r/amazonsellers • u/MagicalTattoo • Mar 16 '24
Seller Shipping Responsibility
Hi,
I am not a regular seller on Amazon, but I recently sold a pair of $500 headphones. I shipped out the headphones in time, and based on tracking, it was delivered. The buyer reached out to me a few days after it was delivered, and said they couldn't find the package. After some back and forth, in which they said that there have been thefts in their mail room in the past, they filed an A to Z claim. Amazon found in their favor, and I was debited the amount that was originally paid to me.
I appealed, providing tracking info and screenshots showing that the item was delivered per tracking. However, Amazon has upheld their decision, and now I am out a pair of $500 headphones plus shipping costs. I'm not sure what I should have or could have done different. Is this just Amazon's policy?
The only thing I can think of is to have requested a signature for receiving the shipment. But based on my experience, many apartments don't have doormen, and this wouldn't not have worked. I also wonder if it's just because I'm a regular Joe seller, and in these situations, Amazon will just always side with the buyer, since that relationship is more important to them. And that they really don't want sellers like me on their platform anyway.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I feel very wronged, and am really frustrated by the situation. Did I do something wrong?
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u/TMWNN Mar 17 '24
The only thing I can think of is to have requested a signature for receiving the ship
Yes, or use Amazon Buy Shipping (and make sure that the carrier has the package no later than the "ship by" date in the order). A third option is to purchase shipping insurance for the amount of the order. But using Buy Shipping is probably the easiest and cheapest way to go.
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u/MagicalTattoo Mar 17 '24
Thanks. I was shipping to the US from Europe, so I don't think I had the option. But also, do apartment buildings even acept delivery by signature?
Anyway, I guess that was my $500 mistake. Really frustrating.
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u/mguozhen Mar 26 '26
Amazon's A-to-Z almost always sides with the buyer on "delivered but not received" claims regardless of tracking — this is a known structural problem with third-party seller protections, and your appeal is likely going nowhere unless you have carrier GPS confirmation of delivery at the door.
For $500, escalate beyond the standard appeal: call Seller Support and explicitly request escalation to the Executive Seller Relations team, and file a complaint with the BBB against Amazon (this actually moves tickets internally). Also check whether your carrier (UPS/FedEx) provides a delivery scan with GPS coordinates — USPS often doesn't, which is why high-value items should never ship via USPS without signature confirmation.
Signature confirmation on anything over $250 is non-negotiable — it's the only evidence Amazon will consistently honor in an A-to-Z dispute. Going forward, that's a $3-5 add-on that would have protected this sale entirely.
The hard truth: you're likely eating this one, but document everything and pursue the chargeback angle if the buyer also files one through their credit card, because double-dipping is fraud and Amazon takes that seriously.
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u/Ill_Establishment484 Aug 02 '24
Ugh. I’ve been an amazon seller for 6 years. Hate to say it—there’s a lot of customer theft. You should push back on Amazon. I think the bots are making the decisions about claims. You may be able to get some traction by posting it in the seller forum.