Competitor Bullying new seller, competitor sending numerous messages telling me to delete my listing, then buys all my stock when his product is out of stock

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Seller_4rVQMZdHUJt7z

Competitor Bullying new seller, competitor sending numerous messages telling me to delete my listing, then buys all my stock when his product is out of stock

In a very tricky situation as i am one of two sellers who sell a specific product on amazon, as my prices are lower, the competitor at first, sent an message from a random username telling me to delete my listing or else he would report me for trademark violation which is absolute bollocks, as they do not manufacture or have exclusive/any rights to the product. After a week of this email, the competitor emailed me again, but this time, from his personal account, stating i am “___” from “___” and i want you to remove your listing, otherwise i will report you for selling counterfeit item, this again was pathetic, as we get our stock from the exact same supplier as our competitor, and our item is the exact same as the competitor , from the same company and manufacturer. During the time he sent this email, his stock had ran out on that product, and my product was the only one which was in stock, i had 30 items in stock, and then that competitor, after sending that email went and bought all 30 items off me, which i was very baffled about. I called up Amazon, to get advice, as i knew the competitor is going to send all 30 items back as soon as he gets it, as well as to give negative feedback, Amazon were not helpful at all, as they stated if i canceled that order, my account may be deleted, so i had to send the order to him, which i did (two days ago). I also was told to email Amazon seller performance, which i did (1 week ago, when competitor bought all 30 items), and i still haven’t heard back from them.

The seller is using this buying tactic, as i am a new seller, whilst they are a full experienced Amazon eCommerce business who knows the system. I don’t know what to do, i have sent the 30 items to the competitor, but i am anticipating them to either send the items back, or open a case.

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18 replies
Tags:Fees, Listings, Pricing
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18 replies
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Seller_Jj3RbP7yEYxg1

Why have you not contacted your supplier about it?
If you have a rep speak to them or ring the company directly,

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Seller_1UHZI4aO0qsTl

The only thing you can do is keep documenting every single thing the other seller says/does to you and just keep hounding Amazon until they do something about it. The fact they kept emailing you and harassing you, then buys all your stock is ridiculous. I often find I just have to keep opening new cases every day with Amazon just to get simple things sorted

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Seller_2BrPSydGy6oyq

If it’s one order for 30 items, then the risk can only be one negative feedback, or one A-Z so limited damage to your metrics?

Difficult to predict what they intend, worse case is they claim not as described (fake) to damage your account with possible suspension, provided you have invoices to provide Amazon and highlight this is a competitor abusing the site, then you should be ok.

I think you need to update the post if and when they follow up with some adverse action, so the advice can be more related to the situation?

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Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4

I would ask the competitor details of any trademark they have registered or any agreement they have with the manufacturer, which gives them exclusive rights.

Also inform them you have purchased them from the manufacturer and happy to provide a genuine invoice showing the products have been purchased from a legitimate source not to forget removing all figures.

With regards to your competitor buying all your stock wait for the return request I think this breaches anti competition laws.

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Seller_QlN0mmCAFPtjZ

First I would say be totally sure that this competitor does not hold the trademark rights . If you are sure than you can report this to Amazon . Ask to escalate the matter if you get no joy .

There have been instances where Amazon has suspended sellers for making false trademark claims .

First ensure that your supplier is a genuine supplier and not violating someone else’s trademark . Ask them if you could see a copy of the trademark registration if you are in doubt . If your supplier holds the trademark , report the other seller to Amazon for making a false claim of trademark ownership .

Be sure of the facts before you go this route .

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Seller_0pkMTMROIPEmY

I would email the Seller Performance Team directly they will issue a warning to your competitor they take a very dim view of this type of action on Amazon their direct email is seller-performance@amazon.co.uk

Be very clear concise and factual copying in any direct correspondence, if the competitor is emailing you through the Amazon messaging system , Amazon with have a log of all the correspondence.

I would also warn your competitor of this , the risk have their account suspended for such action, they only have a right to block another seller if they have brand registry or are the manufatcurer or owner of the trademark. Even with the latter two they need to notify Amazon, typically through brand registry to have sole rights of sale on an open marketplace.

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Seller_fcCE9oIHSHQr9

Why don’t you put a cap on how many products a single person can order? Also as far as the product goes: is there a way to add something to it or bundle it with something else so you could mark up the price? That could also set you apart from the competitor.

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Seller_IrrT3qqjFRDov

Sorry to hear this story.
We have had similar, we have been harassed by a competitor falsely claiming IP etc.
In the end we replied to one of their messages saying that we had forwarded all of their correspondence to seller performance and would report any further activity as well. I never heard from them again, bullies of course dont like people who stand up to them and they may worry their own account will get suspended. I would do this, you have nothing to lose.

Not hearing back from seller performance is a) normal, and b) doesnt mean they done nothing. If they take action against, or warn, your competitor they wont feed that back to you.

If they order again and you dont wish to despatch it because you suspect fraud you can contact Amazon prior to shipping and ask them to take into account that you wish to cancel it for the right reasons.

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Seller_0pkMTMROIPEmY

The other option is to raise a case with the Seller Support Team via the case log (Get Support / Contact US / My issue isn’t listed here / Other Issue / Report Violation / Report a Violation and raise a case) This then gets forwarded onto the Seller Performance team and you have a log of the case for any future issues.

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Seller_EJIX7rqDNQJi2

What is the product? Is it a product of an European or US brand or is it just a generic item ordered from a Chinese website?

If you are selling a generic product bought from Alibaba on someone’s established private label listing, then I would understand why the other seller is not happy about it. Your product needs to exactly match the listing, the packaging and the brand needs to be the same. They are placing test orders and they are within their rights to do so.

If this is the case, then I would advise you to make your own listing as you are risking your account by doing things like this. Receiving just 1 or 2 defects could cause your account to be suspended.

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