Festive Selling Tip: Packing with Care

Many of the orders placed in the run-up to Christmas are intended as presents. Buyers not only expect to receive them on time, but also in excellent condition. Having to return items that have been damaged in transit is never a good buying experience – and even less so at this time of year, as it might mean that the buyer won’t have the item in time for Christmas. 

Make sure your buyers have an entirely positive experience by following a few good packaging practices:

• When sending fragile items through the post, pack them carefully using bubble wrap or polystyrene chips (both of which are available from any Post Office).
• If the product is fragile we recommend using a ‘Fragile’ sticker (also available from any Post Office) or marking the package clearly as needing to be handled with care.
• Place your item in its original box (if you still have it), then put it in a slightly larger box and fill the space with paper, polystyrene or cardboard. If the contents still have space to move around, add more packaging.

Learn more about our  packaging guidelines.

Christmas Selling Tip: Resolving Feedback Issues

When you sell on Amazon.co.uk, it’s your responsibility to work with the buyer to resolve any differences. Communication is usually the key--simply explaining a delay or reassuring a buyer puts most issues to rest. But sometimes an order results in the seller receiving negative feedback from the buyer.

If you receive a feedback comment that you are not happy with, we encourage you to contact your buyer and work with the buyer to resolve any issues with the transaction. Your buyer could then remove the feedback if they feel it would be appropriate.

Amazon will remove feedback only in the following cases:

• The feedback includes obscene language.
• The feedback includes personally identifiable information.
• The entire feedback comment is a product review.
• The entire feedback comment is regarding fulfilment or customer service for an order fulfilled by Amazon.

Remember that providing good customer service is the best way to avoid receiving negative feedback.

Christmas Selling Tip #3: Make Safety and Security a Priority

Amazon wants to be the safest place to buy and sell online. Here are some things you can do to help us achieve that goal: 

• Only accept payment for your orders through the Marketplace platform. Transactions conducted outside the Marketplace system are not protected by the Amazon.co.uk A-to-z Guarantee.
• Dispatch orders only to addresses provided to you by Amazon. If you are asked to dispatch an item to a different address, cancel the order and ask the buyer to place a new order using their preferred address. Learn more about seller protection.
• Learn how to recognize “spoof” emails and to report them to us immediately.
• Change your password regularly.
• Consider setting up a separate bank account for disbursements from your Marketplace seller account.
• Amazon never asks you to verify sensitive information via e-mail. You should only submit such information to us when completing an order on our website, registering for Marketplace, or contacting us directly through our Contact Us forms.
• Review the terms of our online Privacy Notice and our other privacy and security resources.

Festive Selling Tip #2: Optimise Your Selection

Good visibility of your products on our website can be vital in helping you achieve your sales targets during this busy season.

If you haven’t already listed your full product selection, make sure to upload it to Amazon.co.uk as soon as possible. Your Christmas shoppers will be able enjoy a wide range of products and you will be able to maximize your turnover.

Please note that in order to offer customers the best possible experience, we require sellers who choose to sell their products on Amazon.co.uk not to charge customers higher prices on Amazon than they charge customers elsewhere. Make sure that the price of your offers on Amazon, including promotional pricing, is at least as favourable as your pricing on any other site.

Festive Selling Tip #1: Make sure Your Account Settings, Account Information and Policies Are Up to Date

As a seller on Amazon, you have a lot going on over the festive period. Spare yourself unnecessary headaches by making sure the information on your Seller Account is up to date:

• Confirm that your e-mail contact information is up to date.
• Confirm that your Store Settings are up to date. If possible, post a customer service phone number so that buyers can easily contact you.
• Make sure everything on your Seller Account Information page is accurate, including your credit card and bank account numbers.
• Make sure you follow our policies by not displaying any top level domain (such as  .co.uk, .de, .fr, .edu, .net) or any variation of these (such as dot com, dotcom)  anywhere on Amazon.
• Confirm that any emails from Amazon are not being filtered as spam by your email programme or Internet Service Provider.