Amazon The New Paypal? Releases Just $45 of $10,000 Balance! Puts Business In Danger.

16 replies
Too much money flowing in, too quickly, from a newer member.
Keep this in mind folks, that will ALWAYS get you flagged, whether
it's Paypal, Amazon, etc....


This florist had to dip into her own personal funds just to cover
her orders!

However, I can't really say I blame Amazon. Certain thresholds are setup, and she met or exceeded those, so they held her money.

She should have probably been on the phone with Amazon letting them know she was expecting a lot of orders in the next few days. That USUALLY works with Paypal, but I don't know if it would have mattered with Amazon.

Amazon puts florist business in danger | WTNH.com Connecticut
#$10 #$45 #amazon #balance #paypal #releases
  • Profile picture of the author FredJones
    Oh my goodness. That sounds bad. So then, Amazon is coming down to earth finally and using muddy dirt to guard (read: cover) its hands? This is a disappointment to read.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    It doesn't matter if it's Paypal, Amazon, or even a merchant account. If you pose a risk to ANY payment processor they are going to take action and try to minimize that risk.

    I don't understand why people still can't get their heads around this very simple concept.

    It ain't rocket science people... and it has nothing to do with Paypal or Amazon. Every payment processor is exactly the same. They wouldn't be a payment processor for long if they weren't.
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    • Profile picture of the author MarketingChad
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      It doesn't matter if it's Paypal, Amazon, or even a merchant account. If you pose a risk to ANY payment processor they are going to take action and try to minimize that risk.
      Exactly! Remember they are a business too...how would you feel about floating someone $10,000 a week after you met them?

      MOST times, if you call up the processor, and explain your situation in a rational, calm manner...you can work towards a solution with them. Problem is that most people freak out and don't even bother to see what can be done. All of this stuff is automated and unless you call and speak to someone about it, you won't get anywhere.
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      • Profile picture of the author Scott Burton
        I'm sure the owner of the florist shop didn't expect this huge surge in her business on Amazon. I mean, she's an established florist from what I read, but she JUST set up on Amazon. She probably expected initially that it would be like most new markets, where she'd see only a trickle at first.

        But being an experienced florist she should also have realized that it was the VALENTINE'S season! The bread and butter season of florists. As such the question should have come up in her mind that the surge COULD happen, and maybe she should have known to ask in advance, but that doesn't guarantee any change.

        The thing about this story that gets me, is:
        Her products are still on their page, Amazon is still taking orders and their commission money, but now her account's been frozen. She can't even log on and she can't fill the new orders coming in.

        Occhino said this is ruining her reputation and she hasn't slept in days. The business she worked so hard to build is crumbling around her, all because she was too successful.
        So although Amazon has said "We're not going to pay you until we finish our investigation, people can still order your products, but you can't log into your account to see what's going on." Now I am not currently a fulfillment seller of products on Amazon, so I don't know if she's even being notified of the order details (what's ordered, by whom, for whom, to send where) or not, but if the buyer information is only accessible from amazon's site, she can't even contact the buyer to point out what's happened.

        At this point, she's out thousands of dollars filling orders, has no idea when/if she will get paid, since her account is new she doesn't have feedback yet, and now they are still taking orders for her products and if she can't fill them, what's going to happen on her feedback?

        And if she gets a lot of negative feedback (not delivering, slow, etc) then Amazon can point to this negative feedback and say "See! We knew you were a fraud! That's why we froze your account!" (though the amount of negative feedback is then likely very largely due to Amazon at that point)
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    • Profile picture of the author LegitIncomes
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      It doesn't matter if it's Paypal, Amazon, or even a merchant account. If you pose a risk to ANY payment processor they are going to take action and try to minimize that risk.

      I don't understand why people still can't get their heads around this very simple concept.

      It ain't rocket science people... and it has nothing to do with Paypal or Amazon. Every payment processor is exactly the same. They wouldn't be a payment processor for long if they weren't.
      Don't get me wrong, I agree with you.
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    • Profile picture of the author REHughes
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      It doesn't matter if it's Paypal, Amazon, or even a merchant account. If you pose a risk to ANY payment processor they are going to take action and try to minimize that risk.

      I don't understand why people still can't get their heads around this very simple concept.

      It ain't rocket science people... and it has nothing to do with Paypal or Amazon. Every payment processor is exactly the same. They wouldn't be a payment processor for long if they weren't.

      Exactly! I just finished requesting my first ever cash withdrawal from AlertPay a matter of minutes ago, and for a measley $200 they are telling me my request could take up to 7 days the first time.

      Simply security purposes is their reasoning. And, to an extent, I appreciate that.

      It kinda tells me they do keep their eyes on what is going on, and that could prove rewarding to me down the road in the event of fraud.

      Oh and by the way, after 5 years, my offline bank STILL HOLDS CHECKS till they clear! :rolleyes:

      Can we say PROTECTION?!

      Robert
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Hess
    She forgot to mention her feedback in the report:

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  • Profile picture of the author kingrich21470
    haha,

    this remineds me of one oprah winfrey shows, that has a small business about there cakes, the owner thought ok, a little business will come.

    Then WAMPO!!! Telephones was ringing of the wall, there website crashed, they had to take hand writen order over the phone.

    Your Friend,
    Richard Patterson
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  • No sympathy. This possibility is clearly spelled out in the agreement every new seller signs. She's just another whiny twit who couldn't be bothered to read. And I'll bet she's absolutely shocked -- shocked! -- that Amazon expects her to process refunds for shoddy product.

    Amazon is all about customer satisfaction. Everybody knows that. I get the occasional buyer's remorse refund but you know what? I grin and bear it, because Amazon's tremendous volume is worth it.

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  • Profile picture of the author YasirYar
    Actually anyone can join an open category, including people who con. If they sold $10,000 worth of products and Amazon deposited the money into their account, they could take the money and close their account without shipping the products. Amazon is holding her money because she has no history with them and they want to make sure that the products have been shipped. There are a lot of things I don't care for about Amazon, but this is not one of them. Sorry, but she was at fault for this one. She didn't research what she was getting herself into.
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  • Profile picture of the author pilotgardens
    Why is it easier for most to complain instead of communicate. I understand that she wasn't expecting the volume so quickly, but if you are in business then "the customer comes first". I don't know how the percentage of dissatisified customers she got but she should have been talking to customers and to Amazon instead of bleating
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  • Profile picture of the author protectyoursales
    Well, I definitely think I would have a different perspective on it if Amazon isn't passing along buyer details and won't let her close down the listing(s), but otherwise that's about where my sympathy ends.

    As people have said, customer comes first and it IS stated in the agreement that something like that can happen to new sellers. It sucks, but it's not unfair, and it's her responsibility to maintain the integrity of her store.

    If you work so hard to build that business for herself, then why couldn't she even be bothered to read the seller's agreement? And if she DID read it, why didn't you find some way to prepare for the event that she was locked down?
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  • Profile picture of the author davejug1
    I think it's a sad story and I can understand the views of Amazon. But this woman has become a victim of her own success. Much like the Groupon stories where they get too overwhelmed to cope wit the orders.

    As an entrepreneur I feel sorry for her. One of the benefits of being an offline marketer I guess is you can take greens.

    I guess I would prefer to see payment processors write it into their t&cs that no funds can be withdrawn until the chargeback period passes, yes it would be an asshat, but I would take that above the situation where an ad is still running with nobody there to fulfil the order.
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    • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
      Even if she didn't have the little flower watering plastic pieces, she could have gotten plastic bags and that floral green styrofoam that holds water or wads of sloppy wet paper towels or something would have prevented a lot of wilt and dead flowers.

      There were news reports of one of the flower companies not fulfilling all their orders this Valentine's Day, but possibly those were the luckier people who didn't get dead flowers.

      What really makes me aggravated is that all the florists charge such higher prices for holidays it's sickening. If the price doesn't seem bad, just wait till you get the delivery charges tacked on.
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      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by LegitIncomes View Post

        Don't get me wrong, I agree with you.
        I know you do. I use the word 'YOU' a lot in responses I write and it's usually the proverbial you I am meaning - not to be taken personally.

        Originally Posted by REHughes View Post

        It kinda tells me they do keep their eyes on what is going on, and that could prove rewarding to me down the road in the event of fraud.

        Oh and by the way, after 5 years, my offline bank STILL HOLDS CHECKS till they clear! :rolleyes:
        I think you raised a very good point and it's one that a lot of people seem to overlook. They are doing this to protect themselves and their other customers as well. As a customer of Paypal I am glad they have strict rules in place and that they take action on suspicious activity. If they didn't then I would be worried.

        You can't have your cake and eat it to. If you want them to be laxed with you then it means they would also be laxed with everyone else, including those people who are up to no good.
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