Amazon will accept only invoices, not receipts?

frksmth · #1 02-22-2017

I've had this issue on two of my Amazon USA seller accounts.

On the first account, I wanted to get a brand ungated. I sent in the receipts from the retailer (who is an authorised retailer) and after about 10 emails back and forth, I finally received a response from a representative who told me that Amazon is looking only for invoices and that they do not accept receipts. They will accept invoices ONLY!

For the second account, Amazon randomly selected one ASIN and said that they have received complaints about the authenticity of the product (obviously not from any of my buyers). So they wanted me to send in "invoices" OR "receipts" (stated in their email) for the item covering the sales for the period. I sent them the receipts that included this ASIN and after going back ad forth 4 times, they sent me this response:

"Unfortunately we are unable to accept the document that you have sent us. We only accept invoices from suppliers as valid documentation"

The receipts I submitted are original, unaltered receipts.

(Difference between invoices and receipts - invoices are issued before a payment is made and the buyer will usually have 15 to 30 days to make the payment to the supplier. Receipts are issued after the buyer makes the payment.)

This leads me to believe that Amazon won't accept receipts anymore.

Does anyone have any other experience (or opinion) with this?

Any thoughts will be helpful.

duanbo · #2 02-22-2017

amazon only takes invoices, no receipts

frksmth · #3 02-22-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by duanbo

amazon only takes invoices, no receipts

Are you sure about that? Have you had any experience with this?

Ebayorbust · #4 02-22-2017

Do the receipts have the Amazon account holders name and address on them?

frksmth · #5 02-22-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebayorbust

Do the receipts have the Amazon account holders name and address on them?

Yes and no, some of them do (online purchases and VAT receipts) and some of them don't since they are in-store purchases. You think the in-store purchases are the ones causing issue?

Ebayorbust · #6 02-22-2017

My view is that the issue is being caused by the receipts not showing the name and address of the account holder. Store receipts do not really indicate to Amazon that you are a professional business seller (no disrespect intended).

vetus · #7 02-22-2017

Whole thing with Amazon is a farse.
If you provide an invoice, with invoice written on the top and it looking 100% kosher, you would be surprised that the majority of the staff reviewing these documents do not have a clue what the difference between a PROFORMA invoice / invoice & a receipt is.

On Amazon EU / UK you usually have to submit the docs at least 3-4 times now before you get someone with common sense to see it is actually an INVOICE that has been submitted. It seems common sense doesn't exist in their offices.

Receipts with name / address of Amazon account holder are a no go anymore, even if they say they accept them you won't get the category unlocked.

elmo · #8 02-22-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by vetus

Whole thing with Amazon is a farse.
If you provide an invoice, with invoice written on the top and it looking 100% kosher, you would be surprised that the majority of the staff reviewing these documents do not have a clue what the difference between a PROFORMA invoice / invoice & a receipt is.

On Amazon EU / UK you usually have to submit the docs at least 3-4 times now before you get someone with common sense to see it is actually an INVOICE that has been submitted. It seems common sense doesn't exist in their offices.

Receipts with name / address of Amazon account holder are a no go anymore, even if they say they accept them you won't get the category unlocked.

Very true!

And even giving them exactly what they want, legit commercial invoices.. they can and often still turn them down. They are very inconsistent when it comes to invoices.

AL15BMW · #9 02-22-2017

Like explained earlier already. They want invoices and no receipts. They have recently stopped taking them. I had a similar case where they blocked Apple on our account and we submitted them receipts scanned and they accepted it but not any more. They do not accept proforma invoices any more either. I have experience of it as well.

I have explained earlier in another thread. They can accept invoice of the manufacturer if they sell it themselves for example Apple, Samsung. If the manufacturer doesn't sell it, then you need to get a distributor invoice and not an online retailer invoice. They will turn down retailer invoice as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

vetus · #10 02-22-2017

Another point to address -

Even if you submit invoices for an online distributor where they clearly state at the top of the site (this happens more with Beauty distributors) that they are TRADE ONLY - Amazon do not class them as a distributor, they class a website for Trade only as a retailer... it's absolutely bonkers!

elmo · #11 02-22-2017

Yeah they really don't know what they're looking for. Its like each rep has a daily quota and once its met, they deny everything after that.

In the US, beauty / health is pretty much impossible at the moment. UK its still doable but a may take a few attempts.

frksmth · #12 02-23-2017

Thank you all for those responses! Much appreciated.

I don't know if I did the right thing but I escalated it to a case (on Amazon USA) for the account on which I received a policy warning about one "inuthentic" item and mentioned to the rep that they asked for invoices OR receipts and that I provided receipts that fall within their requirements (address etc of supplier and buyer). I even checked with the rep to find out if I had received any complaints from any of my buyers. He said there were none. However, the ASIN itself has some bad product reviews, possibly, from some of the other sellers who sell their products for less than 60% of my price!

--- Will keep you updated on what happens with that

Also, does anyone know if Amazon verifies the documents by calling the retailer/supplier? I would probably need invoices/receipts for some new accounts but will have to get creative with the names and addresses on the receipts!

Ebayorbust · #13 02-23-2017

As a general rule, they don't verify anything.

If they did check everything with suppliers, then account sellers on here wouldn't be offering accounts with ungated categories.

vetus · #14 02-23-2017

Plus the fact of data protection act....

frksmth · #15 02-23-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by vetus

Plus the fact of data protection act....

That's what I was thinking of too. A retailer or distributor would be stupid if they confirmed receipts to every person (Amazon?) who "verified" a receipt/ invoice with them. However, I thought I would double check anyway.

elmo · #16 02-23-2017

Yeah they cannot confirm anything, they can only view them for authenticity. They will review the website of the supplier you provide them with though.

frksmth · #17 02-23-2017

Just to give an update on my progress:

I got a response from seller performance for the inauthentic ASIN. This is what they said:

"Based on the information you provided, you may not sell these items on Amazon.com. We removed your listings for these items:

ASIN: xxxxxxxxx

Please do not relist these items. If we receive more complaints about your listings, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.com."

I checked my feedback and the product authenticity complaints - 0 negatives and 0 product authenticity complaints.

Their whole system is a farce! (as pointed out earlier)

I'm trying to figure out what they mean by "If we receive more complaints..."

alekov · #18 02-26-2017

Hm, when was this supposed "change" happening that Amazon no longer accepts receipts and only invoices? I have gotten appeals granted on accounts as recent as 3-4 months ago, using store bought receipts. No purchaser name, nothing. Store receipts. I always thought that the whole invoice vs receipts debate is a big misconception when it comes to Amazon. I don't think things are that clear cut. I think they have their own reasons when and why to accept certain invoices and receipts, and when not to accepts receipts or invoices.

elmo · #19 02-27-2017

They can accept Invoices and Receipts, just depends on the rep you get that reviews it. Honestly its random, half the time they do not know what they're looking for. Most of the time Invoices will work better than receipts though.

RustyShackelford · #20 02-27-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by alekov

Hm, when was this supposed "change" happening that Amazon no longer accepts receipts and only invoices? I have gotten appeals granted on accounts as recent as 3-4 months ago, using store bought receipts. No purchaser name, nothing. Store receipts. I always thought that the whole invoice vs receipts debate is a big misconception when it comes to Amazon. I don't think things are that clear cut. I think they have their own reasons when and why to accept certain invoices and receipts, and when not to accepts receipts or invoices.

It tells you when you're trying to get a category ungated they only accept invoices not retail receipts. What you guys do forget is whoever is checking these is either in india or Philippines. They are check email after email so they look at it for a brief moment. Some will accept. Others won't. Usually won't. Once got denied. Sent the same invoice got approved. Go figure. But it's best to give them what they are asking for.