Press & Media Mentions of CJ Rosenbaum, the official Amazon Sellers Lawyer

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Experts rely on the Amazon Sellers Lawyer team for information on Amazon suspensions & appeals

Amazon Sellers Have A Merry Christmas, But Struggle With Returns

There’s no arguing the fact that Amazon has been a lifeline for small businesses this year.

During the extended holiday season, the ecommerce giant says its independent sellers saw their sales grow more than 50%over 2019.

And while the ecommerce champion said it delivered more than 1.5 billion gifts this season, nearly one billion products were sold by third party sellers.

That’s the good news. Now those sellers have to play on the same returns field as their bigger competitors, as returns season follows what was a watershed event for Amazon & its sellers. Issues are starting to pop up, most notably around the on-time delivery & customer experience rating that’s so important for third party sellers.

One law firm that specializes in advising Amazon sellers, as well as some companies that are buying up those sellers, says returns need to be top priority, or they risk the wrath of the platform. According to New York-based Rosenbaum Famularo, Amazon has a quick hook for sellers that have minor infractions, such as not refunding customers fast enough.

“There will now be millions of consumers retuning products, which sellers will need to address, no questions asked. We are urging them to process these returns as quickly as possible,” said CJ Rosenbaum, Esq., founding partner of the firm. “Sellers need to focus on this in order to avoid their order defect rate from going over the 1 percent threshold.”

The order defect rate (ODR) is used to measure a seller’s performance based on the percentage of orders that receive negative feedback and are calculated using three components: A-to-Z claims (unsatisfactory or slow deliveries); negative customer feedback, including comments and ratings; and credit card chargebacks, or the number of orders refunded. To continue selling on Amazon, sellers have to maintain an ODR under 1 percent. With so much business going out this holiday season, Rosenbaum is concerned that the independent sellers might not be prepared for the business coming back.

“Failure to refund consumers fast enough will have a more detrimental effect on ODR rate than the returns themselves. Amazon is aware returns are going to spike even more after this holiday season since the period of time has been extended,” said Rosenbaum. “Making sure sellers stay on top of refunds will ensure ODR rates are not severely affected and their accounts are not in jeopardy of getting suspended.”

According to the Amazon return policy, when a consumer orders from an independent seller, the return is sent back to that seller, not Amazon’s. Most of the return policies for those sellers are similar to Amazon’s. To its credit, Amazon has adopted a very liberal returns policy this year. Items shipped between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 can be returned until Jan. 31, 2021. It’s a big help when a retailer has Amazon’s infrastructure – but no one else has that kind of capacity.

“While other marketplaces may limit returns to 30 days, the consumer expectations brought on by Amazon’s liberal return policies could result in buyers asking for returns or refunds well beyond the 30-day limits set by other marketplaces,” said Amazon seller blog eSeller Café. “This could also result in some buyers making claims that items are not as described to credit card companies, which could force a late return. In rare cases, credit card and digital payment services such as PayPal may allow chargebacks up to 180 days.”

The blog goes on to warn that the expected wave of returns will impact sellers’ bottom line and cash flow, especially during January. “The true profit of the 2020 holiday season may not be known until the end of January 2021,” it said.

Data from online fulfillment service Ware2Go shows that this year, the return rate for online orders is 10 to 12 percent higher than in physical stores, with an extra 10 percent tacked on due to the holiday. According to a Ship2Ware consumer study, 88 percent of Americans plan to return some holiday gifts, and 54 percent expect to do so within two weeks after the holidays.

eBay has directly addressed the independent seller issue by extending estimated delivery dates for transactions from Nov. 15 through the end of the year. The evaluation period for on-time delivery and customer experience ratings will be adjusted retroactively to mid-November.

“Even in cases where a buyer may see a faster delivery estimate, your shipment will be considered on time if it arrives by the latest day for the shipping service,” reads a recent post on the company’s sellers blog. “For example, if you use a standard shipping service with a 1-5 day delivery time plus your stated handling time of 2 days, the item needs to arrive within 7 working days. If your package is delivered any time during this period, we recognize that you shipped on time.”

 

“Starting & growing an Amazon business can be complicated. We’ve helped thousands of suspended sellers get their accounts & listings back. We’ve learned the importance of establishing a solid business foundation from the start,” says CJ Rosenbaum, Esq., founding partner of the firm. Our business law offering provides the fundamental legal building blocks of any ecommerce business while specializing in the needs of Amazon sellers.”

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CJ Rosenbaum Esq., founding partner of Rosenbaum Famularo, PC

PRESS: Amazon Business Law

Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. Simplifies Business Law for Amazon Sellers Globally

NEWS RELEASE

Long Beach, NY— August 17, 2020 Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. announced today its new offering focused on making legal services for Amazon sellers throughout the world more understandable and accessible. The service, known as Business Law for Amazon Sellers, consists of strategic counsel and services that protect businesses from common and easily avoidable issues whether they are getting started or looking to expand.

Read full release here.

 

“Amazon sellers need legal services by lawyers that understand their businesses. As part of our practice, we developed a Business Law Video Series on YouTube consisting of informative bite-sized videos that cover operational best practices of the business,” said Anthony Famularo, Esq., founding partner of the firm. “We pride ourselves in offering this valuable asset to Amazon sellers as they establish and grow their companies worldwide.”

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the wall street journal

Several sellers said they’ve received notifications from Amazon, which has been battling fraud & fake goods on its platform, that say their products are used / counterfeit.

Amazon suspends their selling accounts until they can prove that the products are legitimate, which can cause large Amazon sellers to lose tens of thousands of dollars each day.

To turn their accounts back on, Amazon often requests that the sellers provide details on who manufactures their product along with invoices from the manufacturer so that Amazon can verify authenticity.

Several sellers told the Wall Street Journal they provided those details to Amazon to get their accounts reinstated, only for Amazon to introduce its own version of their products using the same manufacturer. The Amazon spokesman said the company requests invoices when there is a counterfeit claim and doesn’t use information it requests about a seller’s manufacturer to procure private label products.

CJ Rosenbaum - B&W

CJ Rosenbaum, a lawyer who works on behalf of Amazon sellers, said some of them use intermediary “black box” factories to hide suppliers’ identities from Amazon: “They get the finished goods and ship them to a black-box factory who will ship their products to Amazon.”

 

“We are excited to lead one of the branding and marketing sessions of the summit. The session will focus on how to avoid having your intellectual property stolen by protecting your sales and reputation on Amazon,” said Rob Segall, Esq.  “We have a dedicated intellectual property law division in our firm with many years of experience counseling different types of e-commerce businesses.”

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Rob Segall Esq., partner of Rosenbaum Famularo, PC

PRESS: 7 Figure Seller Summit

Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. to Present at Leading eCommerce Online Masterclass, 7 Figure Seller Summit 2020

NEWS RELEASE

Firm to Share Best Practices on Amazon Private Label Brand Protection

Long Beach, NY— August 12, 2020—Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. announced today that its managing attorney and partner, CJ Rosenbaum, Esq., and managing attorney, Rob Segall, Esq., will present at the 7 Figure Seller Summit 2020, a free online event taking place from August 17 through August 21, 2020. The summit will feature more than 30 of the highest earning entrepreneurs and experts in e-commerce.

Read full release here.

 

“Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. has provided thousands of ecommerce / AMZ sellers with legal counsel and services critical to their success. Being part of the 7 Figure Seller Summit means we will be reaching even more ecommerce businesses with valuable information that will help them avoid some of the mistakes made by many when starting and building their businesses,” said CJ Rosenbaum.

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CJ Rosenbaum Esq., founding partner of Rosenbaum Famularo, PC

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