Another seller loses $200 to an INR appeal

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Something is closing… and it’s not your fridge. 🥶

Amazon is shutting down its physical stores, converting some into new Whole Foods locations, while expanding same-day grocery delivery.

• Amazon sided with the buyer again ⚖️
• Your sales: PAUSED ⏸️
• Private label is eating retailers’ lunch 🥪
• Are you really making money? 💰

BLACK MARKET

Have you ever done everything right on Amazon… and still lost?

A seller shared this nightmare in the seller forums: a $200+ item marked delivered with photo proof, yet Amazon refunded the buyer anyway. No product. No payout.

📦 The back-and-forth from hell

• Seller ships next day
• Tracking confirms delivery
• Photo shows the box at the buyer’s door
• Amazon initially closes the INR claim
• Buyer appeals
• Amazon reverses course and refunds the buyer
• The seller appealed again, submitted the same evidence, and hit a dead end: decision final.

End result: seller eats the loss.

💬 If you act fast

Seasoned sellers chimed in with a few moves that can still help, but timing matters:

• File a SAFE-T claim immediately. 
  • Tip: Include tracking, delivery confirmation, photos, and a simple timeline. No essays.
• Call and push for escalation, not endless tickets. 
  • Tip: Stick to facts: valid delivery + proof = seller protection.
• Mention Buy Shipping if you used it.
  • Tip: Orders shipped via Amazon Buy Shipping are more likely to qualify for reimbursement.
• Message the buyer professionally.
  • Tip: Ask them to confirm delivery or file a police report if the package was stolen. Sometimes this alone unlocks reimbursement.
• File a carrier insurance claim (if applicable).
  • Tip: Not ideal, but better than writing off a $200+ loss.

⚠️ A platform risk

Even with proof, Amazon may still side with buyers—especially on higher-ticket items. Porch piracy, buyer abuse, and automation errors often roll downhill to sellers.

If you sell expensive, theft-prone items, price this into your margins. Use Buy Shipping, insure shipments, and move fast on claims. 

On Amazon, proof helps, but protection isn’t guaranteed.

TOGETHER WITH SELLER INTERACTIVE

Selling on Amazon without a strategy? That’s expensive.

Maybe you’re running ads. Updating listings. Testing keywords.
But if it’s not translating to sales—something’s missing.

At Seller Interactive, we help brands uncover exactly what’s holding them back—and what they need to scale.

On your free Discovery Call, we’ll walk through your Amazon storefront, review your growth potential, and highlight the key gaps in your current strategy. No fluff. No guesswork. Just real, practical insights from a team that’s helped brands scale past 7 and 8 figures.

Whether you're hitting a plateau or just getting started, we’ll show you what needs to change—and how to change it.

Book a free Discovery Call

No pressure. Just clarity.

Let’s find out what your Amazon strategy is missing.

BITES OF THE WEEK

• Amazon Cuts Deep: Amazon confirms 16,000 global layoffs after accidental email, continuing cost-cutting and restructuring under CEO Jassy.
• German Ecommerce Surges: Online spending in Germany grew 3.2% in 2025, hitting €83.1B, with stronger growth expected in 2026.
• PDD Fined in China: Chinese regulators penalize PDD for tax violations amid broader probes of online platform compliance.
• Yottaa Unveils MCP: New AI-native server delivers real-time ecommerce performance data for faster developer optimization and insights.

HOT TOPIC

Private label is quietly taking over the carts

 Spoiler alert: it’s not just in your head.

Store brands are popping up everywhere… and shoppers are actually choosing them. U.S. shoppers spent nearly $283B on store-brand products in 2025, up 3.3% from 2024. 

📈 The growth story

Private label sales are climbing faster than national brands:

• Dollar sales: +3.3% vs. 1.2% for national brands
• Unit sales: reached a record 68.7 billion items
• Five-year growth: +30% in dollar sales, unit share now 23.5%

Refrigerated goods, beverages, and pet care are leading the charge, showing that consumers are choosing store-brand alternatives across multiple categories.

💡 Why it's happening

Shoppers aren’t just chasing price anymore:

• Value and quality matter, even high-income households are picking private labels
• Retailer brands now compete on health, sustainability, and trust, not just cost
• Inflation and economic concerns are pushing more consumers to private label

If you’re considering expanding into private label:

• Focus on hot categories: pet care, refrigerated items, beverages
• Emphasize quality and differentiation to stand out from national brands
• Highlight value, health, or sustainability in your messaging to build consumer trust

More than a budget option, private label lets brands compete on purpose and perception, not just price, unlocking new audiences and long-term growth.

CASH CORNER

Is your business really making money?

Understanding which products, customers, or activities actually drive profit is crucial. A profitability analysis breaks down revenue, costs, and margins, turning raw numbers into insights you can act on.

Here’s how to check:

• Step 1: Gather your financial statements.
  • Pull your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
  • Make sure numbers are accurate, up to date, and consistent.
• Step 2: Calculate key profitability ratios.
  • Compare gross, operating, and net profit margins, margin per user, and return on assets against peers or industry benchmarks.
  • Don’t mix time periods, include one-off costs, or miscalculate ratios.
• Step 3: Perform break-even analysis.
  • Separate fixed vs. variable costs to figure out the sales volume needed to cover expenses.
  • Calculate your margin of safety to see how much cushion you have if sales drop or costs rise.

A step-by-step profitability analysis turns your numbers into a strategic map. 

Track margins, spot risks, and focus on what actually grows your bottom line,  so your business doesn’t just sell, it thrives.