Amazon asks sellers to recall stocks by June 23 or face GST implications

If you have stocks with Amazon, today is your last day to recall it. The online marketplace has requested sellers to reclaim their inventory from its warehouses by Friday, June 23, 2017. This is a result of the onset of GST. At the start of the month, etailers Amazon and Flipkart hosted mega sales to clear off stocks to avoid GST complications. But it appears that the sale may not have cleared the racks at Amazon’s fulfilment centres.

Amazon notice to sellers

Seller sources have revealed that the marketplace has asked them to take back inventory from its fulfilment centres. The marketplace has also mentioned that any removal order placed by sellers beyond June 23 will be subject to GST as they will be processed only after June 30.

“The notification to sellers about removal by June 23 was to give them an opportunity to manage their inventory based on their needs to liquidate or return to vendors/brands. We don’t see any signals of sellers depleting their inventory and our sales continue to be strong. We also don’t see any reduction in fresh inwards,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

But, Amazon is not the only one. Snapdeal too has returned products to sellers. However, the marketplace claims this is common practice for out-of-season stock.

The Amazon Fashion End of Season Sale (EOSS) starts on Friday and is expected to help sellers liquidate stocks before the implementation of GST. But, with the removal of inventory being requested, will the big sale be affected?

A source at Amazon stated that the etailer will not be taking any new inward inventory for a few days. This is till its sellers can provide fresh GST compliant stocks.