Amazon sells over 12 million products worldwide from a variety of businesses that use their platform. If you're using Amazon for seller purposes, there's a significant chance that you've performed an FBA audit in the past.
It's essential to keep track of your inventory as it flows in and out of Amazon storage warehouses, but what happens when you notice a series of discrepancies?
We've got you covered with this guide that provides everything you need to know about the reasons to perform audits and how they work.
All you've got to do is keep reading!
The first thing to think about when selling products on Amazon is how you want to sell them. All sellers have one of two options including:
With that said, after you've permitted Amazon to take on your fulfillment processes, it means they will assume a significant percentage of the risk of fulfillment as well.
Depending on the number of losses taken during each selling period, it can leave your business in the red as far as losses go.
Again, if Amazon is in charge of fulfilling your customer purchases, not only are they taking on the risk, but they will also take accountability for errors that take place during the shipping process.
Keep in mind that for both parties (you and the customers) to receive reimbursements, any errors made need to be caught ahead of time.
The thing is, this doesn't always happen because of the number of businesses Amazon works with.
For this reason, it's essential to use the FBA audit procedure to ensure any inventory discrepancies or inconsistencies are caught promptly.
As we've stated, to receive an Amazon seller reimbursement, you've got to perform routine audits and keep track of your inventory. While minor losses don't seem to mean much initially, this isn't the case.
If you never take the time to check, these losses can add up quickly, costing you more money in the long run. One reason that audits are necessary is that Amazon gives a specific period for errors to get caught before you're no longer eligible to receive a reimbursement.
The period you have from the time the error has been made is 18 months.
If you're performing audits, you can submit the documentation needed to receive your reimbursement.
The longer you wait, the higher the chances are that Amazon will reject your request for reimbursement.
Another reason why audits need to be performed routinely is that every issue or loss likely isn't getting tracked by Amazon. While Amazon has taken over the fulfillment sector of your business, it's still your job to perform routine inventory checks.
This means you need to do your due diligence to stay on top of these risks.
Some of the discrepancies that can cause loss include inventory going missing in the warehouse.
As we stated, Amazon stores and fulfills orders for several businesses, meaning it's not uncommon for your product to get lost while in storage.
Another issue or risk is that your products can become damaged after they are shipped to the customers.
Amazon doesn't provide reimbursement for items that are damaged during the shipping process, but they will reimburse you if you've been overcharged in terms of the pick and pack fee.
When it comes to an Amazon FBA audit, there are several things you can expect to happen, with the first being an overall review of things like:
Another thing your chosen auditing company discusses with you is the communication between your business and customers. You must respond to negative and positive customer feedback.
The reason is that it shows potential customers that you take their opinions seriously and want to engage with them.
Next, depending on the company you work with to perform your audit, you'll go over apparent issues causing you to lose money each quarter.
By identifying these issues, you can get one step closer to finding a solution to the problem to reduce the number of future losses you have.
You'll also learn some valuable tactics that will help you to improve your current performance. Not to mention companies like Legacy Seller will help you get the seller reimbursements you deserve.
The first type of reimbursement is if a customer isn't happy with the product they've received and request to either return it or get their money back.
Amazon's priority is to ensure that customers feel satisfied no matter what business they deal with. This means these returns and refunds can affect the bottom line you've set for your product sales.
Another reimbursement type, as we mentioned before, is when you've been overcharged in terms of the pack and pick fee. It's crucial to perform accounting audits to ensure that any missing funds you might have don't go unnoticed.
If you don't take the time to check, chances are Amazon won't either. The last type is when your inventory is damaged when it's in transit to the Amazon storage facility or shipped to customers.
When it comes to your FBA audit, you must perform them regularly. This is to ensure you submit information for your FBA reimbursements promptly.
Understandably, you might not always have the time to do this, and that's precisely why you need to bring in help from a company that specializes in this.
Are you looking for a company that knows how to conduct an FBA audit the right way?
There's nobody better than Legacy Seller; we're here and ready to lend you a hand!
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