In the early hours of November 17th, Amazon sent another notification email to Chinese sellers , "The Authorized Brand Program for Amazon's Third-Party Sales Partners Will Be Stopped" and "The Accelerator Program for Third-Party Sellers and Retail Suppliers Will Be Completely Stopped". Basin of cold water.

According to news on November 25, in response to the news that Amazon will shut down the authorized brand project for third-party sales partners on March 31, 2023, Amazon officially responded today and stated that it will authorize third-party The closure of the brand project has been extended from the original date of March 31, 2023 to September 30, 2023.

The following is the original statement:

Amazon will regularly update its operation plan and continuously evaluate the progress and plans of our products and services. Based on this, we have made the decision to stop the third-party authorized brand project. We value the partnership with sellers and do our best to help sellers in the authorized brand program solve the problems encountered in the adjustment. In the past week, we have had direct and in-depth communication with hundreds of sellers affected by this licensed brand project, and listened to their feedback. We have decided to make the following adjustments to the exit plan for the third-party licensed brand project:

1. We will extend the operation time of the third-party authorized brand project from March 31, 2023 to September 30, 2023;

2. Amazon warehouses will continue to receive shipments created on or before January 15, 2023;

3. We will stop charging project fees for third-party authorized brand projects from December 1, 2022, but sellers can continue to enjoy the existing project rights of third-party authorized brand projects until September 30, 2023. After September 30, 2023, we will terminate the third-party licensed brand program.

At present, there are some false and misleading information in the market. We encourage sellers who have doubts to contact and communicate directly with the relevant team of Amazon Global Store. Amazon will continue to maintain transparent communication with all more than 400 Chinese sellers in the third-party authorized brand program and will provide support.

According to our understanding, sellers participating in Amazon’s US, European, and Japanese Amazon authorized brand projects and accelerator programs have all received notification emails from Amazon.

In other words, private brands such as Amazon basic will be cut off, including FFOB (Featured from our brands) display positions. You must know that this display often appears at the top of the search page, which is higher than many sponsored advertisements.

In addition, Amazon warehouses will continue to receive shipments created on or before January 15, 2023; and from December 1, 2022, project fees for third-party authorized brand items will be stopped, but sellers can continue to enjoy third-party authorized brands The existing project rights of the project will end on September 30, 2023. After that, the third-party authorized brand project will be terminated.

Amazon said that in the past week, the platform had direct and in-depth communication with hundreds of sellers affected in this authorized brand project, and listened to seller feedback, so it decided to make a decision on the withdrawal plan of the third-party authorized brand project. Adjustment. In addition , Amazon will continue to maintain transparent communication with all more than 400 Chinese sellers in the third-party authorized brand project, and provide support, and encourage sellers with questions to directly contact and communicate with the relevant Amazon global store opening team.

What is the authorized brand project

The Amazon authorized brand project means that Amazon authorizes the four major brands of Amazon – Umi, Eono, Hikaro and Find to sell to sellers. A certain commission for the platform, in addition to the sales commission charged by the platform itself, the seller also needs to take an additional 10% of sales as project commission.

The Amazon authorized brand program has been launched in Europe, Japan, the United States, India and other countries around the world. At the end of 2019, more than 3,500 products were launched, including 3C electronics, home furnishing, sports and outdoor, clothing, pet products and other popular categories. With vigorous publicity, until this year, many Chinese sellers have joined the plan one after another.

All sellers who join this program, according to Amazon's official description, can get the following five benefits.

Impact on sellers

Sellers need to spend a lot of manpower and material resources in order to successfully join this project.

In order to launch a product in the Amazon authorized brand project, it needs to undergo various strict audits by the project team, such as factory qualification audits, product qualification audits, etc. After these processes have been completed, the product launch cycle will be much longer than that of ordinary products.

In terms of factory qualification review ( seller launch), the seller must first pass the social responsibility inspection, such as BSCI, SMETA, etc., and then pass the project inspection (FQA). The Amazon team will score the factory in all aspects of procurement, production, and quality inspection. Only when the comprehensive score exceeds 70 points can it be considered as passing the audit.

In terms of product qualification review ( ASIN launch), the time cost of product compliance review is 2 months, and the time cost of product patent review is 2 months. If it is a high-risk product, the seller also needs to provide a high-risk product test report (such as LFGB, CE, etc.), the product must not only meet the local requirements, but also meet the special requirements of the European Union. The cost ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

After all the above processes are completed, it will take about 6-15 months before Amazon will allow the ASIN to be listed.

There are many sellers who joined this project with great difficulty and have not even recovered their money. Amazon suddenly wants to cut off the authorized brand project. In addition to the financial pressure, it also caused a lot of inventory pressure on the seller. A large number of products prepared for this project could not be sold out in a short time.

Therefore, some sellers appealed to extend the sales period of store brand products, because there are still a lot of goods in the process of transportation, production and procurement in warehouses at home and abroad, and they cannot be fully digested even in just a few months during the peak season.

Later, Amazon officially issued a response: "Amazon will regularly update its operation plan and regularly evaluate the progress and potential of our products and services. Based on this, we have made a decision to stop the accelerator project and the authorized brand project of third-party sales partners."

It can be seen that the cancellation of brand authorization is an adjustment made by Amazon in terms of business. Relevant Amazon personnel also said that Amazon is also discussing relevant measures within Amazon to ensure the rights and interests of Chinese sellers.

Judging from this event combined with the future, innovative brands will be a must for sellers in the future, and innovative brands will become a prerequisite for sellers to survive on the Amazon platform.

Therefore, sellers who have not yet made a brand can hurry up and prepare!