Do we need approval to sell toys before the holiday season?

[bboard]

I tried selling one of my Lego Death Stars and it said this:

Your account does not qualify

Check the requirements below and reapply when you qualify.

Pre-fulfillment cancel rate less than 2.5% ✓

Late shipment rate less than 4% ✓

Your order defect rate is 2.7%. To qualify, this rate must be less than 1%.

Negative feedback rate less than 1% ✓

Professional selling plan ✓

I also got this in my email:

Hello from Amazon Services,

As a reminder, to maintain a great customer experience this holiday season, we have established holiday selling guidelines for the Toys & Games store.

Effective on 17th November, 2016, only sellers who meet the criteria listed below will be eligible to sell in the Toys & Games category from 17th November, 2016 through 5th January, 2016.

• Your first sale on Amazon.com must occur prior to 19th September, 2016. The sale does not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store.
• You must process and ship at least 25 orders from 1st September, 2016 through 31st October, 2016. The orders do not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store.
• Your pre-fulfillment cancel rate for the period from 1st October through 31st October, 2016 must be no greater than 1.75%.
• Your late shipment rate for the period from 1st October through 31st October, 2016 must be no greater than 4%.
• Your order defect rate must be no greater than 1% short term as of 1st November, 2016.

Orders that use Fulfillment by Amazon will not be subject to the above criteria provided your account is in good standing.

You can find your cancel rate, late shipment rate, and order defect rate in the Performance section of your seller account. If your account does not meet the above criteria, we encourage you to take corrective action now to help ensure your eligibility to sell in the Toys & Games category this holiday season.

Eligibility for selling in the Toys & Games store is determined separately for each country. If you sell in multiple marketplaces, your accounts will be evaluated for each country.

We will provide final notification about your eligibility to sell in the Toys & Games store by 11th November, 2016. Beginning 12th November, 2016 we will monitor the performance and listings of sellers who are approved to sell in Toys & Games during the holiday season.

Amazon Services reserves the right to cancel listings, remove selling privileges, and prohibit the sale of specific products to maintain a great customer shopping experience.

Here are some steps you can take to remain eligible to sell in Toys & Games throughout the holiday season:

• Monitor performance metrics and take corrective action when necessary.
• Utilize Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to ship products to customers.
• Check your orders frequently in the Manage Orders section of your account.
• Minimize order cancellations; only show inventory for sale that you have available to ship.
• Ship orders and confirm shipment in a timely manner.
• Ensure your seller policies are up to date.
• If you work with outside drop-shippers, solidify their SLA commitments for providing prompt shipping confirmation.

Thank you for selling on Amazon.

Regards,
Amazon Services

[elmo]

It seems you answered your own question mate

Your order defect rate is 2.7%. To qualify, this rate must be less than 1%.

You'll need a new account or to lower your defect rate

[bboard]

Originally Posted by elmo

It seems you answered your own question mate

Your order defect rate is 2.7%. To qualify, this rate must be less than 1%.

You'll need a new account or to lower your defect rate

My current ODR is 9.38% (3/32) I got 3 A-Z claims within the past 2 months.

There is no way I can ever possibly get my ODR below the Target of 1% again within the next few months for holiday season on this account.

Would it be better to just make a new account and start over perfectly next time or keep trying on this one?

It's going to be very hard to get my ODR back down below 1% again on this account.

[idds]

I recall an email that no new toy sellers allowed before xmas

[bboard]

If anyone could guess, approx how long will it take to get a ODR of 9.38% below 1% again with a steady amount of orders every month?

[rsot]

I want that Lego Death Star set at a good price - kind of serious too.

Anyhow

[bboard]

What I am asking is How long do the effects of A-Z Claims effect the ODR?

ODR time frames and A-Z claim effects don't start at the time the order was placed, but rather at the time the case was resolved. At least that's what a seller-performance rep just told me.

I have heard the Short term is 60 days
Long term is 90 days.

I also heard they hit the short term ODR for 30 days from the date of Claim. The Long Term ODR resets every day 30 days backwards from Today. So it shows in your Account Health for 120 days after the Claim is filed in our experience.

So do I need to maintain a perfect record for at least the next 4 months & wait for my defect % to drop off?

[faded]

you need to wait 90 days

[xmenvnc]

Its just getting more difficult. Eventually they will probably start charging those 1 time fees certain products get for brand approval on top of requiring invoices.