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Mon Oct 30 2023 14:18:11

Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes

By: Ina Steiner

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Sellers are always leery of people purchasing items with the intention of using and then returning them, especially seasonal or one-time-use goods - such as Halloween costumes and decor. 

So Amazon's tweet the day before Halloween might seem ill-timed for third-party sellers who must abide by Amazon's generous return policy.

"Never be afraid to return items - they don't even need a costume! (Ghost emoji, package emoji) Amazon offers free returns with no box, tape, or label required."

It's not as though Amazon was encouraging Halloween shopping - it's the day before the holiday. While the marketing people might have been being "cute," someone in the seller-experience team should have a chat with them about the message they are conveying to buyers.

Returns are expensive, and sellers have to wait a year before they can resell Halloween items - assuming they are returned intact and resellable. Now that is something to be afraid of.

Update 10/30/2023: It appears Amazon quickly removed the tweet. Here's a screenshot we had taken:



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Perminate Link for Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes   Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes

This user has validated their user name. by: COVID-19

Mon Oct 30 20:40:43 2023

Who are Amazon's brilliant social media handlers / marketing geniuses? Other companies should find out and blacklist them before they ruin your businesses too.

Perminate Link for Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes   Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes

by: LDWCallsOut This user has validated their user name.

Tue Oct 31 13:04:20 2023

Amazon -- and all the other big multi-seller venues -- disregards the sellers as the most significant part of their business model.  Instead, the sellers are just used as bait to lure shoppers in to make transactions.  And a transaction may not be the same as a purchase, unfortunately.  

The lifestyle advisors these days are all about decluttering and not owning stuff and at the same time their colleagues from the same publications are advising what kind of stuff is trendy for any occasion.  The only way you can have trendy stuff that is never kept to clutter up your space is to ''rent'' it from a merchant with the intention to return and not keep the thing.  This is, for a segment of the public, the way business is now done.

Perminate Link for Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes   Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes

This user has validated their user name. by: Rexford

Wed Nov 1 14:17:07 2023

I was going to list an item a few weeks ago that could be used as a Halloween costume.  I decided to wait until Halloween was over due to this same issue.

I feel really bad for sellers who will be deluged with Halloween returns, especially when the liar buyers file SNADs so that sellers have to pay for the labels.

Perminate Link for Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes   Amazon All but Invites Shoppers to Return Halloween Costumes

by: Chicago48 This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 2 07:06:38 2023

Who are Amazon's brilliant social media handlers / marketing geniuses?
^^
Indian programmers.



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