On Friday, Amazon replaced descriptors in the “Condition” field of used books and media, but it didn’t tell sellers. Instead, they were shocked to see that some of their items were described as “perfect” or that items that they had entered as “very good” were suddenly displaying to shoppers as merely “good.”
After days of pleading for Amazon to stop what a company moderator had called a “test,” sellers reported on Wednesday they started seeing condition fields revert back to the way they had been.
However, Amazon provided the following update on Wednesday where it said that, aside from eliminating the condition descriptor “perfect,” it would continue running tests:
Hello, Sellers. I have been sharing your feedback and questions with our Amazon partner team, and I have some answers for you.
Some of you asked why we are doing this testing of different conditions. Like everything at Amazon, it begins with the customer. Buyers have given us feedback about used conditions — there are too many, there isn’t enough distinction, etc. That’s why we are looking at different options, and finding out which increase sales without affecting post-purchase metrics.
At the same time, we want to limit seller frustration and pain points. I am happy to report that based on your comments and concerns, we will no longer be showing the condition tier with the “Perfect” option during this testing period. Thanks for your feedback on that, and I will continue to share your comments and updates about this process.
KJ_Amazon
You can read more about the issue on Monday’s AuctionBytes Blog, “Sellers Shocked at Amazon Disruption to Books, Media.”
