Seller anxiety rises as Amazon restrictions continue

Amazon has been restricting goods coming into its warehouses for a month. That’s squeezing businesses who had orders from the company.

When Amazon first began restricting shipments into warehouses on March 17, it said it was trying to create space for essential items in high demand during the pandemic.

Later, the company said that restricting shipments into the warehouses gave workers social distancing space, even as they filled a surge of orders.

At first the restrictions were absolute.

“So what has happened is they shut off all of those purchasing orders," said Bre Ogata, a Seattle consultant to companies that work with Amazon. "It basically just said we're canceling everything that is pending.”

Non-essential items such as running shoes, panty hose, and French press coffee makers would not be allowed, though those items would be shipped to customers if they were already in stock.

However, some of the high-demand items Amazon said it was making space for often never arrived in the quantities desired. Amazon, like other retailers, found it could not meet demand for items such as hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

Amazon says it is now allowing a trickle of non-essential goods into warehouses. Ogata says an algorithm is making those decisions.

She’s fielding calls from companies that need to ship goods to Amazon so they can be paid.

“One of my clients let me know that their entire marketing team has been laid off," she said. "An entire team.”