Amazon. com Help Ordering From a Third-Party Seller

Leave feedback to third-party sellers on Amazon. com

I've never sold anything on Amazon: but having often purchased from and spoken with third-party sellers over the years, it seems like some Amazon customers are quick to leave negative feedback. So I'll start saying "Be nice!" Many of these sellers are mom-and-pop shops, which (in my experience) bend backward to fix issues. And don't leave feedback until an problem was resolved to your satisfaction: you lose some leverage once you've left your feedback!

There are two ways of leaving feedback on Amazon: either from the dedicated feedback page (link), or through your order history page (which lets you search orders by name). The feedback page is probably easier to use, because you can leave feedback in batch: it only shows items that require your feedback. By contrast, the orders history page forces you to hunt for "Leave seller feedback" buttons (and large-quantity orders don't even show all items!)

The itemized feedback page shows you the advertised condition of the item ("Condition Used - Very Good", for example). Each one gives you the order date, with a link to the order details. Start by giving a number of stars. If everything arrived as described, and relatively fast, consider leaving 5 stars (a seller - to whom I left 5 stars despite an issue - told me that many people never left above 4 stars, even when they were satisfied: don't be "One of those" :)

The goal is to help other Amazon users: my first priority, for example, is that the item be exactly as described. My second is that it be shipped fast. So when I leave feedback, I comment on both of these, which will hopefully help other customers make up their mind between sellers selling the same item. I've often paid a bit more to buy from a better rated third-party seller. Ultimately, the star rating matters more to other buyers than the comments you leave.

Once you've answered Yes or No to the three questions on shipping speed, item condition, and prompt & courteous service, type your comment and click Submit Feedback. If it's the first time you are leaving feedback, make sure that you like the name (screen name) under which your review will be published - if not, click "Use a different name" to create a new nickname.

Update: I've since become an Amazon seller and started selling books. I was surprised by the lack of feedback. Based on this thread, it turns out that only 2-3% of buyers actually leave feedback. I always do, and I will keep doing it now that I know this. You Know that people won't hesitate to leave negative feedback, so be kind to good sellers and leave reviews when you are happy!

Amazon. com Rolls Out Anti-Phishing System for Third-Party Sellers

By Steve Weber

Amazon. com is testing a new order-notification system that may give the retailer a perceived safety advantage over rivals like eBay and PayPal. New desktop software will provide encrypted order alerts, replacing the emails Amazon sends to third-party sellers.

Amazon's Marketplace sellers range from individuals selling a few used books per year to regional bookstore chains with thousands of daily transactions. After several seller accounts were compromised by scammers using phishing techniques in 2006, Amazon began a security crackdown and warned sellers it would discontinue the order emails this month.

"When Amazon scraps the emails, they'll be forcing sellers into a more secure environment," said Kevin O'Brien, founder of SpaceWare. com, a provider of software tools for Amazon sellers. "They'll also be forcing sellers to maintain their customer information in a more secure manner. This is good for sellers and buyers alike."

Since Amazon invited third-party merchants onto its site in 1999, it has sent order notifications via "Sold, ship now" emails containing buyer names, shipping addresses, and email addresses. Most sellers have used the emails as their primary customer-service tool, cutting and pasting the transaction details onto shipping labels and packing slips. Many high-volume sellers also depend on the emails, which they parse and import into databases.

Amazon's security crackdown started last year, when it began restricting public access to its seller email addresses. Seller email addresses had been visible to anyone visiting Amazon's site, then the retailer installed a secure Web contact form similar to eBay's Message Center. Now, initial contact between buyers and sellers must go through the encrypted Web form, unless the buyer and seller have already completed a transaction.

Easy access to email addresses had proved tempting for phishing scammers. Unsuspecting sellers received bogus messages demanding that they log into a Web site and "update" their Amazon account information. When sellers provided their login information, scammers could then hijack the accounts. Scammers used the accounts to create phantom listings for expensive items, then collected the funds until Amazon received nondelivery complaints and shut the accounts.

The problem is industry-wide, and another big target of scammers is eBay and its PayPal unit, both of which email transaction details to sellers. Besides Amazon's new encryption program, its major difference with eBay/PayPal is that Amazon sellers are required to use an internal system, Amazon Payments - the same checkout used for purchasing new items from Amazon. Buyers automatically receive $2,500 of money-back coverage per transaction with any Amazon seller. eBay/Paypal provides up to $2,000 in coverage, but only for certain sellers -­ those with exemplary feedback ratings of 98 percent or greater - and only when using PayPal to pay for the transaction. Otherwise, eBay provides up to $200 in buyer protection for PayPal-funded transactions.

Amazon's new software, Amazon Services Order Notifier (ASON), was released in late January and provides Secure Sockets Layer encryption. But the beta-test version of the software was short on convenience features, and sellers clearly were disappointed. "I can't think of any reason I need this new software. Am I going to lose anything by not downloading what appears to be a cumbersome and unnecessary program from Amazon?" was a typical complaint in the comments section of this post on my blog: http://weberbooks. com/selling/2007/01/missing-manual-for-amazon-services. html

Sellers complain that ASON doesn't allow customized packing slips or batch printing. However, providers of third-party software say the limitations of ASON may make their products more appealing to Amazon sellers.

For example, FillZ says it will add new order retrieval-features that take advantage of the underlying communication protocol for ASON but exceed its limitations:

The ability to check for orders more frequently than ASON's maximum of once every 15 minutes. Exceeding ASON's storage limitation of only 30 days of previous orders, up to a maximum of 5,000 orders. Expanding availability to Mac users. (ASON runs only on Windows machines.)

Although ASON has some limitations, it also has some important advantages, said Shaun Jamison, business development manager at FillZ. "The upsides are no log-in requirement, and it's always running, and it's reliable," he said.

SpaceWare's O'Brien said ASON will certainly be improved as new beta versions are released. But no matter how much Amazon manages to improve it, some sellers have vowed to never use ASON. A vocal minority believes that the software will enable Amazon to spy on its sellers. O'Brien discounts that idea: "Amazon is rolling this out to improve privacy, they're not doing it to snoop on people."

Sellers who decline to use ASON or third-party software will still have a couple of options, though not as handy as Amazon's familiar emails. Sellers can log into their payments accounts on Amazon's site, and Pro-Merchants can download fulfillment reports in a spreadsheet.

Yet another problem with email notifications is spam filtering. To cope with increasing amounts of junk emails, some Internet providers have begun filtering out bulk messages more aggressively. Even emails from legitimate companies like Amazon and PayPal are sometimes deleted before reaching in-boxes. Amazon's ASON system overcomes this problem, since the software runs in the background and periodically polls Amazon. com and retrieves new orders.

About the author:

Steve Weber is author of "The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site." He also writes about online bookselling at his "Selling Books" blog: http://www. weberbooks. com/selling/selling. htm

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How to Cancel an Order on Amazon

Updated: August 7, 2019

This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Together, they cited information from 5 references. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article meets our high standards.

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This wikiHow teaches you how to cancel an order you placed with Amazon using a computer, phone, or tablet. If you're an Amazon seller who received a cancellation request from a buyer, you'll learn how to cancel that order on Seller Central.

Ordering From Etsy or Amazon? A Guide to Third-Party Sellers

Follow these tips to help make sure your shopping experiences go smoothly.

By Andrea Browne Taylor, Online Editor

June 12, 2015

I’m an avid online shopper, but last year I had an online shopping first: I made several purchases through third-party sellers on Etsy. com and Amazon. com. My experience, however, was rather frustrating. Looking back, I partly blame myself. My issues ultimately were resolved, and I received full refunds, but had I done my homework first I probably could’ve avoided the problems altogether.

See Our Slide Show: Worst Things to Buy on Amazon

Here are five things you should keep in mind before buying from a third-party seller on Amazon or Etsy:

1. Past customers can be your best guide

Do some research on a third-party seller before you commit to a purchase. Start by checking the seller’s customer ratings and reviews via their store page. “Read through the kinds of experiences other people have had interacting with these stores, because the reality is you'll have to deal with them directly, not Amazon or Etsy [if your transaction goes awry],” says Seth Barnes, head of marketing for Savings. com, a coupons and deals Web site.

When using Amazon, for example, customers should look for sellers with detailed product information on their listing pages, as well as clear information on shipping options and costs so there aren’t any surprises, says Erik Farleigh, a spokesman for Amazon. You can tell whether an item is being offered by a third-party seller on Amazon by checking the “sold by” and “fulfilled by” fields on a product page. Products that aren’t fulfilled by Amazon typically only list the “sold by” information on the product page. All items on Etsy are sold by third parties.

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2. There’s no such thing as a standard shipping policy

One of the biggest issues I had was dealing with a seller who had listed on its storefront page that its items shipped from New York, when in fact they shipped from China. Needless to say, my order took much longer to arrive than expected. Instead of four to seven days, it took two weeks.

To help avoid this type of inconvenience, contact the seller directly before you buy. Ask upfront where its products ship from. On Etsy, you can narrow down your store options to sellers who are located near you by using the Etsy Local function. This is helpful if you’re in a time crunch and need to boost the odds of a product arriving by a certain date.

3. Amazon Prime membership doesn’t guarantee free shipping

Free two-day shipping on purchases is one of the biggest draws of a $99-a-year Amazon Prime membership. However, what some members may not realize is that only items sold by Amazon (as well as many items fulfilled by Amazon) qualify for that option. Look for the Prime logo. Products sold and fulfilled by third parties do not qualify for Prime shipping and should display this note: “Not eligible for Amazon Prime.”

In addition, according to Amazon policy, comingling purchases isn’t a loophole. If you place an order that contains some items that are eligible for free Prime shipping and some that aren’t, you’ll be charged shipping fees for the ineligible items.

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4. Returns are at a seller’s discretion

When dealing with major retailers, there’s comfort in knowing that if you don’t like a purchase, you can always exchange it or get a refund. Sure, some return policies are more generous than others, but these retailers offer some form of recourse for unwanted items.

That’s not always the case when you buy an item online through a third-party seller. On both Amazon and Etsy, third-party sellers set their own return, refund and exchange policies. It’s important to read a seller’s return policy in its entirety before making a purchase.

5. You’ll need to try to settle disputes yourself

Because neither Amazon nor Etsy has direct access to order information for transactions sold and fulfilled by third-party sellers, they encourage customers to work through any issues directly with the seller before they’ll step in. A dispute could be something like requesting a refund from a seller with a no-returns policy for an item that looks drastically different in person than it did online.

This process can be time-consuming, especially if you’re dealing with an international seller. As I mentioned, one of the sellers I bought from was overseas. It took hours to get responses to my inquiries, largely due to the time difference. I’d send a message in the morning and get a reply back at midnight. Be sure to document correspondence with a third-party seller just in case you have to escalate the situation to customer service at Amazon or Etsy.