eBay and Walmart Prohibit Use of Amazon Logistics

Amazon told sellers who use its Multi-Channel Fulfillment service about a new feature it’s adding when new fulfillment fees go into effect on June 1st.

Multi-Channel Fulfillment is like FBA, but is open to orders placed by shoppers on merchants’ websites or through other marketplaces. The new solution is designed for sellers who list on eBay and Walmart, which prohibit sellers from using Amazon Logistics.

In a post on Thursday, Amazon announced:

“We are adding the option to block orders from being shipped by Amazon Logistics, for a 5% surcharge. Because sales channels like eBay and Walmart prohibit the use of Amazon Logistics, you will be able to block this shipping method at the account level within your FBA settings or for individual orders.”

(We wrote about Walmart’s policy in this post from 2017.)

Amazon said sellers could also sign up to be put on the waitlist for the beta test of the unbranded packaging and international shipping features. (Many sellers would rather not have Amazon-branded packages going to their customers who ordered on another channel.)

In addition to reminding sellers of the higher fees coming in June (an increase of about 3% on average, it said), it said it had recently launched many “top-requested” MCF features, including the following:

• We’ve improved on-time shipping for customer orders. Standard-speed orders for in-stock inventory are now shipped out within two business days of order creation, and expedited and priority-speed orders are shipped out within one business day. For more information, go to our MCF Help page.
• We’ve added the ability to track through AfterShip to ensure Amazon Logistics shipments are trackable on popular channels such as Etsy and Wish. You can also search any MCF tracking number on Swiship.com. Tracking numbers can be accessed on your Seller Central order details pages and via our tracking API. You can have the number sent to the customer automatically if you provide their email address when you submit the customer order.
• We use your MCF volume when we calculate your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score, which may help you qualify for unlimited storage. To view your IPI score, go to your Inventory Performance dashboard.

Check out the announcement and seller comments on Amazon Seller Central.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.