"Customer damaged" keeps killing reimbursements

“Customer damaged,” they said. “We’ll reimburse,” they said. Yeah… about that.

• No more manual repricing headaches 🏷️
• Returns that never get reimbursed 😬
• Fewer middle-class shoppers 📉
• Upsell without annoying your buyers 🆙

BLACK MARKET

Are your holiday returns kicking in already? Yeah… headache. We know.

But a seller on the forums is calling out a next-level headache: Amazon’s return system makes legitimate damage nearly impossible to recover.

📦 Box-less shipping is wrecking inventory

OP shared what their “holiday returns” actually looked like:

• Returned items were covered in shipping labels
• Products were sent without any outer box
• Items arrived smashed
• Most were marked “customer damaged”, not carrier-damaged

None of the SKUs were supposed to ship in product packaging.

🚫 Auto-denied reimbursements

OP filed reimbursement cases with clear, high-resolution photos attached.

What happened?

• First denial: “missing images” (likely automated)
• Second denial: “customer damaged” disposition

Sellers in the thread were blunt: once it’s tagged customer damaged, you’re basically done.

⚙️ The real culprit

Several experienced sellers pointed to the same root issue:

• Amazon may have wrongly flagged the ASINs as Ships in Own Container (SIOC). 
• So when Amazon slaps a label on your product box, ships it raw, and it arrives crushed, the system assumes your packaging failed, not Amazon’s shipping process.
• Result: customer-damaged. No payout.

If your returns are getting crushed (literally), this likely isn’t a one-off mistake. It’s a system problem.

TOGETHER WITH EDESK

Repricer: Win the Buy Box on Amazon and Stay Competitive Everywhere You Sell

Pricing is one of the most powerful levers Amazon sellers have but managing it manually across multiple marketplaces is nearly impossible at scale.

Repricer is an intelligent, automated repricing solution built for Amazon sellers who want to win the Buy Box, protect margins, and grow profitably. With advanced rule-based and AI-powered repricing, Repricer reacts instantly to market changes, competitor moves, and Buy Box conditions, so your prices stay competitive without constant oversight.

Unlike basic repricing tools, Repricer gives you full control. Set minimum and maximum prices, create advanced strategies based on seller rating or fulfillment type, and fine-tune how aggressively you compete, so you never race to the bottom.

Designed with multi-marketplace sellers in mind, Repricer goes beyond Amazon. Sellers operating on Walmart, eBay, and other channels can apply consistent pricing strategies while still accounting for marketplace-specific fees, competition, and fulfillment models.

Trusted by high-volume and enterprise sellers worldwide, Repricer helps brands scale faster, respond smarter, and stay ahead in crowded marketplaces.

Start your free trial or Book a demo

BITES OF THE WEEK

• B2B Payments Evolve: Supply chain stress and tech advances push buyers and suppliers to rethink payment terms, speed, and interoperability.
• Amazon Luxury Continues: Amazon’s luxury storefront will keep growing designer offerings despite Saks exiting amid bankruptcy disputes.
• Germany Fights Pricing: Germany bans Amazon from controlling third-party seller prices, citing competition violations and ordering €59M disgorgement.
• 2026 Social Benchmarks: TikTok leads engagement at 3.7%, Instagram steady, Facebook declines, guiding brands on posting and performance.

SOCIAL PULSE

Retail is quietly changing who it sells to

Turns out, it’s not the middle class that’s keeping retail afloat anymore. PYMNTS reported that brands are doubling down on higher-income shoppers while everyday consumers tighten their belts.

💸 The rich, the middle, and the paycheck-to-paycheck

Here’s the breakdown for 2026:

• Luxury buyers are carrying retail. Apparel, beauty, and accessories are seeing strong demand from wealthier customers. Brands are boosting ad spend and rolling out premium offerings:
  • Estée Lauder added luxury pricing tiers
  • Ralph Lauren doubled down on brand-building
  • Tapestry raised marketing spend by 40%
• The middle class is pulling back. Rising prices and tariffs are forcing many to focus on essentials, slowing discretionary spending. More middle-income households are now living paycheck to paycheck.
• High-end shoppers aren’t slowing down. Luxury brands expect wealthy U.S. consumers to keep spending in 2026, thanks in part to a strong stock market.
  • Ralph Lauren, for example, has raised prices consistently, betting its premium audience will absorb the increases.

⚖️ Welcome to the “split economy”

Retail is officially divided by income. Sellers who adapt fastest, by tailoring pricing, products, and marketing to each shopper group, will be in the best position to survive tightening budgets and rising costs.

ACTIONABLE ADVICE

Smart upselling strategies that actually work

Upselling isn’t about shoving pricier products at shoppers. It’s about helping your customers find better options while boosting your average order value (AOV). 

Here’s what actually works.

• Start with your listings. Add upgrade-focused images and variations to your PDP so buyers can compare without leaving the page.
• Build a real brand. Shoppers pay more when your product feels legit. Enroll in Brand Registry to protect your brand and unlock tools that support upselling.
• Test what converts. Amazon’s Manage Your Experiments lets you A/B test images, titles, and content to see what drives clicks and upgrades.
• Push premium products with ads. Run ads specifically for premium products and track which ones convert best.
• Incentivize bigger orders. Coupons, bulk discounts, Subscribe & Save, and Brand Tailored Promotions can nudge customers to buy more.
• Offer personalization. Custom products, names, initials, designs, give shoppers emotional buy-in and higher margins.
• Bundle strategically. Use Brand Analytics to find products customers already buy together, then bundle those first.

Upselling works best when it feels helpful, not pushy. Smart bundles, better options, and thoughtful upgrades means bigger carts and stronger customer loyalty.