Invoices and 'prior selling history' needed to sell ITV-related DVDs in used condition
The latest incomprehensible ruling by the army of Amazon ‘Account Specialists’…
I have been selling media products, including music, books, DVDs etc, on Amazon for many years. The vast majority are in USED condition, and I’m not required to provide any ‘prior selling history’ for any of those products. I am one of the best performing sellers on the platform, with a long-standing 100% positive feedback record over many years.
All of a sudden I have had some DVD listings removed and have been asked to provide manufacturer/distributor invoices in order to reinstate listings for things like Inspector Morse DVDs in USED condition, and I’ll probably now just give them to a charity shop.
But other Marketplace sellers still have USED copies of these products available and these have not been removed. I have asked them to explain why they have suddenly decided to stop me from selling USED copies of these products and to confirm whether this sanction will affect ALL Marketplace sellers equally, so there will be no USED copies of these titles available on Amazon. If not all Marketplace sellers are going to be affected equally and some will continue to be allowed to sell USED copies, on what basis are they discriminating in favour of some sellers and against others?
I guess this topic has been raised many times before, and it’s just one of those annoying cases of banging one’s head against a brick wall and not getting anywhere. Is the problem simply getting worse? How do they think this helps Amazon customers who might want to buy these products from a highly rated seller?
34 replies
Seller_tj5bg90i9gyCk
Can anyone explain why I am prevented from selling used copies of DVDs that are being sold in used condition by BOOK-FACTORY, The Cotswold Library, Goldstone-Books, Hey Reader, preownedcdsdvdsgames, momox co uk, OnlineMusicFilmsGames, Broken Soul Records, musicMagpie, awesome_books_001, Back to the future media, Film Frenzy and Round 3 UK??
Seller_snWsqDJGqg4sY
Me too…I got the email about ITV products a couple of days ago then yesterday an email about approval to sell Star Wars related products effective 30/4/22.
I then today have had a Blu Ray removed neither ITV or Star Wars.
Seller_rv8HvOWVigeUM
i think there is something wrong with your keyboard - as every time you type the word ‘used’ its coming out in capitals
Seller_tj5bg90i9gyCk
Since Seller Support have now resorted to closing my case, as they believe it has been answered, despite the lack of any explanation of the general principles involved, I have now written to the Managing Director in the vain hope that this might elicit a more open and honest response:
Dear Sir,
Seller Support case ID: 7749862882
ASIN: B00006423C
ASIN: B00005UPK7
I am writing to you as a final resort, since Seller Support are unable or unwilling to explain the general principles involved in deactivating certain listings.
I have had a 100% positive feedback record for many years and sell mainly used media items such as books, music and DVDs. I was suddenly informed that a couple of items in my inventory have been deactivated because they fall into a particular category of Popular DVDs (ITV branded) and I don’t have approval to sell these products in used condition, even though I have been selling similar products for years. Seller Support suggested that I apply for approval to sell these products, but the approval application process requires submission of manufacturer/distributor invoices which clearly cannot be obtained for used copies of such products. However, I find that many other Marketplace Sellers are still allowed to sell these products in used condition.
What I want to understand is why some Marketplace Sellers are permitted to sell these products in used condition, while others like myself have been stopped from selling them. I’m not asking you to disclose any commercially confidential information about other sellers, I simply want to know the general principles involved in such cases. Have those other sellers been given approval because they have at some point provided manufacturer/distributor invoices for other Popular DVDs (ITV branded) in new condition, and therefore they are also permitted to sell similar products in used condition? If so, why don’t you distinguish between new and used products and allow other sellers like me to continue to sell these products in used condition, like before? If the purpose of the approval mechanism is to prevent the sale of possibly untrustworthy new copies of these products, why is it also extended to used copies where there is no possibility of obtaining invoices?
Furthermore, why have you decided to pick on these particular ITV branded DVD products, seemingly at random? When approval is required to sell particular branded products, is it because the brand owner (presumably the manufacturer or distributor) wants to control the supply of their products and has asked Amazon to intervene to prevent the sale of possibly counterfeit products?_
I simply want a clear, straightforward and honest explanation of the general principles involved in such cases. Then perhaps I will be able to accept the decision. But the refusal to provide such an explanation so far is leading to confusion, frustration and a lack of trust between Amazon and sellers.
Yours faithfully,
Seller_0msMReDTskp1Y
I think I’d be off to eBay with the stuff that Amazon will no longer allow me to sell (assuming you’re not there already of course).
Seller_BS5lg2keRs2QO
An interesting element of this is that i cannot list those titles either. Not because they are “ITV”, but because they are “popular DVD” and that category is itself gated to me. So i cannot sell any “popular DVD” without first providing invoices for new items.
Sometimes sellers benefit from the rules, sometimes they don’t i guess.
Seller_LKjg1QRrO36Yq
Hmm, I just had a Bjork CD removed by Amazon.
the reason given in the email is:
Hello,
As part of our ongoing efforts to provide the best possible customer experience, we have implemented additional approval requirements or listing limitations to sell certain products. 1 listing(s) have been removed due to requirements in accordance with Amazon’s Categories and Products Requiring Approval policy. This action does not impact your account health.
The list of ASINs that have been removed are listed at the bottom of this message.
We are here to help!
“We are here to help!”…talk about adding insult to injury 
.
In a way I’m glad they removed it as it was listed about ten years ago when fees and postage costs were lower - it would now almost cost more to post than it is worth.
The label is ‘One Little Indian’.
Why that should now be a gated brand is a mystery. The label no longer exist under that name as it was deemed politically incorrect and changed to ‘One Little Independent Records’ in 2020 due to BLM protests.
I’m not sure that’s the reason as the product itself has not been removed - a few megasellers still have it listed.
Possibly just another example of Amazon bots running riot?
Seller_tj5bg90i9gyCk
Not only do these nonsensical restrictions fail to result in “the best possible customer experience”, but they also contribute to a more or less complete breakdown in trust between Amazon and its sellers. The refusal to engage in any basic explanation of the criteria involved in decision-making suggests that they either don’t care what sellers do or think, or else the process is so faulty that they can’t bring themselves to try to defend it, and/or the entire corporation’s culture is based on slavish adherence to principles of secrecy and lack of transparency.
Seller_tj5bg90i9gyCk
I’m starting to wonder whether all those Seller Support people with abbreviated surnames are real people sitting in some corner of the world clicking on sets of pre-prepared texts, or whether they’re just bot-driven automated responses with no human input apart from poor programming. Reminds me of all those orders I get from customers with eastern European sounding surnames who kindly send me music orders for delivery to a unit in Crusader Industrial Estate, London… Do they actually exist or are they figments of a bot’s imagination? 
