Amazon warned sellers against entering buyers’ homes, citing a new “home entry compliance enforcement policy” that will be implemented starting May 15, 2022, which states “items must be delivered only to the customer’s porch, driveway, or garage.”
The reaction from sellers (always a witty bunch) was puzzlement and jokes, given the fact that most sellers use shipping carriers to deliver their orders to customers.
“Wait, you guys are going into people’s houses?” wrote a seller.
“Ah, nothing beats it! drop of a package, crack a soda and relax on their couch for a few hours,” another seller wrote. “Cosmo Kramer Delivery Service,” a seller responded.
And the jokes continued:
“Like many of you, I saw this and was like, “was I supposed to be delivering INSIDE the houses this entire time???””
“There goes the just-in-time toilet paper delivery business model I’ve been working on.”
“The packages are coming from inside the house!!!”
Jokes aside, one seller shed light on how this could indeed impact regular sellers. “So…inside delivery/threshold for freight shipments is now a no go? Is Amazon going to reimburse me when a customer has to drag a 150LB tv up their driveway or stairs and it gets damaged,…”
Another seller thought it might have to do with a program they described as follows: “I am 100% FBM and have been approached by Amazon to list some of my inventory in a program in which I would be responsible for delivery. The Amazon rep wanted to know who would be delivering, what kind of vehicle(s) would be used for delivery and so on. I was able to set the distance from my warehouse that I would accept orders from. I considered it for a day then respectfully declined the offer due to time restraints on my part. This notification could be in regards to that but idk.”
Amazon has programs for sellers to fulfill items locally, including a Buy Online Pick Up In Store program (BOPIS) and Local Selling.
The Home Entry Compliance policy that takes effect next month is as follows:
Home Entry Compliance Policy
Sellers are required to deliver items to the customer’s porch, driveway, or garage. Sellers are not allowed to enter a customer’s home unless they can attest to having met one of the following requirements:
Enrolled in the Amazon ShopLocal program
Have Amazon help you deliver your items
Entering a customer’s home without having met one of these requirements is a policy violation that may result in a restriction of your ability to sell using Amazon’s seller-fulfilled shipping.
