drives down prices (via competition) and as long as the product is sold on the Amazon marketplace, Amazon benefits most from this situation of excess supply.

Excess supply creates Amazon’s “Competitive Advantage” by being a place to go for low prices and large selection.

It’s in Amazon’s best interest to hold onto and defend the competitive advantage (excess supply = lower prices) they created and therefore not allow the over-supply of products to be “resold” in a liquidation fashion outside of Amazon’s marketplace.  To do so would generate lower prices outside of Amazon’s marketplace.

Some brands also wish to keep their finger on the “supply and demand” levels for their items as well.  Too much supply may diminish their brand reputation as being a “Premium Brand”, therefore destroying the excess supply keeps prices artificially higher, profits higher and brand image where they like it.

Amazon FBA Customer Returns for 3rd Party Sellers

Another related area that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is the level of customer returns Amazon generates for their 3rd party sellers.

In 2018 Amazon 3rd party sellers sold $160 Billion of the $277 Billion in Gross Merchandise Sales Volume (GMV).  It’s estimated that 20-30% of products purchased on Amazon are returned by customers.

With a 20% customer return rate, Amazon customer returns are estimated at $32 Billion for 3rd party sellers in 2018.  Back-Track estimates that 80% of them are NOT defective.

This means that $25.6 Billion of Amazon’s customer returns each year are “Renewable” and Back-Track is attacking this situation head-on with our reNEW and rePAIR services for Amazon 3rd party sellers.

Don’t “Destroy” your Amazon customer returns and also destroy $32 Billion in revenue for 3rd party sellers.  reNEW or rePAIR your customer returns and recover your lost profits today!

Click here to find out more about Back-Track’s reNEW and rePAIR services.

Let’s Get Busy!

Ready to have Back-Track reNEW your Amazon customer returns?

Simply send us your contact information and our friendly staff will tell you more details about pricing, products and how to get started.  NO FEE TO START!

[contact-form-7 id=”875″ title=”New Client Form 1″]

Amazon FBA Removal Order Fees

After a customer return arrives at an Amazon FBA warehouse, the product is inspected.  If the inspection process determines the inventory is missing parts, damaged or defective, the item will be classified as “Unfulfillable” and put into stock under the unfulfillable inventory.  This inventory will not be re-listed for sale on the Amazon marketplace.

Unfulfillable Amazon FBA inventory must eventually be returned to the seller or disposed of.  Amazon charges a “Removal Order Fee” to pick and ship the unfulfillable inventory back to the seller.  Here’s a link to Amazon’s Removal Order Fee.

Amazon FBA Customer Return Reporting
Amazon Customer Returns by backtrack
Amazon FBA Customer Return Reporting

Amazon FBA Customer Returns

If you sell on Amazon FBA, you already know that accepting customer returns under all circumstances is one of the “necessary evils” of doing business on Amazon.  We inspect 1,000’s of Amazon customer returns at Back-Track and our data shows that about 80% of customer returns on Amazon are “not defective”.

If Amazon customer returns are draining your profits, allow Back-Track to reNEW them for you and recover your lost profits.

As an Amazon seller, it’s extremely important you keep track of your customer returns.  You should track why customers are returning the product and how often customers are returning your products.  If a particular product is returned too often, Amazon may decide to disable the SKU from selling on the Amazon marketplace.

The purpose of this article to is dive deeper into the customer return report.

Where is the FBA Customer Return Report

You can view the Amazon customer return reports at the following link:

Amazon FBA Customer Returns Report

Note: There are two reports.  One for merchant fulfilled and one for Amazon FBA.  Please be sure you’re on the correct report.  While your options are limited, Amazon allows you to “Manage Returns” only for merchant fulfilled orders.  Amazon takes full control and manages the FBA returns internally.

Amazon FBA Customer Return Reports

NEW Amazon FBA Customer Return Portal

new Amazon Manage FBA Customer Returns Portal

Amazon just launched their NEW FBA customer return portal to offer sellers easier access, more information and a quicker way to make decisions.

One nice feature on this new portal that I noticed is the quick ability to see how many times a particular SKU was returned within 90 days and 30 days.

The new Amazon customer return interface is also more “mobile friendly”.  Note: There are still two interfaces for Amazon customer returns. One interface for FBA and one interface for seller fulfilled.

The customer return report is still the same reporting as before the new portal.  Amazon updated the portal but did not make any changes to the reporting tools as of this article.

What Does the FBA Customer Return Report Show

The information provided on the Amazon customer return report is designed to inform the seller of items being returned, orders that are affected, a link to any communication with the customer, the reason for the return, important dates, disposition, return status and actions you can take as the seller.

The merchant fulfilled customer return report can be downloaded in XML or TSV format only.  You can also break out the returns as regular returns or Prime returns if you are offering “Merchant fulfilled Prime”.

How often should you run the customer return report

The download report for Amazon merchant fulfilled customer returns will only allow you to download 60 day’s worth of returns in a single download.  You can custom change the dates and go back farther than 60 days but cannot download in larger chunks than 60 days.

It is our recommendation to download and review your Amazon FBA and Merchant Fulfilled customer returns at least every month or 30 days.  If your business has a large volume of customer return activity, it may be best to run this report every week or even every day.

Back-Track Tip: You can “Schedule” reports to auto-run on a regular schedule to save you time and have the information readily available when you need it.

The download report for Amazon FBA customer returns can run for much longer time frames and so you don’t have the 60 day window limit.  The FBA customer return report can also be downloaded in .csv and .txt formats.   We still recommend reviewing your return reports every month at a minimum.

If you’re looking for quick answers, you may view the FBA report online without needing to download it.

Let’s Get Busy!

Ready to have Back-Track reNEW your Amazon customer returns?

Simply send us your contact information and our friendly staff will tell you more details about pricing, products and how to get started.  NO FEE TO START!

[contact-form-7 id=”875″ title=”New Client Form 1″]

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Amazon Customer Returns, Electronics Repair by backtrack
Amazon Warehouse Deals

What are Amazon Warehouse Deals?

Amazon Warehouse Deals is a program to offer deals on Amazon customer returns, slightly damaged products, used, open box or lost but now found inventory.  These items do not meet Amazon’s requirements to sell as new so they sell at a discount under the Amazon Warehouse Deals seller account.

Amazon performs a 20-point quality inspection process before listing the product on Amazon Warehouse Deals.  These items are Prime-eligible for Amazon Prime members and include their standard 30 day customer return policy.

Where do Amazon Warehouse Deals Come From?

When an Amazon seller sells an item on Amazon using Amazon FBA and the customer returns the item back to Amazon, the item goes through a customer return inspection process by the FBA warehouse employees.  If the item is determined to qualify, the item will be re-purchased by Amazon from the Amazon seller and sold on the Amazon marketplace under the Amazon Warehouse Deals seller account.  The seller will find the details of this transaction in their “reimbursement” report.

Amazon Warehouse Deals products come from the following situations:

  • Amazon customer returns inside a FBA warehouse
  • Lost products inside a FBA warehouse
  • Damaged products inside a FBA warehouse
  • Abandoned products inside a FBA warehouse
  • Products selected to “destroy” by the seller inside a FBA warehouse

Deeply Discounted Amazon Deals

The main reason Amazon Warehouse Deals is attractive is because you can find nearly new, open box or just slightly damaged items at a deep discount from their original price.

As they say, “The moment you drive the new car off the dealer lot, it’s a used car”.

This idea is true with buying products off the retail shelf.  The item you buy is only new for a brief moment and then it’s…used.  So why not save a few bucks buying an item slightly used from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

The discounts at Amazon Warehouse Deals can range from 10% to 80% off their original retail price.  The main factors in determining how deep the discount are the condition of the item, any missing items in the package and supply vs demand forces.

Where to Find Amazon Warehouse Deals?

Amazon has created a special landing page specific to finding Amazon Warehouse Deals products.  If you’re simply searching for deals and not sure where to start, this is a great place to start your search.

amazon warehouse deals

What Conditions are Sold on Amazon Warehouse Deals?

Following are the product conditions you may find on Amazon Warehouse Deals.  The condition is very important as it can vary greatly and will also have a major impact on the final deal price.

Used – Like New or Open Box
An item in perfect working condition. Original protective wrapping may be missing, but the original packaging is intact and in good condition with minor damage possible. Instructions are included. Used – Very Good
A well-cared-for item that has seen limited use and remains in good working condition. The item may show some limited signs of wear with small scratches or cosmetic blemishes. Item may arrive with damaged packaging or be repackaged and could be missing some accessories. Missing accessories are clearly defined for each item. Used – Good
The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and functions properly. Item may arrive with damaged packaging or be repackaged. It may be marked, have identifying markings on it, or have minor cosmetic damage”. It may also be missing some parts/accessories such as screws (in the case of furniture) or an instruction manual. Used – Acceptable
The item is fairly worn but continues to function properly. Item may arrive with damaged packaging or be repackaged. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, and worn corners. The item may have identifying markings on it or show other signs of previous use. Item may be missing some parts/accessories such as screws (in the case of furniture) or a mouse or USB cable (in the case of a laptop). Renewed
A pre-owned product that has been inspected and tested to work and look like new by an Amazon-qualified supplier (a seller or vendor) or by Amazon. The product has minimal to no signs of wear, no visible cosmetic imperfections when held 12 inches away, and may arrive in a brown or white box with relevant accessories that may be generic. The product comes with a warranty giving you a replacement or refund within 90 days of purchase if the product does not work as expected. A selection of products are eligible for the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. Any exceptions to this condition description will be mentioned on the product detail page.

Let’s Get Busy!

Ready to have Back-Track reNEW your Amazon customer returns?

Simply send us your contact information and our friendly staff will tell you more details about pricing, products and how to get started.  NO FEE TO START!

[contact-form-7 id=”875″ title=”New Client Form 1″]

Are Amazon Warehouse Deals Eligible for Amazon Prime Shipping?

Yes, Amazon Warehouse Deals (excluding the Renewed condition) are sold by Amazon and the product is located in an Amazon FBA warehouse.  These items are eligible for Amazon Prime Shipping.

Renewed Products in Amazon Warehouse Deals

For products in “Renewed” condition, they may or may not be eligible for Amazon Prime Shipping.  If the Renewed item is stored in the Amazon FBA warehouse, the item will be eligible for Amazon Prime Shipping.

If the item is stored at the seller’s warehouse, then it will be eligible for Amazon Prime Shipping if the seller is approved to offer “Merchant Fulfilled Prime” shipping and has selected to offer Merchant Fulfilled Prime on this particular item.  If the seller is not qualified or chooses not to offer Merchant Fulfilled Prime, the item will not qualify for Prime Shipping.

If you’re unsure, simply search for the Prime logo on the product listing page or you can also filter your search results by Prime only using a checkbox on the left side.

Amazon Renewed Program
Amazon Customer Returns, Electronics Repair by backtrack
Amazon Renewed Program

What is Amazon Renewed?

Amazon Renewed is a program where approved vendors can sell refurbished or like new condition products at a deeper discount on the Amazon marketplace.

The Renewed product is professionally inspected, tested, cleaned and repackaged for resale.  Amazon requires the Renewed product to come with a 90 day warranty.

Product Categories Available for Amazon Renewed

Amazon currently allows the following product categories to participate in the Amazon Renewed program.

  • Laptops and Computers
  • Headphones and Audio
  • Home Appliances
  • Smartphones
  • Television Sets
  • Kitchen Appliances
  • Tablets
  • Office Equipment
  • Automotive Parts
  • Cameras
  • Home and Industrial Tools
  • Outdoor and Sports
  • Video Game Consoles
  • Watches
  • Musical Instruments
Amazon Renewed Program

Back-Track reNEWs your customer returns

Why Sell on Amazon Renewed?

Amazon provides the following reasons to join the Amazon Renew program:

  1. It’s an Exclusive Program – Sellers must meet the quality rules and provide a constant supply of renewed products.
  2. Large Customer Base – Amazon is leveraging their large customer base of loyal customers.
  3. Trusted eCommerce Platform – Amazon’s platform and large distribution network offers a greater reach than other alternatives.
  4. Grow your Refurbishing Business – Selling refurbished products on Amazon is one way to grow your overall sales.

What is Difference Between Refurbished and Renewed?

Renewed is the new term for refurbished.  Back-Track started using the word reNEW for it’s most popular refurbishing service for Amazon sellers and Amazon later adopted the term Renewed to represent refurbished items for sale on their marketplace.

Before Amazon changed the name to Renewed, they used the term “Certified Refurbished”.

Renewed and refurbish both take a used product, inspect it, test functionality, repair any defects, replace missing accessories, clean an rebox the product to be resold as Renewed or Refurbished.

Where to Renew Your Product?

If you sell on Amazon or eBay or have a website and would like to renew your customer returns to sell again, take a look at Back-Track.  Their reNEW service is designed specifically to help online sellers with this need.

With the Back-Track reNEW service, you simply send your FBA customer returns directly to Back-Track’s facility located centrally in Lincoln, Nebraska.  They take care of everything from start to finish beginning with inspection and testing.  Once the item is inspected Back-Track will reNEW your products as needed and prepare them to be sent back to Amazon FBA for you.

How to Register for Amazon Renewed Program?

If you’d like to register for Amazon’s Renewed program, they have the following requirements at the date of this article.

  1. Must have a minimum of $50,000 in qualifying refurbished purchases with the last 90 days.
  2. Must have an order defect rate of 0.8% or less within the last 90 days.
  3. Must submit 8 images of sample units with packaging for review.
  4. Must provide a minimum 90 day warranty on the renewed product.
  5. For Apple products, you must have $2.5 million in invoices for past 90 days.

Amazon may decide to change these requirements in the future, so please follow this link to read the current requirements and contact Amazon to apply to their Renewed program.  Amazon Renewed Program.

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How to ReNEW Products with Back-Track?

Back-Track is the first-of-its-kind reNEW service provider for Amazon sellers.  They specialize in reBOXing, reNEWing, rePAIRing and reSELLing your Amazon Customer returns stuck in FBA.

  1. Ship your Amazon FBA customer returns to Back-Track
  2. We inspect and reNEW your product as needed
  3. We ship your reNEWED product back to Amazon FBA

It’s hands free.  To find more details on how to reNEW your profits with Back-Track, give us a BUZZ today!

Amazon Certified Refurbished to Amazon Renewed

Amazon originally called the program “Certified Refurbished on Amazon” starting in 2015.

In an attempt to rebrand the program and for Amazon to better tap into the $ Billion refurbished products market typically viewed as eBay’s strength, Amazon decided to rename it to “Amazon Renewed”.

Starting in January 2019, Amazon began restricting the sale of “refurbished” goods on the Amazon marketplace, unless the seller applied and qualified for the new Amazon Renewed program qualifications.  Sellers not in the Renewed program can no longer list items in refurbished conditions but can continue to list standard items in a “used” condition.

Difference Between Amazon Renewed and Amazon Warehouse Deals

There is some confusion on the difference between the Amazon Renewed program and the Amazon Warehouse Deals program.  Let’s see if we can clear it up for you.

  • The Amazon Renewed program is available to Amazon sellers who qualify.  The product may or may not be shipped from an Amazon FBA warehouse.
  • The Amazon Warehouse Deals program is primarily managed by Amazon to sell Amazon customer returns, open box, used and lost but found inventory.

It is possible for Amazon Renewed products to be listed and found under the Amazon Warehouse Deals product pages.

 

Customer Return Story – Bargain Bin
Crazy Customer Return Stories by backtrack
Customer Return Story – Bargain Bin

Bargain hunters are everywhere. If it’s not about internet discounts, free shipping, or coupons, they don’t want to hear about it.

So, as you can imagine, we have more than a few regulars that come into our “Discount Warehouse”. This happens to be fresh in my mind because it happened last weekend!

We sell a lot of items that have been previously returned to other stores. Sometimes they are missing hardware, sometimes the packaging is damaged, but typically the item is in great shape, so you can imagine my surprise to see a huge lot of wireless headphones come in.

I quickly snatched up two pairs for myself and brought them into the back to away the end of shift. During lunch I was inspecting the headphones, looking for dents, scratches, or other minor defects, but they were in great shape. Well, I should say, the headphones were in great shape, the hard plastic packaging, not so much.

I could tell that someone had taken to the first package pretty aggressively. It was all marked up with slices and punctures. The second package was even worse yet! There were brown bubbles on the packaging and it was warped on two different sides.

Someone had clearly tossed this sucker in a fire, or at the very least took a lighter to it. I told my boss about the strange packaging when I went into work the next day and he told me the same thing happened with the handful of headphones he brought home for his daughters.

Apparently, some time later he found a bulk return slip in the bottom of the box that simply said, “Customer returns. Too hard to open”. That’s right, these pretty expensive headphones were returned because the person who bought them couldn’t figure out how to get them out of their packaging! Apparently, after a knife and scissors didn’t work, they tried to burn them out!

Crazy, but I guess their loss is my gain!

Customer Return Story – A time for Giving
Crazy Customer Return Stories by backtrack
Customer Return Story – A time for Giving

This was one of the most disturbing displays of “adulting” I have ever seen. I was barely 16, working at a small nursery selling Christmas trees. It wasn’t the best job in the world, but it was easy money and I got to be outside most of the time. Perfect for a hiker and nature enthusiast like me.

The Christmas rush had just ended, and we were preparing the store for our “New Year New Sales” special. We packed away the Christmas merchandise and whatever discount holiday items didn’t sell, and set up new displays for the next promotion.

I remember clearly, it was January 5th and this poor lady came slamming into the store, dragging behind her the most pitiful looking Christmas tree since Charlie Brown and his friends celebrated. She had two small boys on the tail end of the tree, helping push the once mighty decoration thought the double doors and onto the sales floor where she plopped the tree down and proclaimed, “Now it’s your problem!”.

Apparently, the nice lady had purchased this tree two weeks before the Christmas holiday and it was “very much alive” at that time, but since then it has met its demise. Instead of just tossing the dried up fire magnet she figured the best course of action was to return the tree and get her money back.

The reason why? Oh, well the tree was dead of course! As if that wasn’t cringe worthy enough on it’s own, she initially wanted to be financially compensated for “ruining her Christmas” with a “diseased tree”. Yep, apparently being cut down for a month and never watered is some sort of disease that’s ravaging the Christmas tree community!

I swear, it’s never a dull day in retail!