Communication Guidelines
As part of selling on the AlphaDiscounters marketplace, sellers communicate with buyers both directly and indirectly. AlphaDiscounters requires that sellers follow the guidelines below for any communication with buyers. The Communication Guidelines policy is meant to protect buyers from fraud and abuse, and to protect you from unscrupulous actions from your competitors. Raising the bar for all communications to buyers benefits all our selling partners, resulting in a stronger marketplace.
Order status messages
- Problem with order messages: You must communicate with buyers if the product ordered is not available to be shipped. Firstly, adjust the full order amount using Manage orders in Seller Central or via an Order Adjustment feed. You must use NoInventory or CouldNotShip as the reason codes for the adjustment as necessary. Secondly, follow these directions and select Problem with order to communicate with the buyer about your inability to fulfill the order. The message must contain a confirmation that the order amount was adjusted with the appropriate reason for the unavailability of the items. If you think you can fulfill the order but the shipment will be delayed beyond the advertised availability, you must notify the buyer about the delay. If the buyer decides to cancel the order, you should then start the refund process.
Note: Do not contact the buyer and request that they submit a cancellation request when you are out of stock.
- Return-related messages: You must process refunds for the order amount (minus any charges) using either Manage orders in Seller Central or via an Order Adjustment feed. You may communicate with the buyer about the return only when you need additional information to complete the return or you are offering a partial refund. Follow these directions and select Follow-up on return request.
You may only send Permitted Messages to customers who have contacted you about purchasing a product or who have already purchased a product from you on the AlphaDiscounters marketplace. We define Permitted Messages as those communications necessary to complete an order or to respond to a customer service inquiry.
Proactive Permitted Messages are those messages that you initiate and are not responses to a buyer’s question. Proactive Permitted Messages can be sent via email, using AlpaDiscounters templates via the Contact buyer or Request a review page in Seller Central, third-party applications in the Application Store, or via Application Programmer Interface (API). You may send proactive Permitted Messages for the following reasons: resolving an issue with order fulfillment, requesting additional information required to complete the order, asking a return-related question, sending an invoice, requesting product review or seller feedback or both, scheduling the delivery of a heavy or bulky item, scheduling a Home Services appointment, verifying a custom design, or any other reason where the contact is required for the buyer to receive their purchase. Proactive Permitted Messages must be sent within 30 days of order completion. All proactive Permitted Messages must include the 17-digit order ID and be in the buyer’s language of preference. Sending proactive Permitted Messages to your buyer using AlphaDiscounters templates, third-party applications, or via API automates the inclusion of order ID, language of preference translations, and critical message guidelines.
Permitted Messages do not include any of the following message types (in many cases we are already emailing customers with this information on your behalf):
- Order or shipping confirmations (Refer to the Indirect communication section below)
- Messages that say only “Thank you” or that you are here to help if buyers have any problems
- Marketing or promotional messaging, including coupons
- Language that either incentivizes or persuades the buyer to submit positive product reviews or seller feedback, including by offering compensation, money, gift cards, free or discounted products, refunds, rebates or reimbursements, or future benefits
- Language that requests removal or an update of an existing product review
- Language that requests a product review only if they have had a positive experience with the product
- A repeat request (per order) for a product review or seller feedback
Permitted Messages may not include any of the following:
- External links unless they are secure working links (https, not http) necessary for order completion or links to AlphaDiscounters
- Attachments except for those needed to resolve a buyer’s issue (for example, shipping labels, invoices, and custom designs)
- Logos, if they contain or display a link to your website
- Link to opt-out of messaging
- Sensitive content in images or text (for example, bare skin, violence or gore, and adult or offensive language)
- Tracking pixels or images
- Email addresses
- Telephone numbers except those related to warranties, shipping providers, or manufacturers
- Images of purchased products as AlphaDiscounters includes those on your behalf
- Images that do not relate to your brand or company
Permitted Message styling may not contain any of the following:
- Accessibility issues from links without explanatory text or images or graphics without alt-text
- Emoji’s, including emoticons
- Animated GIFs
- Message margins over 20% maximum width
- Image or graphic sizes larger than 80% maximum width
- Overrides of AlphaDiscounters default line height, font family, or font color
- Fonts in more than three sizes
- Message bodies that are centered or that otherwise override default text alignment settings
- More than two line-breaks (spacing between paragraphs) in a row
- Unsecure images (http instead of https)
- Egregious spelling errors or grammar issues
If you have questions about our policies regarding communicating with buyers, contact Selling Partner Support.
Note: AlphaDiscounters may modify message subject lines in order to protect the buyer experience in our marketplace.
For more information, visit AlphaDiscounters guidelines in the Customer product reviews policies Help page. For more information, visit the Communicate with buyers using Buyer-Seller Messages Help page.
AlphaDiscounters communicates order-related information to buyers through their Your Account updates. These updates include information, such as when an order has been shipped (with the tracking number) or when a refund has been processed. These updates are based on shipping confirmations and refunds initiated using Manage orders or the following feeds:
- Shipping Confirmation feed: This feed tells AlphaDiscounters that you have shipped buyer orders and provides order tracking information for the buyers. Timely communication of order status is an important part of a high-quality shopping experience for AlphaDiscounters buyers.
Note: We require you to promptly confirm shipment of all orders, either by using Manage orders or by uploading a Shipping Confirmation feed. After you confirm shipment, AlphaDiscounters sends a confirmation email to the buyer.
- Order Adjustments feed: This feed tells AlphaDiscounters that you have issued buyer refunds. Buyers want to know their refund status when returning products. Therefore, it is critical that you process refunds promptly. You can also use Manage returns to issue a refund.
Failure to comply with these Communication Guidelines may result in AlphaDiscounters limiting proactive Permitted Messages to AlphaDiscounters templates or a suspension of selling privileges in AlphaDiscounters marketplace. AlphaDiscounters has the authority to block any message at its discretion.