Company has made me redundant, who owns the Amazon account me or company?
Hi
I am currently a 25% owner of a company that sells on Amazon. The owners have unfortunately decided to make me redundant.
The Amazon seller account that the company uses to sell on Amazon was created by me therefore I am the admin of the account. As I understand you are only allowed one Amazon account in your lifetime.
The company has asked for the logins for the account but I want to continue selling on Amazon myself. Who owns the account is it me or the company. If I was to give them the logins I am assuming that I wouldn’t be able to ever create another seller account?
TIA
0 replies
Seller_bi8rGHHcLpoVs
Is the account in the ltd company name or your name?
Seller_vJ08QoZpmGgNp
Follow the Money… Do the funds disburse into the companies bank account or your personal bank account?
Seller_wqciCXuQbNS4p
If it’s in the companies name and funds are being transferred to their account, then the account belongs to the company.
I think though, that there are more questions that you could be asking…as in they’re making you redundant but what’s happening to your shareholding? Will they continue to pay you dividends? All of these bits could be used in negotiation for you to effectively acquire and so continue with the account.
You may be wise to seek professional advice though on the legality of the situiation.
Seller_kHIYvQFgzwVAy
So they screwed you over, if I was you personally, get all the details changed, you should be allowed to change the details of your amazon account, I believe amazon allow details to be changed once or twice a year, I think you have to go to Settings > Account Info > Transfer Account, which should allow you to change the details to a sole trader, don’t give them the password to the account, and be sure to change the email of the account and make sure there are no other accounts that can access the account,
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
As you are going to be listed as a beneficial owner from the first account (even though you are no longer employed there) then it is entirely possible that any account you subsequently use may be considered a ‘second account’.
You really need guidance from Seller Performance (not seller support who do not have authority over account creations)… It is not a straightforward case.
Seller_kHIYvQFgzwVAy
Also if this is your personal amazon.co.uk account then I would certainly want to protect it.
Seller_lljyzgTxr5fgI
Just to add a little clarity here. As I’m sure you are well aware, a limited company is a legal entity in its’ own right. As a 25% shareholder, presumably you are not the ‘majority’ shareholder? If the other 75% is held by one person then they obviously hold the majority of the say over the company, which is presumably how you came to be made redundant. It doesn’t really matter who created the Amazon account, the account belongs to the company and the decisions of the company are taken by the shareholders and the directors and the majority shareholders have the biggest say. However, what should have happened was a shareholders meeting to decide on how your shareholding was to be dealt with, at which, you should have been able to represent your case.
You should seek advice from an accountant or legal representative before you do anything regarding Amazon. Seller Performance can advise you as to Amazon’s position regarding another account but you should not do anything with the existing one until you have the legal position fully clarified.
I am sorry to hear that this has happened to you but best to protect yourself from any future litigation, either from the company or Amazon.
Seller_x1xMSBwZsJrTE
Before seeking expensive legal advice, can you have an amicable discussion with the company? Explain to them that transferring the account isn’t a straight forward issue and that it could have serious consequences down the road for both you AND them.
If you turn the account over to them and them set up a new account, Amazon could shut down BOTH accounts, so they need to consider this very carefully themselves.
To avoid any of these issues the best way froward is for them to set up their own account and for you remove their bank account and company details from the account you have.
Seller_Rds42gzScDQFa
Excuse me for asking but if you own 25 percent of the company how can they make you redundant?
Seller_wAn7LAlr0jsID
Is you home address associated with the account? If not you could have someone else in your household set up a Ltd company registered to your home address and then they can create a new Amazon account.
If you got the ASIN’s and can source the products, theres no reason why you can’t continue selling them under the new company.
The ASIN’s are not owned by your company, they will stay in Amazon’s catalogue.
