Hello Plastic-Free family:
As we further unwrap the mystery as to why there is so much excess plastic in Amazon shipments, we wanted to turn our lens on the Amazon Marketplace.
It turns out, Amazon actually fines the sellers (small businesses) if they don't use enough plastic bubble wrap. This is important because it shows us that the sellers may not want to use bubble wrap but they are required to or it will cost them in fines or chargebacks for 'Bubble-wrap Non-compliance'.
Wouldn't it be great if Amazon provided the marketplace accessible options that are more eco such as crumpled paper fill, expandables or paper honeycomb wrap?
Does Amazon make it hard for small businesses to transact and be eco conscious? Please feel free to email or comment any personal experiences with this issue as an Amazon Marketplace seller.
Please share your stories.
Nicole Delma
email: plastics@fondgroup.com
**See Below Direct From Amazon Vendor Portal**
About Bubble Wrap Non-Compliance
A Bubble wrap chargeback means that you did not properly bubble wrap your products that are fragile, sharp, or have loose pieces that cannot be secured with tape alone.
If we need to remove the product from its box, bubble wrap it, and place it back in its box to ship to the customer, you will receive an internal bubble wrap chargeback. If we need to add bubble wrap to a product that either did not come to us in a box or could not be placed back in its original box after being bubble wrapped, you will receive an external bubble wrap chargeback.
The amount for the internal bubble wrap chargeback is $0.75 per unit. The amount for the external bubble wrap chargeback is $1.32 per unit.
How you can prevent this chargeback
Click to watch the following videos to learn how to properly bubble wrap your products and prevent this chargeback:
See Bubble Wrap Requirements for additional information to help you prevent this chargeback.
Operational impact of your non-compliance
Improper packaging can make it difficult and time-consuming to extract product from cartons and, in certain cases, can lead to loss of products. When we need to add bubble wrap to the outside of the product packaging, we must also add a new product sticker and this increases processing time and labor cost. Unacceptable packaging materials can also negatively impact the customer experience.
How to dispute this chargeback
If you believe that you have incurred this chargeback in error, follow the Dispute a Chargeback steps.
To support your dispute, provide one or more images that show the PO/Shipping label, the product, and provide evidence that the product was packaged and barcoded properly as to not require extra prep work once received at our fulfillment center.