Handmade on Amazon FBA Amazon.com BEWARE artists selling on Amazon FBA Seattle Washington

Bet you did not know that if Amazon loses the art you sell through Amazon Handmade FBA, they will only pay you $25 per item regardless of value! 

I had inventory in Amazon warehouses.  They lost four of my art jewelry pieces made of sterling silver of 18k Vermeil, Amethyst, Citrine, Pearls, and other semi precious stones, expensive art glass, and representing hours of design and manufacture by hand.  The pieces altogether totalled $1,005 sales price.  I got less than $100 from Amazon - they actually deducted their fees had my pieces sold at $25 each!  

I have had more than two dozen communications over the past three months and they have done ZERO to find the pieces -I have made it clear that if they return them to me, I'd be satisfied.   Instead they ask me for 'sales history' on one-of-a-kind handmade pieces.  There isn't any sales history because there is only one piece - hello?

Then they ask for the "invoice" for the "product".  After going round and round trying to explain that I am not a retailer, I am an artist and that valuing an art object based on the cost of components is like saying a Rembrant painting is only worth the cost of the paint and canvas,Still they insisted becasue they should not be in the art maraket at all.

I finally drafted up four invoices showing the retail cost of each component (as if someone really would go out and buy one inch of sterling silver wire at a time) and my labor to demonstrate the value of each piece is approximately equal to its sales price.  

Amazon waited weeks to come up with this response:  

Please confirm the invoice that seller provided is the price that seller selling on AMAZON not the cost that they make?

HUH?  I think they are asking what the sales price was on each piece....which is ON THE AMAZON WEBSITE.  And it took them WEEKS to come up with that.

I have contacted BBB and Amazon's response is "The seller has provided our Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Support Team with invoices for the components used in their products. The documentation is being reviewed, and once a reimbursement determination has been made we will be communicating with the seller through their Seller Central account case log, and a copy of the message will be sent to their email address on file."  

Note that Amazon is still focusing on the cost of components to value artwork.  And its taken them weeks to "review" four single page invoices.

When I posted the problem to the Amazon Forum, the "solution" offered was that I should have gotten businees insurance.  This loss did not happen en route to the warehouse.  The pieces were received in the warehouse and then lost. 

So for all of you artists out there- you need to buy insurance to cover Amazon's negligence and then figure out how you are going to keep your sales prices in line or accept $25 per item.  Or....just dont sell using FBA.