It’s hard not to notice how Snapdeal has been over charging its online sellers. The etailer may think of its online sellers as naïve and inattentive. But they are certainly wrong about that as you will see through this article.
Incorrect shipping charges is a recurring issue in all categories, said online seller Ankith Jain, an online seller dealing with home and kitchen appliances and personal care electronics. He claims, products weighing 500gms carry shipping charges of Rs.50. Snapdeal however assumes the products weight is 4,500gms and charges Rs.370, which is completely wrong.
Snapdeal emailed sellers recently saying they will revise weight calculation for certain SUPC(s). This revision would become effective from today, 20 June.
(Snapdeal email to sellers)
According to AIOVA, this is possibly the 20th or 25th time that Snapdeal has changed its shipment weight charges. The association remarked, “Is the manpower and technical expertise so limited at Snapdeal that they cannot determine standard charges once and for all? First it was Rs.90 then it went up to Rs.120 and once again it dropped back down to Rs.90!”
Weight charges are a major factor when calculating fees owed. It affects a seller’s reconciliation and accounting procedures every time it fluctuates. This causes unnecessary trouble for online sellers, AIOVA stated.
That’s not all AIOVA also pointed out how marketplaces are not maintaining records of the fee changes made over time. “There are no previous records whatsoever of previous charges that are now changed. In case of returns, how can we prove what is owed to us?” AIOVA said.
It’s not just Snapdeal that’s doing this, other marketplaces are also not keeping records of fee structure changes. But Snapdeal is the worst from all the rest in this regard, said the association.
“What we want to know is where can we check the previous rates and fees and why are marketplaces deleting records of past changes?” the group of sellers questions.
Last week, AIOVA met with the Minister of State for Finance for guidance to create an ecommerce regulatory body. During the meeting marketplace misdeeds were discussed and how an ecommerce regulatory body would bring order to online retail.
The seller association informed us, they are taking the necessary steps to make this a reality. The whole procedures will take time but they are still one step closer and plan to keep going further.
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