Amazon.com Help: Holiday Selling Guidelines in Toys & Games

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Holiday Selling Guidelines in Toys & Games

To maintain buyer confidence in Amazon this holiday season, we are implementing Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store.

Effective November 15, 2011, only those sellers who meet the following performance criteria will be eligible to sell in Toys & Games from November 15, 2011, until December 30, 2011:

Seller's first sale on Amazon.com must be prior to 09/19/11 (sale does not need to be Toy-specific)
Seller must have processed and shipped at least 25 orders (do not need to be Toy-specific) during the 60 consecutive days preceding 11/1/2011.
No greater than 1% short-term order defect rate as of 11/1/2011.
No greater than 2.5% pre-fulfillment cancel rate for the trailing 30 days preceding 11/1/2011.
No greater than 5% late shipment rate for the trailing 30 days preceding 11/1/2011.

* Orders fulfilled by Amazon will not be subject to the holiday season restrictions, provided your account is in good standing.

You can find your Customer Metrics in your seller account. If your performance does not meet the above criteria, we encourage you to take corrective action.

We will provide final notification about your eligibility to sell in the Toys & Games store by the middle of November.

Beginning November 15, 2011, we will monitor the performance and listings of sellers who are approved to sell in Toys & Games during the holiday season. Amazon Services reserves the right to cancel listings, suspend accounts, and prohibit the selling of specific products to maintain a seller platform that is safe for buyers.

Here are some steps you can take to remain eligible to sell in Toys & Games throughout the holiday season:

Monitor your Customer Metrics and take corrective action if necessary
Utilize Fulfillment by Amazon to ship products to your customers.
Check your orders frequently in the Manage Orders section of your account
Minimize order cancellations; don't show more stock for sale than you actually have available
Ship orders and confirm shipment in a timely manner
Ensure your seller policies are up-to-date
If you work with outside drop-shippers, solidify their SLA commitments to your company for providing prompt and timely shipping confirmation
Learn more about Improving Your Feedback Rating.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why are there Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store?
Customers have high expectations for purchases during the holiday season. We want to ensure that our sellers in Toys & Games provide a high-quality customer experience.

When will you allow all sellers to list in the Toys & Games store again?
All sellers will be able to list in this category again by December 30, 2011. We will post an announcement in your seller account when the holiday season restrictions have been lifted.

How do I know if I'm approved to sell in the Toys & Games store?
Sellers will be notified in early to mid-November if they are eligible to sell in Toys & Games. Effective September 19, 2011, no new sellers will be approved to sell in the Toys & Games store until the holiday restrictions have been lifted.

How do the Holiday Selling Guidelines affect me if I use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)?
Orders that are fulfilled by Amazon will not be subject to the holiday season restrictions, provided your selling account is in good standing.

If you are otherwise ineligible to list in Toys & Games during the gating period (November 15 through December 29), you can gain eligibility if you convert your listings to FBA.

First, if you havent already, sign up with FBA. Then, use the Manage Inventory tool in your account to enable your listings with FBA:

Log in to your seller account.
In Manage Inventory, find your listing you would like to enable with FBA. Toys & Games products that are ineligible for listing during the gating period are marked with a yellow icon on the far left of the row.
In the Actions column, select "Unblock with FBA" from the dropdown menu.
To convert your listings and ship the inventory to Amazon now, click the Convert & Send Inventory button. To convert them now and ship them later, click Convert Only.

Do these restrictions apply to my Webstore?
Yes. Again, this is to ensure that that our sellers in Toys & Games can provide a high-quality customer experience and that all orders are fulfilled and delivered in a manner that meets or exceeds our customers' expectations.

What is an order defect?
An order is defined as having a defect if we have received a negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or a service credit card chargeback on that order. The "order defect rate" is defined as the number of orders with a defect divided by the number of orders in the time period of interest. It is represented as a percentage. Order defect rate is the key measure of your ability to provide a good customer experience. Learn more about performance criteria for sellers in the Seller Performance Measurement Help page.