Amazon discontinues ASON download, support. Don’t Panic.
Posted on 29. Jan, 2010 by Oleg from OglieOglie in Order Processing
No more ASON?
Amazon announced that they will stop allowing ASON downloads after March 30, 2010, and will discontinue technical support on July 29, 2010. Details and possible remedies follow.
If you use ASON (Amazon Services Order Notifier), here is what it means for you:
- This does not mean that ASON will stop working right away. You have at least six months, if not more, so don’t panic.
- Download the ASON install package from the ASON download page, and save it on you computer just in case. Soon, it will not be available for download anymore, and you might need it in the future to install ASON on a new computer, or to reinstall it on your current one.
- Start planning your transition to something other than ASON:
- Order processing software (see below for one of the options)
- “Sold, ship now” emails
- Amazon’s website
Replacing ASON
Starting two days ago, I began receiving emails like this one:
Hello,
I am a book seller on Amazon.
They recently sent out an email stating that ason was going away later this year.
I am wondering if you are considering creating a replacement for amazon’s ason software that lets book sellers download their orders.
While they claim that not enough people use it, I believe that the people that do use it, really depend on it.
Please let me know if this is a project that you would consider.
Thank you
Well, this is very timely. 
Yes, I am actually building a simple order processing software. A trial version will be available in about three weeks.
It will work similar to ASON, and will have some additional functionality (see orders, print picklists, packing slips, confirm orders, integrate with Endicia). Let me know if you’d like to give it a try when it comes out. The trial version will be free, of course; the only thing I ask is that you tell me what you like and don’t like about the software.
The eventual cost for small sellers will be $19.99/month; the trial participants will get a chance to lock in their price at $16.99/month.
Reference: Original Amazon email announcement
Hello from Amazon Services,
According to our records you have downloaded Amazon Services Order Notifier (ASON) and may be using it for retrieving information about new orders. We are contacting you today to let you know that as of July 29, 2010, Amazon Services will discontinue support of ASON, and after March 30, 2010, it will no longer be possible to download the ASON application.
Once ASON support is discontinued, there will be no further upgrades or modifications to ASON. It will not run on operating systems other than the Microsoft Windows operating systems on which it currently runs (Windows XP, Windows 2000 SP3, and Windows Server 2003), and no changes will be made to ASON to adapt it to any changes or upgrades to those operating systems.
Seller Support will also discontinue research and troubleshooting of ASON issues as of July 29, 2010. At that time, the existing ASON Help pages will be the only Amazon resource for ASON information.
ASON adoption rates have remained low, and we have decided to focus on order notification methods preferred by the majority of sellers. Although you can still use ASON after support is discontinued, we highly recommend that you prepare now to use one or more of the following order notification methods so you don’t experience any support gaps.
1. “Sold, ship now” notifications alert you to new orders. Be sure to turn these notifications on in your Seller Account to use this order notification method:
Settings: Notification Preferences
2. Check the Manage Your Orders section of your Seller Account daily, where you can see all order details and print packing slips.
3. If you are a Pro Merchant subscriber, use order reports to see new orders you have received, and all the details you need to fulfill those orders. For more information, follow this path in Amazon.com Help:
Selling at Amazon.com: Experienced and Volume Selling: Order Reports
4. If you have developer services available, the developers can use the Event Notification Web Service API to create third-party software applications to retrieve information about events (including new orders) in your Seller Account. For more information, follow this path in Amazon.com Help:
Selling at Amazon.com: Managing Orders: Event Notification Web Service
We encourage you to prepare for this change as soon as possible. When the time for discontinuing ASON support approaches, we plan to contact you again with a reminder if our records indicate that you are still using ASON.
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause.
Best regards,
Amazon Services
We want to get this software. How do I get the beta?
Hi John!
Thank you for your interest. The next release will be completed in about a month – I’ll send you a quick email with a download link when it’s available.
Thanks!
Oleg from OglieOglie
Hi
I sell hundreds a books a day and would love to test the current version. I use multiple computers and my second computer’s ason no longer works.
Thanks
John
HI
Any news ?????
Hi Oleg – I came across this blog while trying to figure out how to move my ASON certificate to a new machine running Windows7 – 32bit. Would like to continue using ASON as long as possible.
I have the ASON program download package but not the Certificate Installer and can’t download it anymore (after July 29, 2010). I Could not seem to figure out which installed certificate on my old machine (XP) is the right one – no identifiers like Amazon or ASON I can find.
If I may bee so bold…
Do you have a copy of the certificate installer that would work? Or, can you help me find the right certificate on my old XP machine, where ASON works fine.
Steve Sobel
ps – I use CWS made easy – very helpful
pps – any update on your order processing software. I think a shareware solution that did not require a monthly fee would be very popular. Put me down as a potential beta tester.
Hi Steve!
Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of the Certificate Installer. It would be interesting to find out where ASON keeps its certificate… I would check the registry and, of course, the installation directory. In fact, I would try copying everything in the installation directory and the appropriate registry nodes to your new computer and see if that would do the trick.
One word of caution: there is a way to generate a new certificate on Amazon website. You probably do NOT want to do that; if you do, ASON will stop working on your old computer.
Thanks for volunteering to beta test OglieOglie Order Processing! I’ll send you a download link via email.
My certificate ran out today
no way of updating it. I am a little concerned. I run reports off of ASON that are not available thru the Amazon site. Help me please. Let me know if I can be a beta tester or at least keep me informed when your software will be available.
Hi Laurie,
I can definitely add you to the beta testers group. Look out for an email sometime between today and tomorrow.
Thanks!
Oleg from OglieOglie
We would love to test your software. We are lost without ASON. Plus we had purchased custom forms. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
Hi, I’d love to test out your order processing software!
I can’t understand why nobody has already bashed out something based on the MWS api to pull a list of orders, confirm shipment, and offer customised packing slip printing!
Thanks, Simon! I sent you an email with the details.
Did you ever get this software going?
Brian
Sure – I just haven’t started charging for it yet.
I am very much interested in this program to replace Amazon ASON.
Betty Mullins
Hi Betty,
I sent you a download link. Let me know what you think!
Oleg from OglieOglie
Is this capable for mac too? If so I would love to try too!