Are Rebates within Amazon TOS?

Richard Morgan
May 9, 2019

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Anthony Lee is with us talking about rebates, the protocol behind it and whether they are against ToS or not. We talk through the dictionary definition and how Sellers have stretched it. Plus why Anthony believes it is a positive for Amazon, Sellers and of course Buyers.

Been raging across Facebook for the last year or so
The Rebate system is Anthony’s favourite way to rank now
Anecdotally have lots of stories of full priced purchases through a rebate flow that have ranked quicker and sayed stronger

Promotions

People have been getting super creative
Gift cards were used for a while as Amazon didn’t track that – they do now
People started experimenting with rebates
Rebate in dictionary is a reimbursement for over-charge and a partial reimbursement
Marketers took it and redefined it
When you give some or all of the money back at a later point after they have purchased it
Last Dell laptop Anthony bought had a $100 rebate
The companies do it knowing full well many won’t claim it
Amazon Sellers saw this rebate model as the answer to many Amazon problems
Some crafty Sellers are just issuing the rebate digitally with an almost immediate reimbursement
So it’s been stretched by Sellers a lot

Contacted Amazon Seller Support

Anthony knows how to decrypt the info that Seller Support give us…has a good track record
Asked if he can do rebates
Immediate response was okay – yes of course
Then Anthony sent another ask in – can I reimburse the rebate portion electronically or Paypal
NO was the answer you cannot reimburse buyers through Paypal but you can rebate but not 100% refund but refund through Amazon system which is allowed or use a coupon
Anthony figured they didn’t get it so he sent another one explaining how rebates worked
So Anthony flat-out asked: Can I reimburse partial or full payment from an off-Amazon platform
The last response felt like it had been escalated and he knew what he was talking about
He said You can’t reimburse anybody through digital means like Paypal, you can’t ask anybody for review that’s against the term. Rebates are not covered in our Selling Policy.
Anthony’s interpretation is: Amazon’s selling policy simply doesn’t actually define or cover rebates – it’s not prohibited but it’s also not sanctioned.
So if you run a rebate chances are that on the surface it won’t catch their attention but if by a fluke they find out you have reimbursed their customer the purchase price they will view that as violation that Sellers can’t compensate buyers to purchase or leave reviews. Seems pretty clear this is what they would do.

3rd Party Services

A service provided by a 3rd Party does not think they are an Amazon based rebate system they cover multiple marketplaces
This tool is owned by several 7-figure Amazon Sellers who have built a tool to benefit sellers
Be interested to get to the bottom of whether this tool is likely to get caught

Inconsistent Answers

The reason we get different answers from Seller Support is because they don’t quite understand the question
So they just search their Amazon wiki and cut&paste answers back
So you need to send a couple of questions in to try and triangulate

Marketplace Agnostic

Being marketplace agnostic is a good thing
Does not exempt you from Amazon suspending your Amazon account if they deem your activities to be in violation
Amazon won’t care if:
- the length of time from sale to rebate is long enough (i.e. they won’t investigate if it’s over 15 days)
- if it’s not a digital rebate
Anthony does his within 24hrs and digitally but does not offer these to people who have purchased from Anthony on Amazon and then approaching them on Amazon
Anthony runs ads and brings people that didn’t buy from Anthony on Amazon and bring them to Amazon
Allowing them allows them to use the ease and trust of Amazon’s platforms and bringing Amazon the customer
When Anthony chooses to rebate them to stimulate velocity, volume and feedback that is Anthony taking 100% of the risk
Anthony is taking on all the risk and bringing Amazon customers
Do not ask for positive reviews just honest feedback

Rebates In Summary

There is no real definition on rebates from Amazon
Until Amazon addresses that then it’s free game
Everybody benefits, the buyers gets a deal, Amazon get s an amazing deal out of it
Until Buzzfeed does an article on rebates ruining Amazon’s business they just won’t care