The Amazon-seller community was sent into a bit of a frenzy yesterday after Amazon sent out a rather puzzling email. The message warned sellers about contacting buyers who have chosen to opt out of receiving unsolicited messages from sellers.
But don’t worry. Contrary to what you may have read in Facebook groups, the world isn’t ending, and email follow-up sequences aren’t dead (for the time being, anyways).
What actually happened?
What we know so far is this: Amazon added an option for buyers to opt out of all Seller Feedback in their Amazon account.
Then, Amazon sent an email to sellers informing them that “unsolicited” messages cannot be delivered to buyers who have chosen to opt out of receiving Seller Communication/Feedback emails.
Let’s take a look at the email from Amazon:
“Dear Seller,
We were unable to deliver the message you sent for order [002-xxxxxxx-1234567] because the buyer has chosen to opt out of receiving unsolicited messages from sellers.
However, even if a buyer has opted out of unsolicited messages, if you need to send them a message critical to completing his or her order, you can do it using Buyer-Seller Messaging:
Go to Manage Orders.
Click the buyer’s name in the list, which will take you to Buyer-Seller Messaging.
Select “Additional Information Required” as your subject, write your message, and click Send
If you tried to respond to a buyer and received a message that the buyer has opted out of unsolicited seller messages, please respond to the buyer on the original message thread (instead of starting a new thread) and make sure that his or her original message is included in your reply.
For your reference, the following messages are considered “critical” to complete the order:
Product customization questions
Delivery scheduling
Issues with a shipping address
The following messages are “not critical” to complete the order:
Requests for seller feedback or customer reviews
Order, shipment, or delivery confirmations
Proactive customer service (for example: product manuals, tips for using the product, FAQs, suggestions if something goes wrong)
Out-of-stock or delay notifications and offers of alternate products (please cancel the order instead)
Please don’t send messages to opted-out buyers for correspondence that isn’t critical to completing the order. Repeated violations of this policy may result in enforcement actions or loss of selling privileges.
Learn more about Buyer-Seller Messaging and what messages are considered critical to completing orders.
Sincerely,
Amazon Seller Support”
How does a buyer opt out of Seller Feedback?
Buyers can opt out, or unsubscribe from all Seller Feedback, a couple different ways.
- In the Communication Preferences Center in their Amazon settings
- Unsubscribing from emails sent from the Amazon Marketplace: [email protected]
1. Communication Preferences Center
In their Amazon account, a buyer can change their email preferences in the Communication Preferences Center. To do this, a buyer will go to Your Account > Message Center > Communication Preferences