Amazon Sellers Blog

Amazon Seller Account Suspensions for Inauthentic Complaints can happen to absolutely anyone who has ever sold on Amazon. And that is the reason why it’s one of the most common issues, which some of you need to deal with right now.

​On the other hand, it’s one of the most difficult cases to resolve, because Amazon is very sensitive to this issue. It’s very understandable, as Amazon (as a company striving to be the largest online marketplace in the world) has to keep its reputation on a high level, and selling inauthentic items on their platform may cause huge damage not just to them, but also to other sellers. Root causes for such suspensions may vary, but there are still ways to prevent your business from unnecessary suspensions: invoices.

Amazon suspended item not as described?  According to Amazon policy, the product you sell must match exactly the one described in your listings. If you have this issue, you should included in your plan of action that you will monitor your listings to make sure they conform to Amazon policy. Ruthless competitors will often sell a generic product and complain against other sellers who list under them.

​Be careful! Your Amazon seller account can be suspended if you are not selling the exact item described in the listing.

Retail Arbitrage is Permitted on Amazon but Be Careful if You Do ItIn economics and finance, arbitrage (/ˈɑːrbɪtrɑːʒ/, UK also /-trɪdʒ/) is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets: striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which the unit is traded – Wikipedia
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In simple words, you purchase a product at a retail store and resell it on any e-commerce platform for a slight profit. For any online markets, such as Amazon.com, it is a widely known concept, often used by those who are only starting their online business. 

​Check Your Invoices BEFORE You List Products on Amazon and Avoid Suspensions. 
 
Amazon is one of the largest online retailers in the world and depends upon third-party sellers for over 50 percent of the goods they sell online.  The number of sellers and consumers on the Amazon is growing every single day, and this progression will only grow.  

In this regard, Amazon is tightening up the war on counterfeiting and various types of fraud.  When they ask a seller for invoices, they are asking you to prove your chain of supply.  They can ask for many reasons, which include to verify the authenticity of the items or their condition.  It is important to remember that Amazon is not like a swap meet or flea market.  They are a genuine retailer and third-party sellers are expected to behave in the same regard.  If Amazon is not able to verify your chain of supply, you run the risk of not just a listing removal but an entire account suspension. 

Taking that into consideration, since we see so many suspensions for lack of adequate invoices, we are posting a checklist of the necessary information that needs to be on the invoice, so that YOU can control the supplier and stay on the safe side from any type of inauthentic or condition suspension.
If you are a responsible seller, it is your responsibility to search for a reliable supply partner. To find one, make sure the invoices they are issuing for you state the following:
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​• Date of issue, to keep your documentation in the right order.  All invoices must represent your sales and be current, within 365 days.

• Unique Invoice number, which you will need for tracking purposes and for reference that the funds you paid are for this particular products.

•Tracking information
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•  Invoices must be final.  They cannot be pro-forma invoices.
• Supplier data: this includes company name, email address, legal address and contact information, including telephone and fax number, as well as company website.  Amazon will sometimes check the website and will sometimes call your supplier.  If the supplier does not have a website or they cannot complete a call to them, they will mark your invoices as unverified.

• Buyer data (Yours): company/individual name, email address, legal / physical address and contact information.  The company name and address must match the one on your seller central profile.  We understand businesses may have different purchasing and selling companies, and we have gone through countless amendments of appeals to express this to Amazon.  It is helpful to keep everything simple and consistent.

• Indicate the number and date of the contract (if applicable) on the basis of which the invoice is issued

• Positions of authorized persons.

• Identification of the purchased product, which has to match exactly with what you register on your account.  If it is a brand name item, the brand should be reflected on the invoice.  Often, if the invoice only lists a SKU number, it will be denied as not descriptive enough.

• Quantity, unit of measure, price and amount.  You may mark out the prices, but beware of doing so with any computer program, as your invoices will be scanned and could be construed as “forged” or “manipulated.”

• The total amount paid.

• The amount of VAT (if applicable) is indicated separately or, if the goods are not taxed, it must be written “Without VAT” or “VAT not taxed”

These are the standard requirements for invoices to be accepted by Amazon. Secure your business on Amazon by legal and detailed invoices.  

If your seller account has already been suspended for inauthentic sales or product condition, invoices and a professionally-written persuasive Plan Of Action (POA) will successfully reinstate your seller account within a very short period of time.

​Clients often ask, "Are you kidding?  We send the email to Jeff Bezos?"  "Does he really read them?"  The answers are yes, we send the email to Jeff Bezos and no, the richest man in the world does not take the time to read your emails.

He does, however, have a staff that opens them and routes them to the appropriate manager within Amazon's network.

Often called Bezos escalations, these are actually not a new appeal, but a new place to send your denied appeal to get a review from Amazon management.

They always answer, and they usually give a final decision, except in cases where they will ask for more information.  

Amazon.com (AMZN) announced in August that, as a result of its change of its Business Solutions Agreement with third-party sellers, in response to pressure from Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO), it was changing the way it dealt with seller suspensions. NOT!

Sellers and Seller Consultants still report Amazon is suspending seller accounts without notice, despite the provision that future suspensions would be preceded by a thirty-day notice and an explanation of the reasons behind the seller account deactivation or a seven-day notice in serious cases of material breach. However, more than thirty days after the effective changes in the contract, Amazon is still closing accounts without notice as usual, and seems to be relying on the “escape clause” that allows it to terminate an account immediately if determines the seller conduct has exposed them to third-party liability, such as counterfeit sales.  

The Wall Street Journal broke a story this week declaring that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) had “ceded” control of its site, resulting in the offering of thousands of banned, unsafe or mislabeled products. While it is true that Amazon’s E-commerce site is riddled with counterfeit, dangerous and sometimes even illegal goods, the fault is not control over its site, over which it has complete control.

​The problem is failure to properly vet third-party sellers on the giant E-tailer’s platform. ​

Seller Performance rejects your Amazon Appeal and Plan of Action
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If your Amazon selling account has been suspended, you have written a well thought out and comprehensive Amazon Appeal Plan of Action and you get back something like this: "We have reviewed the material you sent and decided you may no longer sell on Amazon...We may not respond to this email" your first reaction may be to just give up. But you don't have to. There are several avenues of higher appeal you can pursue if you Amazon account is suspended and then your selling privileges are revoked.

Resend your appeal for a review by a senior investigator or manager
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Amazon is a huge beaureaucracy, which means that there are levels of management above the investigator who considered your case. If you get back a terse response such as the above, and too quickly, you may want to resend your appeal with a request that a manager or senior investigator review your file. Make it clear in the first paragraph of your new appeal that you responded fully to all of their questions, supplied all the materials requested and presented a comprehensive appeal plan of action, but did not receive a meaningful response.