Amazon Prime price increase!

[scfr]

I do not have Prime. I have noticed that free shipping time has slowed down significantly. I'm guessing that Amazon is trying to push me to get Prime, but as a "consumer warrior" it makes me even less likely to get it.

[Gailete]

I rarely buy anything that I expect to return. The times that I have, I've made sure they had free returns on that item and sending it back was no problem at all.

The only time I had to pay to return something was due to my own stupidity. I purchased an item without checking the specs and it turned out to be much larger than I thought and it wouldn't fit where I needed it to.

As an Amazon seller, I thank you for that. My problem is people that buy something and decide they don't want it for many varying excuses and then think that they should get all their money back including shipping both ways! Why because after a month of having something you decided you ordered it by 'mistake,' should I have to shell out of MY pocket close to $10 to cover up your mistake. Or the dolts that buy a pattern thinking they are going to get a completed garment even though the title says it is a sewing pattern? It is getting so bad, I literally feel like puking every time I see another return request.

[Gailete]

Returns are mostly free now unless you purchased from a third party. You used to have to pay for return shipping unless the item is not as described. Now any reason will yield you a free shipping label back. My wife loves the return feature and she's pretty ridiculous with it. Sometimes she would just buy something just to see if it's the right color....

If she is buying that from a third party merchant such as myself, every time she does that, she is costing them money. And NO any reason will not get you free shipping. You will get a free shipping return label, but if your return reason falls under the category of 'buyer's remorse', the shipping cost back will be charged to the buyer. Buying something to see if it is the correct color and then returning it because it isn't, is as far as I am concerned buyer's remorse. If she bought something described as peach, but it is just a bit darker than the peach color in her head, it sure isn't a 'not as described' or 'defective' cause for a return.

Not aimed at you and your wife, but for Amazon sellers it keeps getting harder and harder, as people do so many things to scam sellers. Some have literally returned boxes of rocks to a seller instead of a laptop and the seller has to give them a return as if they got the laptop back when the case goes to A to Z guarantee. I have heard on the selling forums of people getting, used diapers, dirty clothes, fake merchandise, older phones that the ones they just bought etc. It is hard work to sell on line. Those of us honest sellers, find it very frustrating that the money we need to pay for food and medicine, ends up having to be returned because the buyers is lying.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Except they are starting to ban people who return too much. I'm going to guess if gas prices ever go up to say $4+/gallon they'll start charging for return.

[Gailete]

Except they are starting to ban people who return too much. I'm going to guess if gas prices ever go up to say $4+/gallon they'll start charging for return.

I saw on TV a news segment about sellers that return too much got their accounts canceled. I'm not talking a few things a month but probably 50+ things a month. They boohooed in front of the cameras, said they didn't know they could get in trouble, etc. and with a hand slap those folks got reinstated by Amazon, who doesn't like looking bad to the buying public. Whatever Amazon says on that topic, we sellers aren't noticing Amazon coming down on buyers that buy and return frivolously.

Sellers try to turn people in that consistently return everything they buy from them. Amazon doesn't seem to be doing squat, but for the seller it is bad news. For an individual seller, that has to do 10 returns a month, it affects their metrics, and a seller with too many returns against them, no matter what the reason can have their selling account closed. So, a seller with all returns in the buyer's remorse category can be losing money on all the returns, they can also lose their selling privileges, and once you have lost your selling privileges, you are done at Amazon. The only ones that seem to be able to sign up repeatedly are the Chinese sellers, selling fake, pirated goods.

Please note that my posts about this subject are not aimed at anyone in particular but are only informative about the behind the scenes of a seller's life on Amazon. Besides returns affecting us, bad feedback affects us, or lack of feedback even. I had a guy the other day that even though throughout the purchase process saw the shipping price, which was based on the average price of an item, in the feedback gave me 1-star and called the shipping outrageous. Amazon thankfully removed that feedback. What many buyers don't know that something weighing between 1-4 ounces has the same postage cost whether a tenth of an ounce or 3.9 ounces. He happened to buy a pattern that was about 1.5 ounces, so he paid the same as if he had bought something that weighed 3.9 ounces. Seller's don't set the USPS prices! Years ago, I was shipping a book to Taiwan. For slow boat to Taiwan shipping (about 1-2 months) and the price for Priority 3-7-day shipping was 5 cents different, so out of my own pocket I tossed in the nickel and I shipped his book Priority. He complained as if I had charged him extra, so he wouldn't have to wait months to get his ordered! Most buyers are happy to get their order sooner than later!

To help gain buyers and orders, some sellers sign up to be Prime sellers. While for Amazon to charge buyers $99-119 for Prime, these folks that are individuals selling using Prime, they don't get anything out of the Prime payment kitty! Yet they still must ship for free and get the order to the buyer in the same amount of time as any other Prime shipping. Most buyers wouldn't realize that and are most likely thinking that for a seller to be offering Prime, it is coming out of the money they paid Amazon for Prime.

I am thankful for the opportunity to sell on Amazon as it does help us out financially.

[Gailete]

What if we check the pricing from different region on US by using VPN.
As with VPN, the price may varies from server to server, or IP to IP.

Let's see who has that luck.

SOMEONE could get the account in cheap.

Not sure what you are suggesting.

[disneysteve]

Not sure what you are suggesting.

Spam, I believe. I saw it but didn't get a chance to delete it.