How We Saved $10,000 on Amazon With a Simple Packaging Tweak

In this post/article we’ll be sharing our encounter with “Amazon amazing team”, our blunder in packaging and how we brainstormed a way out of that complication, opened a case and actually got Amazon to PAY US BACK.

The Conflict

“In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity” - Albert Einstein

Back in May right after a successful launch (refer to our launch case study), we noticed an unexpected increment in our Amazon fees. (Refer to image#2)

Turns out, it is a common practice, amazon would rescan units and make changes as it sees fit. We would have to say that our previous packaging was sort of “inconsistent”. It scanned that inconsistent unit and increased the measurement for the whole inventory resulting in a massive bump in FBA charges eating up the majority of margin. (Refer to image#1)

The Solution

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty” - Winston Churchill

Upon notice, shout out to helium alerts, we were quick to get the majority of the stock moved back to a 3PL, where it was then shrink wrapped.?

We say “majority” because we kept some stock in FBA along with consistent Ad Spend to retain our ranking and not go out of stock while we get our inventory prepared.

Doing so, not only kept our sales velocity & rank but by the time our “refreshed” inventory reached FBA, the packaging of the unit was sturdy and untearable, unlike before. Hold up, there’s more. The shrink wrap also helped reduce the measurement of the unit size.

Refer to image#2 to look at the difference it made in the amazon fees. We launched with an amazon fee of $11.82. After the rescan that Amazon fees bumped up to $15.42. And we got a fee of $11.38 after we had revised our packaging.

Outcome

“Focus on the process, the result will follow” - My gym trainer

In simpler terms, the unit was heaps better than before. Both, with respect to size measurement and quality. You can look at the comparison between our product and that of the exact same competitors.

Not only that, we advised our supplier to also do the same for the next inventory which was in production. Doing so sorted out the probability of facing this issue again in the future.

Back & Forth

“If you don’t give up, you still have a chance” - Jack Ma

We were quick to open a case with Amazon with regards to this incident. We had to open quite a few cases to get amazon to not only reimburse but rescan the new refreshed inventory. The cases lasted for about roughly 2-3 months from start to finish.

You can refer to image#4 to look at the before & after response from amazon.

All’s well that ends well

“Paisa laya?” - Akshay Kumar

After our “shrink wrapped inventory” reached the FBA warehouse the inventory was again scanned, the end result was the decrease in FBA charges.

Although at that point they still denied the increment was due to the size measurement, but with consistent pressure, and a long debate with amazon customer service through cases. We were able to convince amazon to reimburse the amount we were wrongfully charged with. Refer to image#6.