With December 25th fast approaching, this post no doubt finds you well into your preparations for holiday selling on Amazon.com. We know that you count on us to maintain customer confidence, and we want to assure you that we are committed to ensuring all of our third-party sellers provide a high-quality customer experience and that all orders will be fulfilled and delivered in manner that meets or exceeds our customers’ expectations.

As part of our strategy to maintain the continued confidence of buyers and sellers in the Amazon marketplace this holiday, we will be implementing Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store. Effective September 19, 2007, we will not be accepting new sellers to sell within the Toys & Games category. Effective November 19, 2007, existing sellers who do not meet the following performance criteria will not be able to sell products in the Toys & Games category during the period beginning November 19, 2007 and ending January 7, 2008.

These are the Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games category that will be effective November 19, 2007.

     *  Seller must have been selling in the Amazon Marketplace for the 60 consecutive days preceding November 19, 2007.
     *  Seller has processed and shipped at least 25 orders total during the lifetime of seller’s account (does not need to be in the Toy & Games category).
     *   No greater than 5% negative feedback rate for the last 90 days.
     *  Must have feedback received on at least 5 orders for the last 90 days. 
     *  No greater than 0.5% seller fault claim rate for the trailing 90 days. (See how to estimate this below.*)

While you can reasonably determine whether you are eligible to sell within the Toys & Games category from the guidelines above, we will provide final notification by the middle of November.  Starting in September, we will send a weekly performance check-in for every seller active in the Toys category.  It will include a review of your negative feedback and claims rate. This will allow you to monitor your performance and take corrective action if necessary.

Starting November 19, 2007, ongoing monitoring will be in place to watch for sellers who have poor negative feedback ratings, guarantee claims rate, high cancel rates, late shipping, high refund rate and/or fail to comply with terms of Amazon.com’s policies. Amazon.com reserves the right to cancel listings, suspend sellers or prohibit the selling of specific products during the holiday season to maintain a seller platform that is safe for buyers.

Here are some steps you can take to ensure you remain eligible to sell in this category for the holiday season. Since these are general good business practices, you probably already observe most of them:

·             *  Monitor your seller performance metrics and take corrective action if necessary.
     *  Check your orders frequently using the Manage Your Orders feature in your Seller Account.
     *  Don’t show more stock for sale than you actually have available.
     *  Frequently update your product quantities regularly to reflect what you have on hand.
     *  Make sure your shipping lead times are accurate and take into account the time it takes for you to package and transfer the package to your transport service.
     *  Help customers track their shipments by providing a confirmation of shipment. 
     *  Ensure your policies are up-to-date.

Keep in mind, these Holiday Selling Guidelines are only applicable to the Toys & Games category. Sellers can continue to list eligible non-toy or -game ASINs in other non-restricted categories. If you would like to view a list of stores eligible for Marketplace selling, please visit our Condition Guidelines page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161294
(Help > Selling at Amazon.com > Listing > Condition Guidelines)

For tips on how to sell more effectively, check out our Marketplace Sellers Best Practices page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=12758941
(Help > Selling at Amazon.com > Feedback & Performance > Seller Best Practices)

We are interested in your opinions, and encourage you to submit feedback by sending an e-mail to:

holiday-toys-selling@amazon.com

We appreciate your continued support as we work to create the most rewarding shopping experience for our buyer and seller communities.

Access Your Performance Summary from your Seller Account via the "View your performance summary  link" under the Reports heading; or go there directly using this url:  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/seller-performance/summary.html

Use 3 months of total orders and 3 months of totally A-to-z Guarantee Claims. The rate takes into account that an A-to-z Guarantee Claim is usually filed at least 30 days after an order. Therefore to estimate the rate:

Seller Fault Claim Rate =

= [total claims for 3 months] / [total orders for 3 months (with one month lag)]
= [claims for APR MAY JUNE] / [orders for MAR APR MAY]= [100] / [1000]= 0.1 or a 10% claim rate

Why are there Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games category?
       Customers have high expectations for purchases during the holiday season, and we want to ensure that all of our third-party sellers in Toys & Games are up to the  task of providing high-quality customer experience and that all orders are fulfilled and delivered in a timely manner that meets or exceeds our customers’ expectations.

When will you allow all sellers to list in the Toys & Games category again?
       Starting January 7, 2008 all Sellers will be able to list in this category again.

How do I know if I'm pre-approved to list product within the Toys & Games category?
       Sellers will be notified in early to mid November if they are eligible to sell within the Toys & Games category. Effective September 19, 2007, no new sellers will be approved  to sell within the Toys & Games category for the remainder of the year.

How can I build up my performance rating?
       Follow these best practices:
       http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=12758941
        (Help > Selling at Amazon.com > Feedback & Performance  > Seller Best Practices)

How can I build my reputation?
       http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=13107471
        (Help > Selling at Amazon.com > Feedback & Performance > Feedback)