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Mon May 3 2021 20:58:59

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

By: Ina Steiner

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Amazon will no longer allow "collectibles" in a number of categories, it told sellers in an email on Monday. Items in affected categories currently listed in "collectible" condition will have to be reclassified as "new" or "used."

The categories in which Amazon is banning collectible condition products are the following: Video Games, Kitchen, Outdoors, Patio, Lawn & Garden, Tools & Home Improvement, and Appliances.

Sellers will be prohibited from listing such items beginning June 30, 2021, at which time Amazon will remove listings that don't comply with the new policy.

What about sellers with collectible inventory stored in Amazon fulfillment centers? "If you have remaining inventory of the affected products in Amazon fulfillment centers, you may continue selling your remaining inventory until June 30, 2021. After this date, you will need to create a removal order."

And, it added, "If no action is taken, the affected listings will not be available for sale in the Amazon store."

The only rationale for the new policy included in the announcement was that it was part of Amazon's "ongoing efforts to provide the best possible customer experience."

All but one of the categories are typically associated with new products - basically home and outdoors categories. But Amazon is excluding collectibles in the Video Games category, which is a head-scratcher.

Video games have soared in popularity - and the average retro video game increased 33% from the start of the pandemic lockdowns in March 2020 until March 2021, according to PriceCharting.com.

One seller writing in a thread about the new policy said they believed in-demand retro games or even newer games that are no longer being produced will trigger a "High Price" alert when sellers are unable to describe them as being in collectible condition.

Another seller was concerned about the prospect of going through thousands of listings and manually changing the condition from collectible to used. And one seller expected to get a lot more questions from buyers as a result of the restrictions in describing condition.

Comments (6) | Permalink

Readers Comments

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

by: Rexford

Tue May 4 08:17:52 2021

I don't know what is going on at Amazon but I receive an email at least once a week of a major change that is disruptive to sellers and causes a great deal of busy work for sellers.

I simply delete the listing. I have no time for this. The item will sell elsewhere and I won't get creamed with Amazon's high fees and I won't lose money on shipping.

And as for "it was part of Amazon's ongoing efforts to provide the best possible customer experience", yet again we have a company that does not fully recognize who their customers are. Yes, buyers are certainly customers, but so are sellers. This behemoth's thinking is clearly "it's our way or the highway".

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

by: TomH

Tue May 4 14:00:20 2021

I agree with Rexford above.

Plus I get many of what I call ''Prove that you did not steal it'' notices that I just ignore, remove the item and go elsewhere.

For several years now Amazon seems to be in outright war with thousands of the individual and small sellers that actually put them on the map. They are now mostly P.....g on their small and individual sellers.

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

by: Chicago48

Wed May 5 07:45:08 2021

I don't know what is going on at Amazon but I receive an email at least once a week of a major change that is disruptive to sellers and causes a great deal of busy work for sellers.
^^
THIS.
Mo work, Mo work.

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

by: bunny

Thu May 6 15:47:24 2021

I can offer a different perspective as an individual. not professional level, seller. I sell items in the kitchen and home improvement categories than are new overstock and discontinued items. Often a professional seller (who can make their own listings) will erroneously categorize an item as "collectible" to avoid competition as individual sellers can not then use the "sell one like this" option. This has happened with a sink strainer stopper, filters for a dehumidifier and with picture hanging hardware... clearly not collectible in any way.

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

by: Chicago48

Thu May 6 17:21:23 2021

@ Bunny. The change to "collectibles" has already taken place. I went through some of my listings "collectibles" to change to Used. Most I could, but there were a few that only - ONLY - had collectibles as the condition option.

Amazon Dumps Collectibles across a Number of Categories

by: Chris ZeroOne

Fri May 14 09:28:55 2021

No word from amazon on NFT collectibles?

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