Apologies for returning to the Amazon situation so soon, but a) there appear to have been some key developments since I wrote last week’s Blog and b) not much else of note has been happening in the world of toys this week. It’s also a topic that clearly resonates with the toy community: I received numerous calls and emails this week from people keen to understand what’s going on and, ultimately, desperate for some clarity.

I do find it mildly ironic that it falls to people like me or Amazon specialists like Asha at Etopia (other Amazon gurus are available) to let everyone know what’s going on, rather than Amazon themselves, but here we are. Maybe communication – and personal relationships – is an area Amazon needs to work on if it wants to be thought of by suppliers in the same way as the likes of Smyths or The Entertainer.

Anyway, the good news is that based on conversations with several people this week, it appears that the whole situation may not be quite as bad as it first seemed. Any fear that swathes of distributors are about to have their accounts closed overnight has dissipated, and the ‘solutions’ don’t seem to be all that complicated.

It looks like the new ‘distributor’ strategy will largely be run through brand registry – there have been some subtle wording changes this week which give an indication as to how it will all work going forward. The key clause is that only a brand owner can sign up to register brand names (distributors can’t register themselves anymore). If you are a distributor, the brand owner needs to add your account as an additional user, which sounds straightforward enough.

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