Selling on Amazon FBA is fantastic, but like with all things Amazon, some bizarre things can happen. One thing that you might come across as you start selling a higher volume of orders on FBA is an order coming in that shows a price of $0. Yeah, it might be a little unsettling to see at first, and you might be wondering what the heck it actually means.
So, let’s chat about it! Keep in mind, this is a Handmade at Amazon blog and resource so if you're looking for information on perishables or non-handmade items for example, this is not necessarily the answer you might be needing.
When you see an FBA order that's come in, and it shows a $0 balance, that means that Amazon has replaced the original order for the customer at no cost to them.
Why Does Amazon Replace Items Like This?
They made an announcement back in September 2018 that there was going to be a new initiative of handling exchanges for FBA orders in an easier way. A way that means you don’t need to take time out of your busy day to action an exchange request.
As long as the customer requests a replacement and not a refund, and you have available inventory of that product still in the FBA warehouses, it is an option that you might come across more frequently.
How Does It Work?
Don’t worry! As per Amazon’s policies on this exchange/replacement process:
If a customer requests a replacement, Amazon ships one from your inventory and asks the customer to send the original item to one of our returns centers. If they don’t send it back, or if the original item is returned damaged, Amazon will reimburse you according to the FBA customer returns policy.
You are not actually out any money for this $0 balance order. The customer is required to return the original, and if they don't within 45 days or it is returned damaged, then you will receive reimbursement by Amazon as you do for other reimbursement reasons.
If the customer does return the original, then it is placed back into your inventory or marked as unfulfillable if it was damaged or defective. In that case, you just create a removal order and have the original item returned to you for 0.50 per unit to check, fix, repackage, and send back into the warehouse later on.
Do you have any other questions about FBA or the replacement process for orders? Let me know in the comments, or let's schedule a mentor call to chat about your Amazon Handmade business!
