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Wed Mar 21 2018 21:53:54

Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

By: Ina Steiner

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Amazon is testing a new service in which it will take professional photos of products for FBA sellers. It already has photo studios for the items it sells itself. Now it is inviting certain sellers to try out the service for their items.

Will there be a cost to sellers? Yes, which may be surprising given that the images will be copyrighted by Amazon. 

That means Amazon will share those product images across all listings, no matter who the seller - which makes sense, given Amazon's catalog approach to listings.

It also means sellers would be unable to use the photos on their own non-Amazon stores. And it seems sellers have little control once they agree to let Amazon take the pictures.

The pilot program is currently limited to products in the following categories: Apparel, Shoes, Sports, Outdoors, Jewelry, Watches, Books, Video Games, Automotive, DVD, Tools, and Music.

The bottom line: sellers will participate if they believe it will generate more sales. Amazon uses an algorithm to rank images - and not surprisingly, those taken by Amazon rank highly. But as noted, rival sellers could benefit if they're selling the same product.



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Perminate Link for Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers   Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

This user has validated their user name. by: Rexford

Thu Mar 22 06:34:28 2018

I sell a particular home good item on Amazon.  I'm forced to use their catalog listing as it is already established, and I can't add my own photo.

The photo in that catalog for this listing shows the item that I am selling  among a collection of similar complimentary items (bedding items).  How on earth is a buyer supposed to figure out which item it is that I am actually selling?  We know that buyers are very visual, and most don't read item descriptions, so why confuse the buyer?  The stock photo was taken from a distance, and every item in the photo is imperceptible.

Perminate Link for Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers   Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

by: angryllama This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 22 07:40:43 2018

Stock photos of DVDs is a HORRIFYING DREADFULLY Wrong-Headed IDEA.  Yes, All Caps Bad. Easily 90 percent of my listings and sales are in that category and the eBay catalog is already a FUBAR mess. (Yes, I totally understand the TOPIC is AMAZON, but not only is there the "risk" that Ebay will attempt to CopyCat anything that AMAZON does, but eBay RIGHT TODAY should be a huge STOP SIGN for Amazon. I can go into eBay on any day at any hour and within MINUTES find Utterly WRONG stock photos for UNIQUE UPC numbers. ( ALL UPC code numbers are UNIQUE). I was already "All In" on using UPC numbers to BEGIN any new listing of ANYTHING I can find it for on eBay.  NO, I do not make it a practice to then ALLOW the "stock photo" to be my ONLY photo for any item on a day to day basis.  If I were silly enough to take HOURS to do an item by item search of my 1,600 items in a premium store I'd find fewer than 100, possibly fewer than 70. Even those few are only because the stock photo is a TRUE representation of what I have for sale. Even if the AMAZON concept of CHARGING willing sellers for photos weren't BAD ENOUGH I feel strongly I'd never LET them do it to my items even if the photos were FREE to me just like it seems they AFTER the first payment would be FREE to every OTHER Amazon Seller.  How could that ever fly?

Perminate Link for Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers   Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

by: mcposty This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 22 15:00:18 2018

no way sorry amazon

Perminate Link for Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers   Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

by: TomH This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 22 18:32:36 2018

Just a bit more Amazon pressure to squeeze a few more drops of profit from it's third party sellers....

Perminate Link for Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers   Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

This user has validated their user name. by: RKTOYS

Fri Mar 23 02:59:43 2018

Gee, how can they make Amazon even less appealing?  If it's not the 20% commission fee, or the flat $4 shipping voucher, or FBA feejacking, or FBA comingling of counterfeits, or unilaterally deciding in favor of thieves even when USPS tracking shows as delivered, or this new fee for sharing your photos with competitors...


or this new fee for stealing copyright on photos...

Perminate Link for Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers   Amazon Tests Brand New Photo Service for FBA Sellers

This user has validated their user name. by: RKTOYS

Fri Mar 23 03:00:50 2018

Oops, missed that extra line in the microscopic textbox.



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