Amazon's "Charge When Ship" - Alienates Sellers

Many Amazon sellers on the Amazon Sellers Forums and on other forums are upset about the new "Charge When Ship" program which has gone into effect.

Some feel like the new program is Amazon's way to bully the larger sellers into signing up for Shipped by Amazon, thus causing sellers to pay more fees. They also feel that it doubles sellers time involved in processing a sale due to buyer questions about tracking numbers not registering any information with the delivery service as soon as the buyer gets the number from the seller.

These higher volume sellers have declared that they will no longer sell on Amazon because of "Charge When Ship".

At this time, it seems that relatively few lower volume sellers are complaining about "Charge When Ship".

What does this mean to buyers? Several sellers have stated that due to the shrinking product availablity and lack of competition caused by sellers leaving the site, they are raising prices on their products.

About Charge When Ship (from Amazon's site)

Charge When Ship is an easy way to process orders and keep buyers informed about shipments, providing the best customer experience possible. Here's how it works:

When you ship an order, you confirm the shipment and provide shipping information.

We display the shipping information in the buyer's Amazon account, and we also send the buyer an e-mail notification with all of the shipping information.

As long as you confirm that the order was properly shipped, you will be paid in accordance with the Marketplace Participation Agreement. We charge the buyer after you confirm shipment (rather than when the buyer places the order), and then we credit your Marketplace Payments account. Of course, just as now, there may be circumstances where payment may later need to be refunded, for example when the buyer does not receive the order, or it is not as described.

Click here to watch a recorded Charge When Ship webinar.