Amazon: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Seattle-based marketplace Amazon. Here you can find information on how to request an Amazon account, how to configure this marketplace on ChannelEngine, and what the specific requirements are.

Table of contents

Commercial information

How to request an account

Associated costs

Marketplace features

Settings and configuration

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Pricing
• Amazon's automated pricing
• Listed products

Additional information

FAQs

Commercial information

How to request an account

To sell your products on Amazon's marketplace you need a professional seller account. You can request one via Amazon's country-specific Start selling with Amazon pages:

• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Ireland
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States

During the account creation process, you can set up your store on Amazon with your own company logo. To do so, do the following on Amazon's Seller Central:

1. Go to Settings, Your info & Policies.
2. Under Your information & Policies, click Profile.
3. Under the Seller logo section, click Upload image. For a logo to be displayed, the image size must be exactly 120x30 px, and the file size must be no larger than 2 MB.

If you have trouble logging into Amazon's Seller Central, contact their support team directly.

Associated costs

Amazon's professional account costs EUR/USD 39.99 per month. Amazon also charges a commission on products sold, called referral fees. This commission depends on the type of product, but its minimum is EUR/USD 0.30 per item. For more information on the commission per product category, check out Selling on Amazon Fee Schedule.

Marketplace features

1. Amazon only supports line breaks <br> in HTML formatting.
2. If you process marketplace return requests for Fulfilled by merchant (FBM) products outside of ChannelEngine, enable the Import FBM return requests as received setting.
3. Import returns on Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) products for reporting purposes.
4. Due to a regional limitation, Amazon UAE and KSA do not support automatic FBM return approvals on Amazon Seller Central. Therefore, you must review each return request on Amazon Seller Central and either approve or reject it within 24 hours. After that, returns can be imported to ChannelEngine. To learn more on how to manage returns on Amazon Seller Central, check out the article Amazon: returns.
5. Multiple fulfillment types are supported on orders and shipments, including Easy Ship and Seller Fulfilled Prime. For details on specific fulfillment programs, check out the section Fulfillment by merchant (FBM) below.  
6. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is supported. For more details on FBA, check out the section Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) below.

Settings and configuration

Setting up each channel on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, though not every channel includes the steps listed below.

1. Go through the Setup.
2. Create a Product selection.
3. Complete the Categorization.
4. Set up the Mappings: content, offers, and carriers.
5. Configure the Pricing: rules and currency conversion.
6. Fill in the Stock settings.
7. Finish the Activation.
8. Check the Listed products overview.

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

Setup

On ChannelEngine

1. Open an incognito window in your browser.
2. Go to the Setup step of your Amazon channel on ChannelEngine.
3. In Connection, verify your Seller ID.
4. In Authorization, click Authorize. A pop-up opens.
5. Log in to your Amazon account and follow the instructions there.

Settings

• Only use FBA - if you only use FBA for fulfillment in the given Amazon country, choose Yes. If you use hybrid fulfillment or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) for all products, choose No. Hybrid fulfillment is the default in your Amazon plugin. For more details on FBA, check out the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) section below.

Plugin-specific settings

• Import FBM return requests as received - If set to No (default), ChannelEngine imports FBM returns declared on Amazon (i.e.: marketplace returns) as In progress. If set to Yes:
  1. ChannelEngine initiates the import of FBM returns once per day, with the status Received.
  2. You process return requests outside of ChannelEngine, e.g.: you have a setup on Amazon to support automated refunds based on refund policies. Or you use another return request processing tool.
• Exclude shipping cost from refund - excludes the shipping cost from the refund amount.
• Enable buyer cancelations - if enabled, ChannelEngine imports cancelation requests submitted by buyers on Amazon. If the setting Disable auto order cancelation for new orders is off, ChannelEngine automatically cancels orders in status New. If automatic order cancelation is disabled, the request is imported, and you are notified of a request to cancel an order or its part.

Advanced settings

• Use fulfillment service - if you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or hybrid fulfillment to fulfill your products, you must enable this option to import fulfillment stock directly from the channel. For more details on FBA, check out the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) section below.
• Disable price updates - if you do not want ChannelEngine to send any price updates (i.e.: regular price, discounted price) to Amazon. Only enable this option if you do not want ChannelEngine to overwrite your pricing on Amazon.
• VCS is enabled on my Amazon account - enable this setting if you use Amazon's VAT calculation service (VCS), and do not want ChannelEngine to calculate VAT. Once enabled, ChannelEngine fully relies on Amazon's VAT calculation and does not calculate VAT independently. Note that Amazon's VCS only applies to countries in the European Union. To learn more, check out the article VAT Calculation Service on Seller Central.
• Disable price updates - indicate if you want ChannelEngine to update prices on your Amazon items. Only enable this setting if you use an alternative to update your prices.
• Use grandparent products - only enable this setting if you have grandparent products and want to use them as the group parent for your product variations. On Amazon, the grandparent is the 'parent' of the child products. Values under the regular parent products are ignored. If you currently have products on the channel, they will be deleted and new products will be created following the new hierarchy. Keep this setting disabled if your products are organized in a parent-child structure. For more guidance on setting up product variations on Amazon, check out Amazon: creating product variations.
  • Include standalone and parent products without grandparent - (appears if Use grandparent products is enabled) only use this setting in combination with Use grandparent products. Enable this setting to include standalone products and parent-child products without a grandparent in the content export. This setting is useful if your products on ChannelEngine are organized in a grandparent-parent-child structure, but you also have standalone products and/or products that are organized in a parent-child structure.
• Enable invoice uploading - configure this setting to automatically upload invoices to Amazon. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: order invoices. The options are:
  • None - no changes.
  • Merchant invoices - an invoice is provided by you. When ChannelEngine receives a shipment, it exports it – even if there is no invoice attached to it.
  • ChannelEngine invoices - an invoice generated automatically by ChannelEngine is exported with the shipment.
• Language for listing errors - select the language in which you want to read listing errors that Amazon returns back to you.
• SFP: enabled - enables Amazon's Seller-Fulfilled Prime (SFP) feature, which allows merchants to buy Prime shipping labels from Amazon. Note that only a small number of merchants on Amazon are eligible to use this feature. The options are listed below. For a high-level overview of handling orders and shipments with a shipping label, check out the article Merchant API: shipping labels (last-mile delivery).
  • SFP: real-time SFP labels - (appears if SFP: enabled is enabled) enables real-time shipment exports to Amazon when an SFP shipment is created. This allow the shipment to be exported directly, so the shipping label is available sooner.
  • SFP: ship from (name, address, etc.) - (appears if SFP: enabled is enabled) is needed as the 'from' address on SFP shipping labels. Note that this setting influences your choice of carriers that are available for you, so it must be filled out correctly.
  • SFP: carrier will pickup - (appears if SFP: enabled is enabled) influences which carriers are available for you to ship with when using SFP. Indicate if you want the carrier to pick up the parcels at your own warehouse.
  • SFP: delivery experience - (appears if SFP: enabled is enabled) sets your delivery requirements. E.g.: if a signature is needed for the delivery.

On Amazon

Recommended additional steps

The following steps are optional, but highly recommended. They allow ChannelEngine to better assist you if you have problems with your Amazon account:

1. On Amazon's Seller Central, go to Settings (gear icon), User permissions, Global user permissions.
2. Open the Authorized partners tab, and click Add authorized partner.
3. A pop-up appears with an invitation link. Copy this link and share it with a member of the ChannelEngine Support team.
4. Once Support receives the link, they request access to your account data, such as inventory and orders.
5. You receive an email with this access request. Open the email, and click Accept to approve.

Categorization

Categorization is only needed on Amazon if you want to create new products or update existing product information. The categorization is straightforward, and both categorization and mappings use attribute names in the local language of the country. Before setting the specific product category/browse node, you need to set the product type, which is done under Categorization.

E.g.: a backpack is first categorized as luggage, luggage. Under the content mapping, you can select the actual recommended browse node and other relevant attributes, specifying that the product is a casual backpack.

Mappings

Content

The content mapping is not as dynamic, and in some scenarios, attributes are marked as optional – even though they are mandatory.

All products (required)

• Export content - choose whether to export product content to Amazon. The options are:
  • Yes - export your entire product content to Amazon. Before choosing this, make sure that all required attributes are mapped. If you submit the content for the existing products, the data you export must match what is already in Amazon's catalog.
  • No - do not export product content to Amazon. Use this option to link your offers to existing product content. This is useful if the product already exists on Amazon and your content differs from what is in Amazon's catalog.

• Title: item name - the product's title, according to the following structure: [brand] [style name] [product name] 'for' [target], [color] [scent] [size] [pack information]. E.g.: Naturally Natural 24/7 Deep Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin, 100 ml (Pack of 4). 

All products (optional)

There are dozens of optional attributes that apply to all products on Amazon. The list below highlights some of the most important ones:

• Update type - changes the kind of update applied. The default value is Update. If you are not familiar with the impact of the Clear and overwrite type, do not change this attribute or content updates will delete your existing content.
• Compliance media content language - the language used for the content of the compliance document.
• Compliance media content type - the type of the compliance document. E.g.: user guide.
• Compliance media source location - the link to the compliance document.
• Main product image locator - the product's main image. The requirements are:
  • Background - white (RGB: 255, 255, 255).
  • Be publicly available to Amazon or hosted on AWS, such as Amazon S3 or Amazon CloudFront.
  • Accurately represent the product you sell and match the product’s title.
  • Show the entire product within the frame of the image, not cutting off any part.
  • Do not show accessories/props that are not included with purchase.
  • No text, logos, borders, color blocks, watermarks, or other graphics covering the product or in the background.
  • No nudity or sexually suggestive images.
  • No pricing details.
  • No images of customer reviews, five-star imagery, claims (e.g.: free shipping)
• Other product image locator 1-8 - the product's additional images. For image requirements, check Main product image locator.
• List price/value with tax - the product's manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), including tax. Amazon may display a strikethrough price based on the value that you map to this attribute, based on what the product's selling price was in the past 30 days. (The List price attribute is located in the Category-specific mappings of the Amazon US plugin because it is required in some categories and is conditionally required in others.)
• Swatch product image locator - the URL of the product variants' thumbnails. These thumbnails are visible on the product's parent page. The swatch image requirements are:
  • Resolution - 72 ppi, with a maximum height or width of 30 px.
  • File format - JPG or JPEG.
  • File name - [Merchant product number] + [swatch] + [file extension], separated by periods. E.g.: BL123456.swatch.jpeg.
  • Localized name - Localizador de imágenes de productos Swatch: URL de la imagen de la muestra (ES).

Category-specific

• Brand - the product's brand.
• Country of origin - the product's country of origin.
• Color - the color of the product.
• Department - defines the product's target audience based on gender or age. E.g.: women, boys, babies.
• DSA responsible party address - the email address or URL of the responsible person in the EU. If you already submitted this responsible person’s information in the past, make sure you use the same email or URL.
• Generic keyword - any terms that may be relevant to customer searches for SEO purposes. Use a semicolon ( ; ) to separate keywords.
• GPSR manufacturer email address - the email address or URL of the manufacturer to comply with the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR).
• GPSR safety attestation - select 'yes' if your product does not have any warning or safety information.
• List price/currency - the currency of the product's list price. If no value is mapped, then ChannelEngine automatically fills it for you.
• Material - the material composition of the product. Use a semicolon ( ; ) to separate materials. E.g.: 20% polyester; 80% cotton.
• Product description - the product's main description. Include unique product features, details on the product line, and specifications. Do not use all caps.
• Recommended browse nodes - sets the specific category, which is what Amazon bases its search on. E.g.: backpacks > casual daypacks.
• Size - the size of the product. E.g.: XXL.

To set up product variations, the Relationship type and Variation theme must also be set. For more information on creating product variations, check out Amazon: creating product variations.

When mapping additional attributes such as height or width, it is mandatory to also map the unit of measurement used, e.g.: cm, mm, etc.

Offer

There are only a few required offer attributes on Amazon, and they are mainly used to create offers with your price and stock on existing products on Amazon – even the ones you created.

Required

• Fulfillment override - specifies the type of fulfillment you want to use. To use hybrid fulfillment, select Automatic. As long as there is FBA stock for a product, the offer is set to FBA; once this stock is depleted, ChannelEngine automatically switches to merchant fulfillment. For guidance on which option to choose, check out ChannelEngine: hybrid fulfillment. For more guidance on FBA, check out the section Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) below.
• List product on - specifies if your products are listed on the B2C Amazon marketplace, on Amazon Business (B2B), or both. This attribute is required only if B2B sales are available in the country where you are selling, currently: Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States.
• Purchasable offer: your price - the standard price field on Amazon, when no discounted price is mapped. If your tenant uses pricing v2, this attribute does not appear in Mappings but must be mapped under Pricing, Price rules under a different name – B2C.

Optional

To use an identifier other than the European article number (EAN), you must map either of these attributes Externally assigned product ID type and Externally assigned product ID value, or Merchant suggested ASIN.

• Business price - the price that B2B customers on Amazon Business pay for your product. This attribute is only required if you want to sell on Amazon Business. If you do not select Amazon Business (B2B) or both under List product on, this attribute is not exported. Amazon advises that you map a lower value to Business price than to Purchasable offer: your price. If your tenant uses pricing v2, this attribute does not appear in Mappings but must be mapped in Pricing, Price rules under a different name – B2B.
• Condition note - describes the condition of the item. Only needed when selling refurbished or used items. Specific examples and additional information on this can be found on Amazon's Condition guidelines.
• Condition type - specifies the general condition of your item, if you are not using Amazon's content export but want to set it on the offer. This attribute can contain any text, but in order for it to work, the condition has to match the name of the allowed condition value exactly. Because the allowed conditions are different for each product type, it is not possible to provide a global option list under the Offer mappings. For further details on this, check out Amazon's Adding your products.
• Externally assigned product ID type - specifies the type of identifier for your products. This is used for the offer export and for the content export to Amazon. If you do not map any type, it defaults to the EAN. Other than the EAN, Amazon makes the following identifiers available to merchants:
  • Global catalogue identifier (GCID) - relevant if you use brand registry.
  • Global trade item number (GTIN) - similar to the EAN.
  • International standard book number (ISBN) - only relevant for books. 
  • Pharmazentralnummer (PZN) - only relevant for pharmaceutical products.
  • Universal product code (UPC) - similar to the EAN.

• Externally assigned product ID value - contains the correct value for the set Externally assigned product ID type. Amazon validates these values, so if you select the type UPC but fail to map a 12-digit number under the product ID value, Amazon rejects your offer.
• Fulfillment availability: lead time to ship (handling time) - the number of days it takes to process an order before shipping it. Enter a whole number between 1 and 30. If you ship on the same day, either enter 1 or leave the attribute unmapped.
• Fulfillment availability: restock date - the date when the product is going to be restocked.
• GHS classification - the GHS class of the product, if it is classified under the UN globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals (GHS). E.g.: explosive.
• Hazmat aspect: hazardous substances regulation - the aspect or supervisory authority used for the information on hazardous products. E.g.: Vereinten Nationen (United Nations).
• Hazmat value: hazardous substances regulation - the UN number of the product, if it contains hazardous substances according to the UN list of dangerous goods regulation. E.g.: UN 1993 (for flammable liquids).
• Main offer image locator - the URL of the main image if the product is refurbished or used. This only applies to products that are not in the New condition.
• Max order quantity - the maximum number of units that can be purchased per order.

• Merchant shipping group - specifies shipping group names for your products. This is only needed if you do not use Amazon's default template exclusively, and have multiple shipping templates. E.g.: you have small items that can be sent by a regular carrier in a small box for a fixed price, but also very large items that need to be transported by a specific carrier – which costs more and takes longer. Based on your provided group names, ChannelEngine automatically maps this attribute to the relevant shipping template ID on Amazon. To set up shipping groups on Amazon, go to Settings, Shipping settings, Create new shipping template on Seller Central. In these templates, you can set the countries/regions you want to ship to, the average transit time, and the shipping price. To learn more, check out Amazon: how to set up shipping time and costs.

  NB: together with a correct shipping group, Amazon also requires a handling time per product in Offer mappings. To indicate it, map the attribute Fulfillment availability: lead time to ship. The name of the attribute is localized according to the language of the channel, but you can see the term 'fulfillment availability' by hovering over the right attribute. You can set this attribute to 0 (same day) on ChannelEngine.
• Merchant suggested ASIN value - the product’s Amazon standard identification number (ASIN). For books, it is recommended to use the ISBN-10 format because Amazon uses ISBN-10 as the ASIN. To easily convert your ISBN to ISBN-10, use a replacement tag. For guidance on replacement tags, check out ChannelEngine: replacement tags for channel mapping. If no value is specified, the system finds a match based on the Externally assigned product ID type/value.
• Other offer image locator 1-5 - the URL of the additional product images. This applies only to products that are not in New condition.
• Product tax code - the product tax code provided to you by Amazon.
• Purchasable offer: discounted price schedule end at - the last day when the discounted price applies. After that, the standard product's price is displayed. To set up a discount on Amazon, you must map this attribute.
• Purchasable offer: discounted price schedule start at - the first day when the discounted price is going to apply. The discounted price overrides the standard product’s price. To set up a discount on Amazon, you must map this attribute.
• Purchasable offer: discounted price schedule value with tax - the price at which you offer the product for sale. To set up a discount on Amazon, you must map this attribute. If your tenant uses pricing v2, this attribute does not appear in Mappings but must be mapped in Pricing, Promotions under a different name – Discounted price with tax.
• Purchasable offer: maximum seller allowed price - the highest price this product may have. To remove it, enter 'delete' instead of a price value. Entering 0 (zero) does not disable the attribute. This attribute is used to configure Amazon's automated pricing. 

• Purchasable offer: minimum seller allowed price - the lowest price this product may have. To remove it, enter 'delete' instead of a price value. Entering 0 (zero) does not disable the attribute. This attribute is used to configure Amazon's automated pricing. 

  NB: although Amazon's Purchasable offer: maximum seller allowed price and Purchasable offer: minimum seller allowed price attributes accept numbers and text, ChannelEngine's default Max. price and Min. price only accept numbers. To use 'delete' as a value, create custom attributes with the type 'text' and map your Purchasable offer: maximum seller allowed price and Purchasable offer: minimum seller allowed price to them. You can then enter 'delete' as a value without validation errors. To learn more, check out Amazon's Minimum and maximum price validation article. 
• Quantity price 1-5 - the price charged for the quantity set in the respective Quantity price lower bound attribute. Note that:
  • The price per unit must decrease as the quantity increases. E.g.: USD 12.00 when buying a single unit, USD 10.00/unit when buying two units, USD 8.00/unit when buying four units, etc.
  • Provide a fixed price here, and not a percentage of the product's business price.
  • This attribute only applies to Amazon Business.
• Quantity price lower bound 1-5 - the minimum quantity of products that need to be purchased to receive a discount specified in the Quantity price 1-5 attribute. This attribute only applies to Amazon Business.
• Safety data sheet: URL value - the URL of the safety data sheet (SDS) or the material safety data sheet (MSDS) required for dangerous goods or goods containing hazardous materials.
• Supplier declared dg/hz regulation value - select the purposes for which your product is regulated as a dangerous good or hazardous material (hazmat). E.g.: a dangerous good for transportation, hazmat for waste. Note that even certain common products are regulated as dangerous goods (e.g.: nail polish, aerosols, cleaning products, etc.). If this product is fulfilled by Amazon and the content export is not enabled, mapping a value to this attribute is mandatory.

The following offer attributes may appear on this channel if this channel uses pricing v2:

• Allow promotion below min price - set to true to allow the promotion price to drop below your product's minimum price. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: promotions.
• Allow repricer exclusion rule above max price - set to true to allow the repricer to override your maximum price limit and export a higher price.
• Flip protection time - how long ChannelEngine should keep your price steady after winning the buy box. Use this attribute in combination with the Offensive strategy in repricing. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: repricing v2.
• Repricer strategy - the strategy you want to apply when repricing the product. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: repricing v2.

In Mappings, Fee group mappings, map the marketplace fee group ID of the product. 

Carrier

While Amazon allows unregistered carriers*, it is advised to map to one of their registered carriers and include track-and-trace information. This has an influence on your delivery performance, specifically the valid tracking rate. If you use a known carrier with valid track-and-trace information, Amazon can confirm deliveries by directly requesting updates from your carrier. If your carrier is not listed (e.g.: bpost), you can use Other instead.

*Amazon.ae requires you to map to its list of registered carriers.

Carrier names

Along with carrier codes, Amazon also identifies carriers by names. Some newer carriers are only available by their carrier name, which can vary per Amazon country by their format or spelling.

ChannelEngine can only retrieve a single, global list of carriers from Amazon. As a result, the names you see on the Carrier mapping tab may show carriers not applicable for your country. E.g.: you can select DHL Parcel UK as a carrier option on Amazon Spain, but that results in an error.

If you know the exact value of a carrier name, there are two options:

• Do not set up any carrier mapping, and directly add that as a carrier method to your shipments – so your original shipment already has the correct carrier method. In this case, ChannelEngine automatically exports it as a carrier name to Amazon.
• Select Other as a carrier method in the dropdown menu (1, in the image below). Once selected, an additional field appears below it, and you can fill out the desired carrier name (2, in the image below).

Pricing

Three aspects require special attention when using Amazon:

• If your default currency is EUR, a currency conversion is needed for Amazon UK, as it expects all prices in GBP. The same goes for Amazon Mexico and Amazon United States, or any other Amazon with a currency different from EUR. This is only needed for the offers; orders are automatically converted to the account's default currency.
• Amazon supports automatic repricing. Make sure to read all documentation on repricing before activating it. Repricing is one of the most powerful and complex parts of ChannelEngine, and a solid understanding of it is required to prevent issues.
• As both the offer and content exports use the same type of template, prices mapped under the Content mappings are exported as the prices for your products. Make sure that you do not have any price mappings or incorrect price mappings set up in the Content mappings.

Strikethrough pricing

Amazon supports strikethrough pricing (a.k.a. from-for pricing or reference pricing) with three price attributes: 

• List price a.k.a. MSRP or catalog price
• Your selling price 
• Your discounted price. 

Amazon decides which prices to show as the "from" and "for" prices, if it decides to show any strikethrough price at all. Additionally, you specify the discount start and end dates. 

To configure these values:

1. Go to Mappings.
2. Map Purchasable offer: discounted price schedule value with tax to your ‘to’ or discounted price. If your tenant uses pricing v2, this attribute does not appear in Mappings but must be mapped in Pricing, Price rules or Pricing, Promotions under a different name – Discounted price with tax.
3. Map the List price/value with tax to the catalog price of the product. This attribute might appear in Content mappings, so if you do not send content to Amazon via ChannelEngine, then you may not need to map this attribute. Search Offer mappings for similar list price attributes, and if available, fill those in.
4. If you have not mapped a list price in Mappings, then make sure you configure your Base price and Min price in the Pricing step; these attributes reflect your selling price, which Amazon could publish with a strikethrough. 
5. In Offer mappings, map the sale end date* (a.k.a. Purchasable offer: discounted price schedule end at) to the date when you want to end your discount. 
6. In Offer mappings, map the sale start date* (a.k.a. Purchasable offer: discounted price schedule start at) to the date when you want to start your discount.
7. In Pricing, you must re-map the sales start and end dates when you set up Discounted price with tax there, either in Price rules or Promotions. 
8. For detailed guidance on mapping your starting prices, your discounted price, and the discount's start and end dates, check out Amazon: set up strikethrough pricing with pricing v2.
9. Save your changes and wait for Amazon to validate them. Whether the strikethrough price appears on the listing is entirely up to Amazon.

* Use the format yyyy-mm-dd. E.g.: 2022-01-31. Make sure to respect the fair pricing and time duration requirements for discounts within each country.

Amazon's automated pricing

Amazon offers automated pricing, which allows you to adjust your product prices automatically within a defined range. This works in a similar way to ChannelEngine's repricing. However, you cannot use both features at the same time – only one can be active.

To use automated pricing, you need to create a custom rule(s) on Amazon Seller Central. The rule defines how your price changes depending on the sales volume or market conditions. To learn more, check out the Seller Central article Create a pricing rule.

ChannelEngine retrieves these custom rules from Amazon. You can then assign them to specific products and define a minimum and maximum price for each. To configure this on ChannelEngine, map the following attributes under Offer mappings:

• Purchasable offer: automated pricing merchandising rule ID - the name of the custom rule on Seller Central. ChannelEngine uses this name to match the correct rule ID and apply it to the product.
• Purchasable offer: minimum seller allowed price - the lowest price this product may have, including VAT. To remove it, enter 'delete' instead of a price value. Entering 0 (zero) does not disable the attribute.
• Purchasable offer: maximum seller allowed price - the highest price you are willing to sell the product for, including VAT. To remove it, enter 'delete' instead of a price value. Entering 0 (zero) does not disable the attribute.

Listed products

If you have problems with products not appearing on Amazon (especially if you are trying to create products that do not exist yet), check the Listed products section for more information.

Search

At the top of the Listed products overview, there is a search bar and several filters. Use the search bar to look up products in the following ways:

• By full identifier - enter the exact EAN, GTIN, or Merchant product number to find a specific product. To find multiple products at once, separate the identifiers by spaces. E.g.: 76946 76947 76948.
• By partial identifier or name - enter part of the EAN, GTIN, or Merchant product number, or a single word from the product name. E.g.: searching for 2 returns all products with 2 in the identifier.
• By phrase in the name - enter multiple words from the product name in double quotation marks (" "). E.g.: searching for "pants - purple" returns all products that include this phrase in their name.

You can also filter on Channel status, e.g.: Invalid for all products that ChannelEngine has not exported, including products with an empty EAN, or Not published for products that are not published because Amazon refused them. 

Validation and feedback

Use the Validation and feedback tab to see all known validation/feedback errors for specific products. Amazon has a long list of various possible errors. Below is an overview of the general categories in which these errors fall:

• Content validation - errors related to validating your product content before ChannelEngine submits it to Amazon.
• Content feedback (channel) - feedback from Amazon, related to your product content at the moment it is submitted to Amazon.
• Data import feedback (channel) - feedback from Amazon, related to any product content and offers after they are submitted to Amazon. Amazon can provide this feedback with a delay of weeks. 

• Offer validation - errors related to validating your product offer before ChannelEngine submits it to Amazon.
• Offer feedback (channel) - feedback from Amazon, related to validating your product offer at the moment it is submitted to Amazon. 

When creating products, fixing one error might trigger new ones, which can make the process tedious. A general rule of thumb is to map the attributes gradually and follow the error messages closely. Once the product is exported, check for any new errors, fix those, and proceed with mapping.

Additional information

Configure 'Ship from' addresses

To add a Ship from address to shipments exported from ChannelEngine to Amazon:

1. Enable the Stock locations and Order routing settings on ChannelEngine. For more information, check out the article ChannelEngine: advanced order management [add-on].

2. Create a stock location with the exact same name, address, and phone number as you have in the Ship from address on Amazon.

   

3. When creating a shipment, map the ID of the relevant stock location to the Shipped from stock location ID field – instead of using the Shipped from [country] field, which should be empty.

When ChannelEngine exports these shipments to Amazon, it takes the address of the stock location into account. If the information matches with what is configured on Amazon, Amazon recognizes the address and uses it as the dispatch location for the shipment.

Grade and resell products

If you make use of Amazon’s fulfillment services, you qualify for their Grade and resell program. This program allows you to resell products returned to Amazon’s fulfillment centers as ‘used’.

Amazon assigns a new SKU to grade and resell products according to the format: [amzn.gr]. [SKU]-[defect identifier]-[suffix]. The suffix indicates the product's condition. I.e.: like new (LN), very good (VG), good (GD), and acceptable (AC).

ChannelEngine automatically matches the SKU of your grade and resell products to the SKU of the equivalent product on ChannelEngine. The grade and resell SKU is stored as order line extra data, under the GRADE_AND_RESELL_SKU field on the Order details page. E.g.: amzn.gr.Awesome-Product-SKU-LN.

Order extra data items

When an order is imported to ChannelEngine, ChannelEngine also fetches extra data items related to the order itself – or to order lines. This extra data is specific to this marketplace. An explanation of each can be found below: 

Order extra data

Order line extra data

* Conditional fields are only displayed if the marketplace provides a value.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

To manage FBA orders on ChannelEngine, you must configure your own settings and, in most cases, work together with your ChannelEngine contact person to refine your settings for optimal order processing. 

If using FBA for all orders: 

1. Contact ChannelEngine to notify them that you only use FBA in a given Amazon country. They will optimize your Amazon plugin for that country.
2. In Setup, Settings, enable Only use FBA. 
3. In Setup, Advanced settings, enable Use fulfillment service.

If using hybrid fulfillment:

1. In Setup, Settings, leave Only use FBA disabled.
2. If you do not have the same stock pool across all Amazon countries, contact ChannelEngine to configure specialized SKU suffixes for your products. For guidance on SKU suffixes, check out Amazon: SKU suffix.
3. In Mappings, Offer mappings, ensure that you select the correct option in Fulfillment override; generally, the best option is Automatic. For guidance on which option to select, check out ChannelEngine: hybrid fulfillment.

If you use Seller Flex for fulfillment, manage your Seller Flex stock directly on Amazon, and ChannelEngine marks each incoming Seller Flex order as FBA. Note that FBA on Amazon Japan does not support returns. 

Fulfillment by merchant (FBM)

If you use Easy Ship or are enrolled in Seller Fulfilled Prime, configure your settings to support your order processing workflow. For detailed guidance on using Easy Ship or Seller Fulfilled Prime via ChannelEngine, check out Amazon: Easy Ship and Amazon: Seller Fulfilled Prime.

FAQs

Where can I set my shipping time?
The shipping time on Amazon is set in the shipping template in Amazon's back-end. On ChannelEngine, you can set the Fulfillment availability: lead time to ship (i.e.: the number of days it takes to process orders), and the Merchant shipping group (i.e.: the name of the shipping template you want to use on Amazon). However, the countries you wish to ship to, the shipping time, and the shipping costs are all set in Amazon's backend. Go to Settings, Shipping settings, Edit existing template/Create a new template.

Can an order be canceled once placed?
Yes, but only during Amazon's order processing period – circa 30 minutes. Once an order is available to retrieve through the Amazon API (i.e.: ready for dispatch), it can no longer be canceled. Therefore, an Amazon order marked as New on ChannelEngine does not automatically have its status changed to Canceled or receive a Cancelation requested warning, as is the case for marketplaces such as bol. Note that this refers to cancelations coming directly from Amazon, not manually requested by the buyer or returns.

Can I cancel only part of an order?
While it is possible to submit your order in multiple shipments, Amazon does not support partial cancelations. If you have an order containing four items and need to cancel one item, all four items are canceled and refunded.

Why does it take around 30 minutes from placing an order on Amazon until it is visible on ChannelEngine?
This is because Amazon holds the order for this period of time before it is made available to retrieve through their API. During these 30 minutes, buyers can still cancel the order. You might receive an email stating there is a new order before these 30 minutes have passed, but ChannelEngine has no influence on this period.

Can I sell 'certified refurbished' products through ChannelEngine?
Yes. However, to sell refurbished products on Amazon, you need to be enrolled in Amazon's Renewed program. 'Certified refurbished' products usually have their own unique ASINs, to differentiate them from the regular new or used products.

What if my custom carrier is not known to Amazon?
If you are using a custom carrier that Amazon does not know, set the carrier mapping to 'Other' – without entering anything under the Carrier name field below it. ChannelEngine must export it as 'Other', with only the Shipping method set to your custom carrier. Any other combination results in either a rejection by Amazon or incorrect tracking information on Amazon's Seller Central.

What makes a product/offer unique on Amazon: the SKU, the GTIN, or the ASIN?
The one truly unique product identifier on Amazon is the ASIN. While in theory any other GTIN is also unique, multiple products on Amazon can have the same GTIN – or the GTIN is used for the wrong product. As a workaround, the ASIN can be used to identify the correct product. If you open a product on Amazon using a browser, you can see its ASIN in the address bar.

Is it possible to match my offers with existing products by using an identifier other than the ASIN?
Yes, it is possible to connect your offers with existing products by using any unique identifier. E.g.: EAN, ISBN, UPC, etc.

What clothing sizes should I use on Amazon?
In 2020, Amazon started a process to standardize clothing sizes, with the goal to improve its customers' experience. To find out what sizes can be used, and how, check out the Clothing size standards article on Amazon's Seller Central.

How do marketplace returns work on Amazon?
To handle a return initiated by the customer directly on Amazon, you can either:

• Go to Orders, Manage returns on Amazon's Seller Central.
• Handle marketplace returns via ChannelEngine. To do this, make sure the setting Enable FBM return refunds is activated.

How is VAT data related to B2B orders handled on Amazon?
ChannelEngine can retrieve two VAT-related reports from Amazon. The first one is generated hourly by Amazon, but ChannelEngine retrieves it according to the following criteria:

• If the related task has never been executed successfully, ChannelEngine retrieves the data related to the past two days.
• If the related task has been executed successfully, ChannelEngine retrieves the data related to the past 12 hours.

By default, the column used to populate incoming B2B orders is buyer-vat-number. If this column is not available, ChannelEngine uses the column buyer-tax-registration-id. If that data is missing from your orders, do the following:

1. Log in to Amazon's Seller Central.
2. Go to Orders, Order reports, Add or remove order report columns.
3. Enter the VAT details and Buyer tax identifiers columns, then click Save changes.

For more information, check out Section 4 of Amazon's VAT calculation service (VCS) guide. 

If ChannelEngine is unable to retrieve the required data from that first report, it retrieves a second report: Amazon's VAT calculation report. By default, all VAT data from the past 14 days is imported. 

Once ChannelEngine fetches that data, it updates the VAT number of existing business orders – as long as the Channel order number matches. Orders that already have a VAT number are not updated. This VAT number corresponds to the value in the Buyer tax registration column in Amazon's report.

Note that it can take some time to import this data, which is only available for the following countries:

• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
• United Kingdom

According to Amazon, orders are available in this report three days after the shipment.

How are cancelation reasons exported from ChannelEngine to Amazon?
You can use ChannelEngine to handle canceled orders. Once you fill out the fields in the Create cancellation window and click Add, ChannelEngine exports the cancelation information to Amazon.

Cancelation reasons are exported to Amazon as follows:

• Out of stock, Damaged, and Incomplete result in the No inventory status.
• Canceled after consultation with customer support results in the Buyer canceled status.
• Invalid address has the Shipping address undeliverable status.

Can I submit product videos to Amazon via ChannelEngine?
No, it is not possible to submit product videos to Amazon via ChannelEngine. To upload product videos to Amazon, go to Seller Central.

Are there any restrictions regarding SKUs on Amazon?
Yes, there is a character length restriction for SKUs on Amazon. To ensure error-free content and offer exports, keep the product SKU (i.e.: the Merchant product number on ChannelEngine) under 40 characters.

If you use ChannelEngine’s SKU suffix feature, which adds a country-specific suffix to your SKUs (e.g.: Product-SKU-FBM-FR), make sure the original SKU is no longer than 30 characters.

Can I keep the Export content attribute set to No, and create products on Amazon's backend instead of on ChannelEngine?
Yes, it is possible to create products directly on Amazon's Seller Central if those products' Export content attributes are mapped with No – with ChannelEngine handling only the creation and update of offers. However, you must make sure that the SKUs you use on Seller Central are exactly the same as the related SKUs on ChannelEngine.

My product content is the same on ChannelEngine and on Seller Central, but the product page shows something different. What is wrong?
Amazon uses an algorithm to decide which product content is used. If you submit new content, such as an image or title, but the algorithm gives a higher score to the previous content, the product is not updated.

Over time, your content gains authority on the platform – with vendors having higher authority, especially if they own the brand. If you are a brand owner and your content is not reflected on the product page, contact Amazon.

If your content appears in English, even though you submitted it in another language on ChannelEngine, this is likely due to the buyer's language settings. Amazon may show product pages in English by default, depending on the buyer's preferences or location. However, buyers can manually switch the product page to their preferred language.

Does ChannelEngine support Amazon's Seller Flex?
Yes, ChannelEngine does support Amazon's Seller Flex. Once you upload your stock to Amazon via the dedicated Seller Flex portal, ChannelEngine imports it accordingly – and all related orders are marked as FBA orders.

Does ChannelEngine support A+ Content?
No, ChannelEngine does not support A+ Content yet. You can create, update, or delete A+ content directly on Seller Central.

Why does my product show the warning "No issues on listing item" on the Listed products page?
If your product shows the warning "No issues on listing item" and has the status Unpublished, it means the product was successfully created in Amazon's catalog. However, it is not yet visible in Seller Central because it has no stock available.

Once the product is back in stock and ChannelEngine updates this information on Amazon, the warning disappears. Bear in mind that this warning only applies to products fulfilled by the merchant (FBM).

Why do I get an error when submitting prices to Amazon Japan?
Amazon Japan only accepts whole numbers for pricing attributes. Prices with decimals, such as 50.99, are not supported because the Japanese yen (JPY) does not have smaller currency units. Submit whole numbers instead. E.g.: 50.