Amazon India introduces damage allowance for sellers

Amidst growing clamour against delayed payments and rising commissions, Amazon India has decided to give sellers an allowance to cover for potential damage in transit.

Damage to products during transportation and returns happen to be the biggest challenges for the e-commerce sector. And until now, sellers had to file claims for the products getting damaged in transit. According to an ET report, under the new scheme, the company will pay sellers a fixed percentage of the selling price of every unit shipped.

Presently, the allowance is applicable for products in the apparel, shoes, watches and luggage categories and for sellers selling via the ‘Seller Flex’ programme. “We have introduced damage allowance in ‘Seller Flex’ for certain categories as part of our endeavour to continue providing a good seller experience on this channel,” said an Amazon India spokesperson.

Under Seller Flex, vendors selling on Amazon platform can convert their warehouses into an FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) warehouse. This gives them an opportunity to experience and avail themselves of Amazon’s practices around warehousing, inventory management, packaging, and shipping.

Amazon's step to please sellers comes just weeks after the company increased its commission to the tune of 50-100 percent.