Competitor has HFSS product promotion approved

#1

We sell HFSS products on Amazon UK and understand we can’t promote them now. However, a competitor has had Ads for identical products approved.

I’ve messaged Seller Support and given them all the ASIN details but the promotions remain. Likewise I’ve directly reported the Ads.

The Ads have continued for months and I can’t find a way of Amazon looking at the detail properly.

I’ve contacted the UK Advertising Standards Authority and they advised I contact the other sellers local Trading Standards. I don’t really want to do that and instigate TS turning up on their doorstep. I just want Amazon to take the Ads down.

Is there a better way of contacting Seller Support? I’ve messaged them for weeks and get cut and pasted answers, saying someone will look at it but nothing changes.

#2

Are the competitor products listed in the correct category?

#3

I don’t know how to view what category they have their listings in by looking at the front end/customer facing bit of Amazon?

#4

What is the ASIN?

#5

ASIN is B08TB477GF

#6

I’m not an expert in browse nodes (or HFSS for that matter) but I can see “Hampers & Gourmet Gifts : Dessert Gifts”. Is this what you use for yours? If not, maybe try it, it might work.

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#7

Thanks for the reply. That may be a more generic category that doesn’t automatically trigger the HFSS blocking. But, I am not trying to get our ASINs promoted. I am happy to follow the rules - I would just like Amazon to identify the competitors policy violation and stop their ADs.

It seems impossible to get Amazon to identify the problem and act. I am just looking for less dramatic ways of resolving this without Trading Standards/ASA involvement.

#8

To be fair to the seller, their product does indeed look like it is correctly categorised
They do look like a dessert gift hamper

#9

It’s a box of cakes. Their cakes are being promoted on Amazon (although an Amazon policy violation) but ours can’t.

#11

When is a cake a dessert and when is a dessert a cake?

#12

As nouns the difference between dessert and cake is that dessert is a sweet confection served as the last course of a meal while cake is a rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing

#13

Why not take it up with the seller rather than pre-empt ‘grass out’ with trading standards ?

#14

so a macaroon could be classed as both?

#15

Amazon can be unfair. I try not to worry about what my competitors are doing to avoid rules, taxes etc and just concentrate on growing my own business.

#16

Maybe and inevitably if I can’t get Amazon to notice that’s what we will do.

#17

Yes - I’d planned a polite, to let you know this is what we’re doing.

#18

well as you’ve shared the asin, if they are a frequenter of the forums, they’ll already be aware

#19

They may not have realised the wrong doing so it’s worth a shot.

#20

I would honestly focus on my own business. You will see rules being applied unfairly every day, so not worth the effort IMO.

Their BSR in groceries is 44,000 - it is not like the advertising is helping them anyway.

#21

Amazon can be unfair sometimes, it will most likely catch up to them at somepoint and they wont be able to advertise that product. The same happened to me last year i was somehow advertising a product i wasn’t allowed to advertise then within 6 weeks of the ad running it was eventually stopped. I wasn’t aware of the strict advertising policy’s at the time. Just keep focusing on your own business :slight_smile: