Suspended Account On Amazon
Hello all reading this, my names Jack and I’m having a huge issue with Amazon at the moment which I will explain below:
I currently have a large Ebay business, I’m looking to move to Amazon to increase my sales and turn over along with offering my customers Prime.
I had my Amazon Seller account for around 3 months and I was growing steadily on Amazon until I had a product violation thrown at me, someone had reported me for apparently selling counterfeit goods (one of my competitors because I was taking their business). Amazon suspense my account immediately asking for proof of authentication etc which obviously we provided immediately, I will post my response below for everyone to read:
Hello there,
Thanks for the return email back asking for further details into my plan of action going forward with my Amazon business.
You have asked for certain details which I will go into detail below including the root causes and the actions I’m taking to resolve the issues regarding Complaint ID: 5169152722. I would also like to outline the steps I’m taking to prevent infringement or violating Amazon’s policies in the future.
Proof of product authenticity (e.g., invoice, Order ID, licensing agreement, letter of authorization):
- Please see attached Invoice, Ace of Vapes are the manufacturers of Dough Bro’s E Liquid.
Please elaborate and provide strong reasons that caused of this matter mentioning infringement alleged (Counterfeit infringement) in order to reinstate your seller account:
- The de-activation of my account was caused by a lack of knowledge by myself in using Amazons listing systems due to being a brand new business seller on Amazon. I am now fully aware that when adding my own stock to another companies listing I need to check which brand the product is being sold under. Elaborating further…if they’ve applied their own brand I cant add my stock to their listing.
Root Causes:
I believe the root cause of my account being suspended is due to a copyright infringement from a company called ‘My Vapory’. They as a company created an amazon listing for a brand called ‘Dough Bro’s’ in which I used their listing to add my stock too. I understand now that with Amazon’s policies I am not allowed to list my products under their listings and need to create my own, at the time I wasn’t aware of this situation as I am brand new to using your platform.
Actions I have taken:
Since receiving my notification of product removal and copyright infringement I have removed and closed all listings in question, these include:
B07NLCYPXN
B07NLCTCCH
B07NLFHWRR
B07NLCJ26Y
B07NLD9RN3
I believe to the best of my knowledge these are the only listings that infringe your policies within my account and inventory.
*Steps taken to prevent infringement or violating Amazon’s policies:
Moving forward when listing items in the future I will be sure to check the listing I am adding stock too, being sure to check if another business has already claimed intellectual rights and ownership to the product or brand. This will prevent any future issues arising.
Now I am aware of Amazon’s policies I feel more confident in keeping my account in good health going forward.
I hope this plan addresses your concerns and gives you confidence that I now know how to check my listings and products properly to ensure they don’t violate policies any further. If there is any more details you require from myself or my business please do not hesitate to contact myself.
Greater detail on why you believe an error has occurred:
Referring to one of my previous points I believe that my lack of knowledge was the root cause of my account to be deactivated. I have now learnt from my mistakes and hope to get my account re-instated.
How your listing(s) have not violated the brand’s intellectual property:
Ace of Vapes are the brand manufacturers and they own the rights to the brand Dough Bro’s which is the same brand for the below SKU’s in violation:
B07NLCYPXN
B07NLCTCCH
B07NLFHWRR
B07NLCJ26Y
B07NLD9RN3
The company who has reported me for violating their products DO NOT own the copyright or intellectual property for this brand as confirmed by Ace Of Vapes. However, I do understand they have branded this listing/ASIN as their own which has infringed my products within the above listings.
After submitting this response to Amazon I have received absolutely nothing from them as a company, I have emailed all 3 seller support emails I have and also rang multiple times with no response, it’s like Amazon don’t want my business.
I also attended a Prime Factory Tour yesterday, I took my laptop and explained my case to Amazon workers leading the tour, they also seemed to think the decision was outrageous and unjustified.
I just physically don’t know what else to do, I’ve even tried tweeting amazon help with no response…can anyone help me?
15 replies
Seller_EJIX7rqDNQJi2
From your post and POA it sounds like you had issues with intellectual property rights infringement. The appeal isn’t bad but it still needs a lot of work and editing if you want to have your account reactivated.
Could you post the original suspension notice in full, to see what was the actual suspension reason?
Don’t keep e-mailing Amazon over this. Every additional contact is counted as a separate appeal, which is only decreasing your chances of a successful reinstatement.
Seller_PGMIEnWUHWeaw
Hi the issue here is that the company who have reported you have created the listings and the SKU’s for the product, even though they are not the manufacturer or brand owner. In Amazons eyes this means that they can defend against someone else selling it.
If the original product that you sell has a bar code on you could try to use that, or contact the manufacturer for the ASIN number. Failing that you could always buy your own barcode number from somewhere (barcode bird are good) and list them with that number
Seller_sxT07k0eK71HJ
Thanks so much for the template, I have adjusted and re-wrote parts to suit our case. I will copy the adjusted case below for you to read:
Dear Amazon UK Seller Performance Team,
Thank you for providing me the opportunity to appeal my seller account’s suspension due to intellectual property complaints.
I understand that Amazon takes complaints about violations of intellectual property rights of brands or rights owners very seriously and I would like to share with you my Plan of Action in which I explain what I have done to resolve the issue and what will I do to prevent similar complaints in the future.
What happened:
I received a trademark infringement complaint from the rights owner for the ASINS:
-
B07NLCYPXN
-
B07NLCTCCH
-
B07NLFHWRR
-
B07NLCJ26Y
-
B07NLD9RN3
(All the Above ASIN’s relate to the same listing/brand of product on amazon).
Another store on Amazon has mistakenly reported my Amazon store, despite the goods were authentic and sourced directly from the branded company.
I believe that this happened because the Amazon store tried to brand the products on their listing as their own when technically the brand should be ‘Dough Bro’s produced by Ace of Vapes.
What I have done to address this problem:
I have immediately removed all listings from my store for which I received complaints. I will not relist them until Amazon allows me to reinstate the content.
I have contacted the Amazon Store who reported me to let them know that their
company mistakenly reported my Amazon store and I asked them to send a retraction notice to Amazon as soon as possible.
I have carefully reviewed my entire Amazon account and inventory to make sure that all my listings are fully compliant with the Amazon policies and guidelines, especially the ones regarding trademarks and intellectual property.
I contacted all my other suppliers to let them know that I am selling on Amazon and provided
them my new store name to prevent them erroneously reporting me for trademark infringement.
What I will do to prevent similar complaints in the future:
Before listing any new products for sale on Amazon, I will verify that the products or listings don’t violate anyone’s intellectual property, trademark, copyright or a patent.
Also, I will be contacting my suppliers to ask them if I can offer their merchandise on Amazon.
I will continue sourcing all my inventory directly from the manufacturers.
I will regularly read and re-read the Amazon guidelines and policies to make sure that I am not in violation of any of the rules. Also, I will monitor all changes of the policies or any applicable laws, which could affect me or my account and react proactively.
I believe that this plan sufficiently addresses the issue and I hope I will be able to continue selling on Amazon.
Sincerely,
Jack Foley
Thrill Seekers Vape Store (Managing Director).
Attachments: 1. Invoice from Ace Of Vapes for ASIN’s (Proof of authenticity).
-
B07NLCYPXN
-
B07NLCTCCH
-
B07NLFHWRR
-
B07NLCJ26Y
-
B07NLD9RN3
The above ASIN’s Brand ‘Dough Bro’s relate to the 2nd, 3rd& 4th products on the invoice - “Dough Bro’s Blueberry Jam” etc.
I hope this evidence is enough to reinstate my Amazon Business Account, I recently took a Prime Tour around one of your UK depots and would really like to send a large range of my products to your depots to help both yourselves and myself grow as a business.
Many thanks,
Jack (Managing Director),
Thrill Seekers Vape Store.
The final thing I need to know is I have already submitted an appeal, how do I submit a new one with attachments?
Thanks,
Jack.
Seller_V57sNlKViU5n4
Hi Jack,
The only thing that comes to mind beyond the obvious, is that ‘Seller X’ who filed the complaint, has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with the main brand ‘ace of vapes’ covering sales on the Amazon platform.
You need to speak to the supplier and see if that is the case. I would also say, if the above isn’t the case, get ‘ace of vapes’ to supply you with a Brand Authorisation Letter, this may help your appeal.
In any regard, you should also provide Amazon with an invoice from your supplier showing that the items in question are genuine.
Seller_NAT2KAn9tqHpM
My account suspended as well.
Because one client complaints my item is not authenticity.
The client complaints the size is smaller and the plastic is not stronger, while the amazon have to listen the client advise, suspended the account.
I have to take out the ruler to see is it anything wrong, while the size is exactly the same as listed on the description. and it is the plastic bottle, i have no idea how to judgement the difference.
while i have write to appeal as well.
this points are really strange.
by my experience, the best thing is to send Jeff@amazon.com as well.
good luck
