A company dIssolved in December 2023 selling on Amazon on 21 November 2024, how is that possible?
Found an interesting seller on 21 November 2024 on an ASIN, selling very cheap, much below cost.
The selling price was so low that I decided to check them out. To my surprise their Companies House registration number displayed on Amazon showed the company was dissolved in December 2023, almost a year ago!
What happened to Amazon's verification checks?
Has anyone seen something like this before?
19 replies
Seller_mS10UjVYuuGor
If the stock is FBA it could be the liquidator trying to realise some value as they cannot recall the stock to sell at auction as would be normal.
Seller_QuM1AZgzfU9x4
It's hard to say how common it is, but this certainly isn't the first one i've seen. Amazon aren't going to say often they check with CH, but clearly it's impractical for them to be constantly checking every seller.
Seller_vtSzvxtW9StxE
Remember seeing similar thing in the past.
Amazon periodically checks account with companies house and that time they ask to provide the current data and failing to provide that may result in suspension.
Personally with my account that periodic check happenes roughly around every 2 years.
Seller_tx93U2wLYO1b7
A common practice among some overseas traders on the Amazon platform is setting up a business in the UK, ticking all the boxes required to meet Amazon’s policies—such as obtaining a VAT number and other essentials. They operate through Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) and trade actively, but when the time comes to file accounts or pay taxes, the company is conveniently dissolved.
Even after the final Gazette announcement, these traders often continue selling for an extended period. Meanwhile, a new company is quietly set up in the background to take over the brand and continue operations seamlessly. This cycle repeats, allowing them to evade paying taxes while still profiting from the platform.
It’s astonishing how often this happens and, frankly, how easy it is for them to get away with it.
Seller_Qrqi3Gr1D0qyY
Yep, seen this here and on ebay too.
As far as I'm aware it is illegal to trade under a company that is no longer registered with ch but marketrplaces don't seem to bother as long as seller pays them fee? I even reported one on ebay but account still exist.
Was a bit annoyed about this prior August 2024 as when providing vat numbers those sellers were not charged vat on amazon fees. Now to be honest I stopped wasting my energy wondering about this, the whole system is weak.
They don't seem to care to much x
Seller_VpTps3nNkV8hZ
As far as I'm aware it is illegal to trade under a company that is no longer registered with ch but marketrplaces don't seem to bother as long as seller pays them fee? I even reported one on ebay but account still exist.
There are legitimate ways for that to be OK. Someone could buy the company name and assets out of liquidation and be in the process of reestablishing a new company. In theory it could be the liquidator selling the assets. I used to be in that field. If I remember right you'd have to show that that was what was happening somewhere. It can be more complicated than it looks, although it can just be someone winging it.
Seller_VpTps3nNkV8hZ
It depends on the circumstances. A liquidator can carry on trading the assets of a dissolved company. I've only ever been involved with it offline so not entirely sure how it would work but it is possible. There would have to be some information somewhere that the buyer is dealing with the liquidator of a dissolved company but it wouldn't need to be anything too extreme. It doesn't sound like that's what's happening here.
I did see a company in liquidation a few months ago and their stock was all being sold by auction but they still had live listings for items in FBA. So the Official Receiver would have been getting the money for any sales on behalf of the creditors of the dissolved company. I assume that's a relatively common occurrence.
At a guess, Amazon must be liable if it's a dissolved company and no one is accepting responsibility for it and it's sold on their site. There are probably a fair number of dissolved companies still active in one way or another. Presumably there are some processes for it, Amazon seem to be quite legally savvy.
Seller_VpTps3nNkV8hZ
If a liquidator is selling off the assets of a dissolved company, they are technically not legal when displaying dissolved company information.
I wouldn't argue with that, as I say whenever I've had anything to do with it it was not online traders.
If you ever see stores in liquidation they'll have a sign up somewhere, usually at the checkout, to say that money is going to the Official Receiver on behalf of the business.
I'd guess there's some mechanism within Amazon to do something like that. Liquidators/Official Receivers are given different powers to do things within a certain timeline. Knowing how they operate I'd guess that there's an official policy somewhere that takes this into account.
I still know a couple of people in that field so I'll ask when I get a chance and post back here if I get any new info.
Seller_gpqqZ5FYuNK50
They don’t do any checks been trying to close my amazon account from my old company dissolved about a year ago for over a year now. It’s seemingly basically impossible to close an Amazon account
