Amazon Rolls Out New Resale Program So It’ll Stop Destroying Extra Stock
Image via Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com
Last month, ITV News released an exposé on Amazon destroying unused returned products in the UK. The report alleged that heaps of new products were being marked for destruction, instead of being resold or returned to suppliers.
Now, following the backlash, the retail giant is introducing changes as to how it deals with returned and unsold products, as reported by Engadget.
Amazon confirmed in a statement that it is launching two programs: Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) Grade and Resell, and FBA Liquidations.
For the former, when a product is returned to the company, Amazon will evaluate the condition of the item before re-listing it as a “used” product. Sellers will be able to set the price based on “grades”— “Like New,” “Very Good,” “Good,” or “Acceptable”—signifying the condition of the item.
Alongside that program will be FBA Liquidations, which will allow sellers to returned overstocked products to wholesalers directly from Amazon’s logistics depots. The company will also connect them with Amazon’s bulk resale partners to “recover a portion of their inventory cost.”
“These new programs are examples of the steps we’re taking to ensure that products sold on Amazon—whether by us or our small business partners—go to good use and don’t become waste,” said Libby Johnson McKee, Director of Amazon WW Returns, ReCommerce, and Sustainability.
The FBA Grade and Resell program has launched in the UK, and will be available in the US by the end of the year. It’ll also roll out in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain in early 2022. For sellers who wish to make use of FBA Liquidations, the program is already up and running in the US, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, and will go live in UK this month.
For more information, please head to the official announcement here.
[via Engadget, cover image via Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com]
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