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, what the specific requirements are, and more.

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
• Listed products

Additional information

FAQs

Commercial information

Founded	1994
Founder	Jeff Bezos
Headquarters	Seattle, United States
Area served (orders)	Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States
Revenue	USD 514 billion (2022)
Number of monthly unique visitors	circa 2.2 billion (2023)
Setup cost	none
Commission	percentage based on the product category
Other costs	EUR/USD 39.99
Payment	professional merchants: immediately after shipment confirmation (biweekly)
Product categories	pretty much anything
Input language	depends on the country
Input currency	AED, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, INR, JPY, MXN, PLN, SAR, SGD, SEK, TRY, USD
Content creation	yes
Is the marketplace commission available via the API?	yes
Profile on ChannelEngine	Amazon

How to request an account

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

• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Vietnam

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 the upload button. 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

Supported	Not supported
Product offers (GTIN and ASIN matching)	Advanced Amazon features, such as Amazon billing
Product content (excl. product videos)	Returns (marketplace)*
Orders	Sales channels
Cancelations
Returns/refunds (merchant)
Shipments
Carrier mapping
Product variations (sizes/colors)
Marketplace fulfillment service
Repricing

* ChannelEngine does import returns that have been fully handled on Amazon's Seller Central, but it does not import returns that have yet to be handled. Channel returns are only imported for reporting purposes.

Settings and configuration

Setting up each marketplace on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, once you add the marketplace:

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. Finish the Activation.
7. 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 page of your Amazon channel on ChannelEngine.
3. Click Authorize. A pop-up opens.
4. Log into your Amazon account and follow the instructions within.

Plugin-specific settings

• Enable FBM return refunds - ChannelEngine imports fulfillment by merchant (FBM) returns declared on Amazon (i.e.: marketplace returns). Once you enable this option:
  1. ChannelEngine initiates the import of FBM returns once a day.
  2. You choose to either accept or reject returns. If the return is accepted, the buyer gets refunded based on the product's price and the state of the Exclude shipping cost from refund option.
  3. ChannelEngine exports the updated return to Amazon. 
     
• Exclude shipping cost from refund - excludes the shipping cost from the refund amount.
  

Advanced settings

• Use fulfillment service - if you want to import fulfillment stock directly from the channel, enable this option.
• Disable price updates - only enable this option if you do not want ChannelEngine to manage your pricing on Amazon.
• Disable VAT calculation - only enable this option if you use Amazon's VAT calculation service (VCS), and do not want ChannelEngine to calculate VAT.
• Enable new content export - required to create products on Amazon, instead of matching your offers with existing products. If you want this feature enabled, contact your customer success manager or a member of the Support team. To create content successfully, your categorization and mappings must be set up perfectly. Even one incorrect mapping can result in errors.
  NB: if this setting is enabled and the content you need to submit to Amazon already exists, neither the content itself nor the related offer are going to be published.
• Enable image export - the image export is separate from the content export on Amazon. If you want to export your product images to Amazon, contact your customer success manager at ChannelEngine or a member of the Support team.
• Use grandparent products - only enable this option if you have grandparent products that differ in color, 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.

• Enable invoice uploading - configure this setting to automatically upload invoices to Amazon. The options are:

  • None - no changes.
  • Merchant invoices - 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.
    NB: make sure your Invoice number is available in the merchant system or product feed you are working with, so ChannelEngine can include it in the export to Amazon.
• SFP: enabled - enables the 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.
• SFP: real-time SFP labels - 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.) - this information 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 - 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 - 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. It allows ChannelEngine to better assist you if you have problems with your Amazon account:

1. Go to Settings, User permissions on Amazon's Seller Central.
2. Invite ChannelEngine as a user. Make sure to use info@channelengine.com for the invitation, as this is the email address of ChannelEngine's Amazon account.
   
   
3. By default, this access is limited to the Advertising and Performance sections, without the option to view the current inventory.
4. Go back to Settings, User permissions, and on the right-hand side, select Manage permissions.
5. Make sure that ChannelEngine has view-and-edit access to Inventory, and view-access to Orders. Access to additional sections, such as Reports, may be required too – depending on the problem you are trying to solve.

   

Categorization

Categorization is only needed on Amazon if you want to create new products or update existing product information. This includes advanced offer attributes, such as bullet points, search terms, and sale prices. The categorization is straightforward, and both categorization and mappings use attribute names in English. 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

In comparison with other marketplaces, Amazon has no real content API. The inventory loader templates are the only option available. You can download from Amazon's back-end and submit them through an API. Because of the limitations of these templates, the content mapping is not as dynamic and in some scenarios attributes are marked as optional – even though they are mandatory. E.g.: product variations/sizes/colors.

All products (required on v2)

• Applicable dangerous goods regulation - specifies if a product is regulated as a dangerous good or if it contains hazardous material. E.g.: aerosol containers, cleaning products, etc.
• Brand name - the brand of the product.
• Is this product a battery or does it utilize batteries? - if the product contains or is a battery, set this to 'true'.
• Item type - select the correct item type for the product. These can be found on Amazon's browse tree guides (BTGs).
• Product description - the main product description.
• Product 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 (required on v3)

• Brand name - the product's brand.
• Country of origin - the product's country of origin.
• Dangerous goods regulations - specifies if a product is regulated as a dangerous good or if it contains hazardous material. E.g.: aerosol containers, cleaning products, etc.
• Product description - the product's main description.
• 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 on v2)

• 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.
• Applicable dangerous goods regulations 2-5 - specifies if a product is regulated as a dangerous good or if it contains hazardous material. E.g.: aerosol containers, cleaning products, etc.
• Batteries are included - select true or false, based on the kind of product.
• Battery weight (grams) - insert a value of up to ten digits, and two decimals.
• Battery weight unit of measure - define the unit of measurement used to describe the weight of the battery.
• Key product features 2-5 - the highlights of the product, displayed on the product page as bullet points. Note that the bullet point itself is not required, just the text – up to 500 characters per attribute. Special characters, such as ®, ™, and © are not supported.

All products (optional on v3)

There are dozens of optional attributes that apply to all products on Amazon v3. The list below highlights some of the most important ones:

• Bullet point 1-9 - the product's brief, descriptive text regarding specific aspects. Do not use all caps or abbreviations. Do not include information on fabric content, care instructions, or anything else that has dedicated attributes.
• List price with tax - the product's manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP). Amazon may display a strikethrough price based on the value you map to this attribute, as well as the product's sale price in the past 30 days.
• Swatch product image locator: swatch image URL - 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).
• 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.

Product-type specific

• Adult flag - specifies if the product is only suited for adults. E.g.: erotic products.
• Color map - your color attribute, mapped to the colors available on Amazon. E.g.: 'crimson' to 'red'.
• Color name - the color of the product.
• Item condition - specifies the condition of the product. Its values vary per product type. E.g.: a TV can be refurbished, but a backpack cannot.
• Department - defines the target audience. E.g.: women, boys, babies.
• Material composition - the generic material composition of the product. E.g.: 20% polyester, 80% cotton.
• Outer material type - the material of the outer clothing or accessory. E.g.: cotton.
• Recommended browse nodes - sets the specific category, which is what Amazon bases its search on. E.g.: backpacks > casual daypacks.
• Size map - your size attribute, mapped to the sizes available on Amazon. E.g.: XXL -> XX-large. If your item has no variant sizes, use One size.
• Size name - the size of the product. E.g.: XXL.

If you want to set variants, i.e.: different sizes/colors of a product, the Relationship type and Variation theme must also be set. For more information on this, check out Amazon: creating variant products.

When mapping additional fields such as height or width, it is mandatory to also map the unit of measurement used. E.g.: centimeters, millimeters, inches, 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 on v2 and v3

• Business price - the price that B2B customers on Amazon Business pay for your product. Price rules are currently not applied to business prices. If you do not select Amazon Business (B2B) or both under List product on, this price field is not exported. As there is no option to make attributes required based on other options, the Business price is mandatory.
• Fulfillment override - specifies the type of fulfillment you want to use. If all of your products are fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), select either this option or Automatic. As long as there is FBA stock for a product, the offer is set to FBA; once this stock is depleted, the system switches to merchant fulfillment. More information on this can be found on External fulfillment: FBA, LVB, and FBC.
• List product on - specifies if your products are listed on the B2C Amazon marketplace, on Amazon Business (B2B), or both.
• Standard price - the standard price field for Amazon pricing.

Optional

Externally assigned product ID type and Externally assigned product ID value (or Product ID type and Product ID value, if you are using the v2 channel) are required to use an identifier other than the European article number (EAN).

• Applicable dangerous goods regulation - if this product is fulfilled by Amazon and the content export is not enabled, mapping a value to this attribute is mandatory. Select the purposes for which your product is regulated as a dangerous good or hazardous material (hazmat). E.g.: 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.).
• Battery cell composition - if you indicated that batteries are included in the product, mapping a value to this attribute is mandatory.
• Batteries included - if you set Is this product a battery or does it utilize batteries? to true, mapping a value to this attribute is mandatory.
• 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 field 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:
• Amazon standard identification number (ASIN) - Amazon's unique identifier.
• 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 Product ID type. Amazon validates these values, so if you, for example, map the type ASIN but fail to map a 10-character uppercase alphanumeric value and the Product ID value, Amazon rejects your offer.
• Is this product a battery or does it utilize batteries? - if this product is fulfilled by Amazon and the content export is not enabled, mapping a value to this attribute is mandatory. The options are true or false.
• Lead time to ship - the number of days to process the 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.
• Max. seller 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 Max. seller price.
• Min. seller 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 Min. seller price.
  NB: although Amazon's Max. seller price and Min. seller 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 Max. seller price and Min. seller price to them. You can then enter 'delete' as a value without validation errors. For more information, 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 this must be a fixed price, it cannot be a percentage of the product's default price. E.g.: a single pack of rechargeable AA batteries costs EUR 10, but buyers pay EUR 40 if they purchase five packs and EUR 80 if they buy ten packs.
• Quantity price lower bound 1-5 - the quantity required to qualify for the price set in the respective Quantity price attribute.
• Shipping group - specifies shipping groups 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 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 also costs more and takes longer.

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. More information can be found on Amazon: how to set up shipping time and costs.

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.

Carrier names

As well as carrier codes, Amazon lists carriers as carrier names. Some newer carriers are only available by their carrier name, which can vary per Amazon country. The exact name of the carrier can differ as well. Amazon does not share the list of available carriers or their exact notation. Therefore, ChannelEngine cannot offer these options under the Carrier mapping as it does with the carrier codes.

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 on 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

There are three aspects that 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 different currencies. 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.

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.

You can either filter on Channel status (Invalid for all products that ChannelEngine has not exported, such as products with an empty EAN or products marked as Not published because Amazon refused them) or use the Validation and feedback tab to see all known validation/feedback errors for specific products. Amazon has a long list of different possible errors, and not every error is clear and logical.

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: stock locations.
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.

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

Key	Conditional*	Description
amazon_business	No	If the order is a business order according to Amazon (yes/no).
buyer_tax_registration	Yes	The company's legal name, as part of the buyer's tax information.
buyer_tax_registration_jurisdiction	Yes	Tax region, as part of the buyer's tax information.
buyer_tax_registration_type	Yes	The first tax classification name, as part of the buyer's tax information.
is_prime	No	If the order is an Amazon Prime order (true/false).
is_premium	No	If the order is an Amazon Premium order (true/false).
shipment_service_level_category	No	The shipment service level category.
shipment_service_level	No	The shipment service level.
user_id	Yes	The citizen ID of the buyer.

Order line extra data

Key	Conditional*	Description
ORDER_COMING_FROM	Yes	The user-friendly name of the sales channel.
ASIN	No	The ASIN of the order item.
PROMOTION_DISCOUNT	Yes	The discount amount of the order item.
charge_shipping_cost_discount	No	The shipping discount of the order item.
Promotion discount for line # - {orderItem_id}	Yes	The promotion ID of the order item.
Product quantity ordered -  {orderItem.Title} {orderItem.SKU}	Yes	The quantity ordered of the order item.
GIFT_MESSAGE_TEXT	Yes	A message written by the buyer for the person who is receiving the order.
GIFT_WRAP_LEVEL	Yes	The selected gift wrapping option. For more information, refer to the Manage gift options article on Amazon Seller Central.
GIFT_WRAP_PRICE	Yes	The price of the selected gift wrapping option.
GIFT_WRAP_TAX	Yes	The tax amount related to the selected gift wrapping option.

* Conditional fields only display if the marketplace provided a value.

Settlement report

You can retrieve a settlement report from ChannelEngine via the Merchant API. The settlement report contains information on transactions and other financial activity, which can help you reconcile the totals you see on ChannelEngine or your merchant's system, and the amount received from Amazon. ChannelEngine generates a report per each Amazon sales channel, e.g.: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, etc.

There are two types of settlement report: 

• Summary - a high-level financial overview. It includes the total number of transactions, currency, and start and end dates.
• Detailed - a detailed report containing all transactions. It includes the currency, transaction type, order date, VAT, and net/gross amount.

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 latency (i.e.: the number of days it takes to process orders), and the 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 back-end. 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.com. 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 via their API. If you have an order containing four items and need to cancel one item, all four items are cancelled and refunded.

It is possible to perform a partial cancelation via Amazon's Seller Central, and you are advised to do so if you do not want to cancel the whole order.

Although Amazon states that it is possible to submit partial cancelations via their API, this has been tested several times and is currently not working. ChannelEngine is implementing a new Amazon API with support for partial cancelations, but this has yet to be tested.

Why does it take around 30 minutes from placing an order at 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.

Does ChannelEngine support advanced Amazon features, such as financial reports or recommendations?

Currently ChannelEngine only supports default Amazon marketplace features, such as product uploads and importing orders. Advanced features from Amazon's Finance or Recommendations API are not supported.

Can I sell 'certified refurbished' products through ChannelEngine?

Yes. However, to use this specific condition 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 EAN, or the ASIN?

The one truly unique attribute for a product on Amazon is the ASIN. While in theory an EAN/GTIN should be unique (each product should only have one unique identifier), multiple products on Amazon have the same EAN – or the EAN 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.

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 can I work with channel returns on Amazon?

To handle a return initiated by the customer directly on Amazon, go to Orders, Manage returns on Amazon's Seller Central.

Why does Amazon ask me to renew the ChannelEngine app?

That involves the authorization for a new Amazon API connection that is not available yet. If your Full MWS Access app is set to active, your connection is working as it should – as this is the app ChannelEngine currently works with.

How is VAT data related to B2B orders handled in Amazon's v3 API?

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. Add 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 cancelation 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.

Updating one of my product's bullet points on ChannelEngine overrides all of its bullet points. Why is this happening?

There are several mappable bullet point attributes on Amazon v3. Each of those attributes corresponds to a single bullet point on the PDP. However, as these attributes are part of a single object in Amazon’s back-end, updating one of them overrides them all. That also applies if you map them in Amazon's back-end and update them via ChannelEngine.

E.g.: if you map Key product features: bullet point 2-7 in Amazon's back-end and only map Key product features: bullet point 2-3 on ChannelEngine, a context export results in Key product features: bullet point 2-3 reflected on the PDP – while Key product features: bullet point 4-7 are removed from Amazon's back-end and not shown on the PDP.

Why do my image exports to Amazon result in the “does not match regex pattern '^(https?|s3)://” error?

If your images are hosted on Amazon servers (i.e.: AWS), you can provide URLs to your product images on the Content mappings tab. If your images are hosted elsewhere, do not map them on the Content mappings tab. ChannelEngine can then export your images via a feed, which Amazon accepts.

Can I submit product videos to Amazon via the SP-API?

No, it is not possible to submit product videos to Amazon via the SP-API. To upload product videos to Amazon, go to Seller Central.