BSA flop? / SFP reforms safe-T / Patent Suspensions/ Enforcing shoe size requirements.

Hello All
1) So far, the revised BSA that kicked in Aug 16th has been a major dud as I have seen no changes whatsoever in language or action. According to a new ASGTG sellers’ poll, over 90% of sellers do not have a clear understanding of what the reforms are in real life terms. There have been unconfirmed reports of Buy box changes when Amazon competes on a listing with other sellers. Those changes benefit sellers.

2) Amazon always had this message for RO denials. “We cannot accept your appeal because it does not address the report we received from the rights owner. Please provide the following information so we can process your appeal: — Proof of product authenticity (e.g., invoice, Order ID, licensing agreement, letter of authorization)”. It was always unclear what was meant by Order ID. They updated the help pages to explain . Notice these 2 points
• Amazon order IDs demonstrating product authenticity;
• A court order finding that your product does not infringe the asserted IP, or that the asserted IP is invalid or unenforceable.
I am not aware of a case when an Order ID from Amazon alone was enough to reinstate a RO complaint, but at least it makes sense what they mean by Order ID.

3) United Shippers has limited membership slots available now for importers with 10+ containers per month. You can join their collective group purchasing, for a flat rate annual carrier contract on ocean rates. They offer deep savings by providing direct carrier relationships and omitting the middleman. Inquiries will only be accepted via their website or email usa@u-shippers.com. (sponsored)

4) Changes on the Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) Reimbursement Policies and SAFE-T process. Effective August 31, 2019
Policy updates:
• We increased the reimbursement claim filing window from 30 days to 60 days of a refund being charged to your account. Reimbursement claims must be submitted within 60 calendar days of a refund being charged to your account.
• We eliminated the signature confirmation requirement to proceed with the reimbursement for the orders that the item looks delivered, but the customer claims it is not received. If the delivery label was purchased through Buy Shipping and the tracking shows as delivered, you will be eligible for a reimbursement without signature confirmation.

5) Amazon has been suspending for repeated patent infringements, so treat patent violations as serious as any of the other IP complaints.

6) The Sourcing from India and Sourcing from Pakistan groups have been active in light of the new challenges of importing from China.

7) “Policies and Agreements” has been renamed to “Program Policies” — unsure the significance.

8) If you’re suspended and you submitted a POA, calling account health multiple times a day and constantly emailing Seller Performance can be counterproductive. Do not call more than once a day and give SP at least 48 hours before your concerned they “blocked me” or “playing with me” or “maybe they didn’t get the email?”

9) New! “Dear Seller,
We would like to remind you that Amazon will begin enforcing shoe size requirements for all Shoe ASINs on August 30, 2019, and you may be selling Shoes with non-compliant shoe sizes. Amazon’s shoe size requirements allow us to display a clean and well-organized dropdown list of available sizes on our website, providing a better shopping experience.”

10) Brands and categories that are typically gated for some reason became ungated the past two days. This is clearly a glitch and will likely auto correct.

_ Good Shabbos – Ed Rosenberg – ASGTG – The Voice of the Seller_