My account has been deactivated since April and I don't know what to do (Section 3)
I’m on the brink of giving up but I might as well post my situation here to see if I could get any advice.
On April 28th, 2024, I received a section 3 violation on my Amazon seller account for apparently selling counterfeit goods. The ASIN in question is B09YC6K4YF, which I sourced from [Moderator Edit: removed external URL]
Since then, I’ve made numerous submissions, I’ve called Amazon, I’ve talked to others who’ve gotten section 3 violations to see if they could help, I’ve hired a law firm who specializes in helping Amazon sellers to make me a letter with a notarized affidavit to mail to Amazon's headquarters (I never got a response), I’ve added on every related invoice/business document that I could think of to my submissions, and yet, they still haven’t accepted my submission because they can’t “verify the information”.
I’ve tried scheduling calls with Amazon to get my account balance disbursed but they don’t send me any info once I’ve scheduled the calls. One time, I did manage to schedule a call but the guy on the call had such a heavy accent that I couldn’t even understand him and he canceled the call on me.
I genuinely feel like Amazon does not care about their sellers. They don’t go in depth as to why they’re rejecting my submissions and every time I contact their customer service, they don’t seem to care. I’ve had friends irl who also used to sell on Amazon but have had their businesses ruined by section 3 violations.
Now, before anyone says anything, should I have sold shoes on Amazon that I got from a reselling site? Probably not. I was very into online arbitrage at the time, I knew people in person that were having success with it, and I even paid thousands of dollars for a mentor. I was pretty convinced it was a valid business model, since I was doing online arbitrage for over a year and I was having success with it. But I guess it isn’t what it seemed to be.
My main concern at the moment is wondering how I could even get my account balance back. But also, I want to figure out if I can even get my Amazon account back in general. I was looking into wholesale right before my account got deactivated and I’d be more than happy to switch to wholesale and ditch arbitrage all together if my account got reactivated.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can go more in-depth if needed.
17 replies
Seller_SgMqxs3wAEuSI
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Seller_LyYw7fQRKc5G7
[Moderator Edit: removed external URL] is a retail site. They do not provide invoices. They provide retail receipts.You may need to go to Arbitration to get your account back. The information for this is in the seller terms of service in section 18. You can find this in seller university or seller help by searching for Amazon Business Services Agreement.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Wow, not only did you source from a RETAIL site, you listed an ADIDAS product.
Either action on its own is enough to get you deactivated.
Probably your best recourse at this point is to hire a lawyer, and sue the "mentor" who destroyed your Amazon business.
You won't. You can't prove the authenticity of your items, therefore Amazon cannot release your funds.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
And if you go on the highway, you'll see a lot of people speeding. Try that argument with the trooper who pulls you over; I bet they've never heard it.
Too bad that you weren't "invested" enough to come to the forums and learn that what you are doing isn't going to work. I'm guessing that you didn't even go through Seller U; or at the very least, didn't bother paying attention to the sourcing guidelines.
So you've given them wholesale invoices from kickscrew? Did you include your letter of authorization from Adidas?
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
AFAIK, it doesn't. But it does state that you must be able to supply a verifiable supply chain.
This is going to vary from brand to brand; some brands don't care. Others, such as Nike and Adidas, do not want unauthorized 3P sellers selling their products on Amazon, and will aggressively pursue those who attempt it.
You might want to review https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/GGA969XZCZZPEVY5
Note especially the line::
Should demonstrate your product’s full supply chain
Since Adidas does not consider kickscrew to be an authorized WHOLESALE distributor, you do not have full supply chain documentation.
As has been pointed out many times in the forums, while RA is technically allowed, it is risky. And also as has been pointed out, selling Adidas or Nike is a sure way to get your account suspended.
