10 Years selling on Amazon account deactivated
I believe that this is the end of our Amazon account but before we give up I thought I would reach out here in the hope there is something that we have missed.
Background
We have sold on Amazon since 2014 mainly video games, mostly our own stock but over the years we have also had agreements with suppliers who will ship directly to the customer. We have had the usual problems that we see on the forum all the time but never had account suspended.
On Thursday I logged into find our account had been deactivated, with the below message. It relates this product:
ASIN: |B07FF4YQQK|
Brand: |SONY-PLAYSTATION|
Hello,
Your Amazon selling account has been deactivated. Your listings have been removed in accordance with section 3 of the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement. We leveraged a combination of automated means and expert human review to make this decision. Funds available in your account will be withheld. If you have FBA inventory of the items causing "inauthentic" complaints in Amazon European fulfillment centers, they are currently ineligible for removal.
Why is this happening?
We have taken this measure because we have concerns about the authenticity of the items listed at the end of this email. In order to ensure that customers can shop with confidence on Amazon, we request additional information from sellers to confirm the authenticity of certain products. The sale of counterfeit products on Amazon is strictly prohibited. Amazon has several product detail and listing policies to ensure customers have a consistent buying experience and receive items in the condition they expect.
It seems the product was created on Amazon (Not by us) with the wrong brand. We did list the item as it was sold by one of our suppliers but we never sold one and as far as we can see has not been listed or stock by us for years. The product is not on Amazon any longer. We often receive notifications about violations and always accept them and then remove the product as we list a lot against items already in the catalogue. In searching though emails we found an email on 20/04/2024 saying the listing had been deactivated as it infringes on the copyright of others
It seems the mistake we made was on this one appealing. We replied that the item was clearly incorrect but we did not create and the brand needed to be changed
After that on 4th April We received this message and as there was no listing and we didnt want to ever sell it again we felt that was the end of the matter until we were told our account was deactivated due to that product.
Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
We understand your concern regarding your ASIN B07FF4YQQK. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Rest assured that we'll help you in this regard.
We were unable to find a listing for product ID B07FF4YQQK. Please create a new listing by adding a product to your inventory.
To add a product to your inventory by matching it to an existing listing, follow these steps:
1. Select “Add products” from the “Catalogue” drop-down menu.
2. Under “Find your products in Amazon’s catalogue”, search for the product that you want to sell.
3. Once you locate the product, click “Show variations”, if applicable.
4. Select a condition.
5. Click on “Sell this Product”.
6. Enter your offer information in the provided fields.
7. Click on “Save”.
If you’re unable to locate your product in Add a Product, you can create a new product listing.
We understand that this is not the outcome that you are expecting but we appreciate your outmost patience and understanding.
We have tried appealing, stating that we accept we got this wrong, but we keep being asked for an invoice / supply chain we cannot provide. We tried reaching out to managingdirector in the hope we could explain the situation to a human and that this seems an over-reaction but no one has replied. Having read the forums over the years I assume this is the end for our business but it seems unfair after 10 years of selling.
Is there anything else I can do?
Seller_Fg2fqaWOnEtha
Try the independent mediator, you will find it on the Amazon site. On paper you will have to pay half of the fee, the other half will be paid by Amazon and if you win Amazon will pay in full. Before you are allowed to have a mediator you will be assessed and if they realise that it's their mistake, they will correct it without you having to pay for anything. This is what happened to me after I exhausted all avenues, and appealed 100s of times. When they looked at it they reactivated everything immediately.
Seller_FZLmkAPnHuV4L
As far as Amazon is concerned, if you sell something on Amazon without an invoice (and in some cases, your suppliers suppliers invoice to - to demonstrate a supply chain) , then you are a criminal selling counterfeit goods. Unfortunately, on here it's guilty until proven innocent.
Seller_1vyLJePYDN9hf
Sounds like the usual Amazon bot-induced nonsense. Do you think they are using this kind of spurious reason to shut down sellers they want to discourage? I am finding more and more of these erroneous brandings which prevent my listing products I have sold for years, e.g. cannot list many Deutsche Grammophon cds because Amazon has them catalogued as Dolce & Gabbana (!) products which I am not authorised to sell.
Enquiries to SS on these produce the result one always gets: endless going around in circles with staff who just send autoscript or feign that they cannot understand the issue.
Seller_KlbXZHzQGSDZv
Change a brand on Amazon are you crazy :) Best thing to do if you come accross this situation is just delete the product and listing from your inventory. If the original creator is using a diferent brand to the product its either a mistake or they are using their own brand wrongly but thats amazons fault. Either way you are going to come a cropper when and if it ever gets looked at.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
This thread has been up for nearly 7 days now, had a lot of views and replies, for which we are very grateful, but is there any reason that the mods would avoid. They have been tagged and its clear that we are in need of help. I would understand if they said that they couldn't help with this or if they disagree with the information we have stated but it seems odd that as a seller of 10 years on Amazon they have just ignored it?
We also had no response from the managingdirector email and it feels like there is nothing we can do now.
We provided an invoice from our supplier and were told we also needed our supplier's supplier but the supplier cannot provide as they didn't buy from the manufaturer and again the main problem is that the product in question has the Brand: Playstation in the Amazon catalogue and that is incorrect - we feel if the Brand had been correct in the catalogue then this would not have been an issue.
Is it common for the Moderators to not pick up issues that may be complicated?
Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH
Hello @Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc,
I'm Abella from Amazon, here to help you. I understand that you have a query related to the deactivation of your account.
We greatly appreciate you reaching out to us with your inquiry. Rest assured, we will make every effort to provide you with the support and information you need.
Thanks for all your contributions @Seller_PU8ypkNZEJU9p, @Seller_mBzMy5fGvPFrw, @Seller_Fg2fqaWOnEtha, @Seller_FZLmkAPnHuV4L, @Seller_1vyLJePYDN9hf, @Seller_KlbXZHzQGSDZv.
There are certain policies that Amazon expects its sellers to follow while operating the platform, and Amazon Services Europe Business Solutions Agreement is one among them.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
Despite not being the creator of the listing or having stocked or sold the item for many years, its presence in your inventory is the reason for the violation and subsequent deactivation of your account.
Amazon places great emphasis on product authenticity. To reactivate your account, you must provide valid invoices for the products in question.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
We thoroughly review each of our sellers' posts and provide them with comprehensive assistance. While there may be occasional delays, we strive to ensure that all the support and assistance our sellers need is provided.
If you need any further assistance, you can post here so that we or any of the sellers on forum can help you.
Regards,
Abella.
Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH
Hello @Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc,
I’m Abella from Amazon, here to assist you.
I acknowledge that the product listing has been flagged due to an incorrect brand designation. While the brand should be @play, it was mistakenly listed as Playstation. Even though the brand name wasn't altered intentionally, the listing was affected by the incorrect designation. As sellers, it's our responsibility to verify the ASIN prior to listing and periodically ensure its compliance with policies.
I'd also like to emphasize that the decision-makers are the concerned appeal team members who diligently adhere to Amazon's policies.
Unfortunately, in this particular violation, the team requires only the invoices for resolution.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Abella.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
Hi @Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH,
Unfortunately it doesn't. We have 30,000 products in our catalogue nearly all of which are currently out of stock. They are the buildup of products from over 10 years of selling on Amazon. You are stating that I should routinely be checking all of the products that we are not currently listed to ensure that someone has not changed them and that they currently still adhere to any new policies that have been applied. It is not possible. I will agree that for the period the item was listed it appears to have the wrong brand (In 2020) and accept that is our mistake but to deactivate our account 4 years later feels unfair when a simple check of our account would show we have never sold a counterfeit product or created a listing with an incorrect brand.
The product in question had not been sold by us for several years. How were we to know that this out of all the other products would somehow be flagged by Amazon for a review.
Also you are incorrect that they only require the invoices. They have received the invoices for our purchase from the supplier. They wanted the invoices from the Suppliers supplier (A company now disolved) and a brand registration from the dissolved company and we still do not know if they mean a brand regsitration for the incorrect brand or the dissolved company. We cannot get either but to say ONLY requires is unfair. I appreciate you obviously have to take Amazon's position but please do not make Amazon's request sound simple and that we are not adhering to it.
We have no further expectation that we will receive any help from the moderators of this forum and would delete this thread except that several forum members have offered helpful advice that we hope may one day help another seller in this situation.
Lastly to say Amazon diligently adhere's to anything is a joke. While I am incredibly sad that it appears our account will not be reactivated I will not miss the complete disregard that Amazon treats its sellers. In the last year we've made sales of around £300,000 on Amazon and paid all the fees associated with that. We understand that we are still quite a small seller on Amazon but have had similar figures for several years. All we were asking for was for a human to have read the information. We do not believe that any human reading this situation would conclude that we were trying to sell a counterfeit product or being deceptive but yet that is the accusation being made against us.
If you can read that information and conclude thats the case then fair enough, but if not then why is there no avenue for us to have someone help. That is all we have been asking for via Seller Help / Replies to cases, emails to Managing Director and messages on this forum and not once has anyone from Amazon replied with anything other than "Computer Says No"
So no your response does not help. I appreciate this is your job but for sellers on Amazon these issues are our lives and in this case mine is going to be drastically changed due to the responses. For this one decision our business revenue will be decimated and people will lose jobs. I am not trying to score points, I am trying to save my business.
Regards
Seller_1vyLJePYDN9hf
Not helpful at all. What about all the Deutsche Grammophon cds I cannot list because Amazon, in its infinite wisdom, insists on telling me these are Dolce & Gabbana products!? Example ASIN: B08X6DXPQ6. Cannot list this product, i.e. Amazon is in breach of the selling terms I have paid for.
Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH
Hello @Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc,
Thank you for reaching out again. This is Abella from Amazon.
I'll definitely make an effort to address the issue you're facing with more diligence. Let's convey the same information to our appeal team by explaining the reasons for being unable to provide the supply chain.
We can attempt another approach by presenting a detailed plan of action.
Inform the team of the reasons why you were unable to provide the requested supply chain invoices, along with proposed corrective and preventive measures. However, please note that the decision will ultimately rest with the appeals team, who may choose to accept or reject the submission.
If you need any further assistance, you can post here so that we can help you.
Regards,
Abella.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
Hi,
Thank you for that suggestion. We have tried to present that to them and will wait to see what happens. We had also tried to do that several days ago but merely got back they still wanted more information. It can be quite hard to tell if the Amazon team is even reading anything sent, the feedback unfortunately is very generic and hasn't acknowledged anything put forward as an appeal.
Same for emails to the managing director address. We did not get any response. Even a response saying this is not something they are going to help with would have at least told us it was another pointless avenue.
It seems that due to this one product Amazon no longer want us to sell on their platform and ultimately that is a choice we will have to accept.
But the way it has been done has been brutal to say the least. An email at 7am, no contact with a human who had any power over the situation and then generic email responses.
We will continue to appeal and hope at some point we either get an explanation of why this one product overrode our 10 years of sales on Amazon or our account reinstated but I suspect we will not be the last company to be treated in this way.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
Hi @Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH,
I believe we put in an appeal that explained the siutation, explained the issues with the product and also tried to explain steps we would take in future to avoid it.
We received a generic response back so we have no way of knowing if it was even seen or checked by a human but the generic messages continued to be sent advising we needed to provide the invoice that we explained we could not.
We are coming to the conclusive that Amazon does not want us to continue selling. We have applied for independent mediation as a last step.
I appreciate the help you offered at this last stage but the response from Amazon in general has been awful and I do not think acceptable. If Amazon has a genuine reason they want us off their platform then it would be appropriate to say that. We've now wasted 2 weeks trying to get our account reactivated. We have chased the supply chain to the point of finding the original manufacturer of the device back before 2020 and that the company was dissolved (23/05/2024) on the very same day our account was deactivated. Perhaps a coincidence but when we tried to find out again we just got generic replies from Amazon. It is not unreasonable to expect that when decisions are being made which will cost this amount of money and people their livelihoods that they should be made in a transparent and clear manner.
We are starting the process of moving on but I fear that at some point soon Amazon will do this to a person who will lose everything for what may be a mistake.
The recent stories around the Post Office seem to have similarities with the Amazon treats it sellers. Automated systems making decisions that are enforced with no responsibility being taken. It seems we will never know why this one product out of the 30,000 we have listed over 10 years was the "one" that took away our account.
We will never know why our explanation of the circumstances was not accepted.
We will never know if it was due to the brand being incorrect. These are questions that we deserved answers to even if that still resulted in our account being deactivated.
We will never know if a company in no way related to us being dissolved on the same day our account was deactivated was a trigger for our account.
If other sellers read this in similar circumstances then I can only advise that it is possible you will fair better than us but I would urge everyone reading this to not rely on Amazon as a consistent source of business. We sold on Amazon since 2014, with 97% feedback, on the day our account was deactivated every metric was within targets. If you list against the product catalogue like we did (We never created a product on Amazon), then we believe you could be caught the same as us. Not paying enough attention to the errors in the Amazon product catalogue seems to our error.
The product that got us banned was created on Amazon before 2020 and we had not sold it on Amazon since 2021 at the latest. It had been removed from Amazon and our inventory yet it is still the only reason Amazon have given us for deactivating our account.
I hope everyone has better luck selling on Amazon than we had at the end.
Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH
Hello @Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc,
I’m Abella from Amazon, here to assist you.
I'm sorry to hear that your appeal was rejected. In certain violations, the team only accepts invoices as evidence.
I truly appreciate your efforts in taking the extra step and appealing to the team in detail, explaining why you are unable to submit invoices.
If you require any additional assistance, please feel free to post here. We or any of the sellers on the forum will be happy to help you.
Regards,
Abella.
Seller_Mm1T4Y55OdRrc
Hi @Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH
We are glad you appreciated our effort. Knowing that has made losing £300,000 worth of sales a year due to one product we have not sold since 2020 much better.
We would love to know why this one product has cost us our Amazon account and why 10 years of sales on the Marketplace count for nothing against this 1 product. If you can explain that then we would be very grateful.
Regards
Seller_1vyLJePYDN9hf
Answer me this one please @Seller_VJ4XoAkjDpjPH, if Amazon has the product catalogued with totally the wrong brand, how am I going to get invoices? What do you think fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana are going to say if I ask them to provide me with invoices for my Deutsche Grammophon cds? If Amazon associates a totally different and erroneous brand with a product I am trying to sell, that's still my "violation" is it?!
