Cannot get verified for Amazon USA - all and any help appreciated!

Hi there,

I’d really value some help with account verification that I have been pulling my hair out over.

I am British and sell successfully across Europe. I live in the UK, and have the same address for everything - my parents’ address in the UK. I am attempting to get selling on amazon.com - USA. The intention is to use the American business I setup using Stripe Atlas for everything USA. I use the UK business for everything UK and EU.

I’ve been trying to get verified since August last year and can’t crack it. I’ve made mistakes such as sending in a mobile bill rather than a utility bill, which doubtless did my standing no good. I took wrong advice from Seller Support to try a new account with a different email.

I then went through the process of taking on the electricity and gas accounts at my parents’ house, so that the bills are in my name. I submitted again and had no luck (they said the document was illegible, even though it’s the original PDF).

Recently I thought: “I’ve got it!” - the whole time I had been using the US Delaware (forwarding) address I got when registering my US business with Stripe Atlas as the ‘Official Registered Address’. It occurred to me that perhaps this was on an Amazon database of addresses not to use, and I should be using the same address as on the electricity bill, so I submitted again with exactly the same address in ‘Official Registered Address’, ‘Business Address’ and on the electricity bill.

Again it came back. I’ve put the notification I got from Amazon below. Does anyone have any ideas?

For confirmation:

• Electricity bill address is exactly the same as ‘Business Address’ and ‘Official Registered Address’ - the UK parents’ address where the electricity bill is in my name.
• The address under ‘Legal Entity’ is different - it is the Delaware forwarding address I got when setting up with Stripe Atlas, but I understand that this does not affect verification (cc https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/business-adress-or-official-registered-adress/490686/19)

My speculations on possible reasons:

• Credit card on file is an American Express ICC Global card (dollar card based in UK.) Possibly this is an issue?
• Legal entity address being different - though I don’t think that should be an issue based on the thread posted above.
• The electricity provider is not on an approved list? It’s iSupply in the UK
• I’m sending an original PDF, rather than a photograph of the bill
• I opened the account as a ‘linked’ account and the name is different between the two? Richard for USA (to match electricity bill), Rich for UK.

I’m pretty close to paying one of the gurus, which I know you guys warn against, so any guidance really appreciated! Here’s Amazon’s note:

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Dear,

We have reviewed the document(s) you recently provided but do not have enough information to reactivate your seller account at this time. We were unable to verify the document(s) you provided. During our review, you will not be able to sell on Amazon. Funds will not be transferred to you but will be held in your account while we work with you to address this issue. Please ship any open orders to avoid further impact to your account.

Why is this happening?
Your Amazon seller account has been deactivated in accordance with section 3 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement. If you currently sell on Amazon, we need additional documentation to verify your payment methods and your identity.

How do I reactivate my account?
Please confirm that there is a valid credit card on file, and provide the requested document(s) in .pdf, .png, .jpeg, or .gif format.

The name and address on the document(s) must match your name and address in Seller Central. Please certify that you have provided the document(s) in one of the supported languages. Supported languages include: Arabic, simplified Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish.

How do I send the required information?
Please submit your documents by following this link: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/notifications?ref=ah_em_ap.

Once we receive your documents, we will review them and decide whether you may sell on Amazon again.

What happens if I do not send the requested information?
You have 90 days after receiving this notification to either provide a valid appeal or choose not to appeal. After that time, you may contact disbursement-appeals@amazon.com to request your funds. We will conduct a separate investigation to evaluate your account. The policies we put in place are to protect our customers and selling partners. If we find that you have engaged in deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or have abused our systems or repeatedly violated our Policies, we may withhold some or all funds in your account.

We’re here to help
You can see your balance and settlement information in the Payments section of Seller Central. If you have questions about those, please send an email to payments-funds@amazon.com.

You can view your account performance at (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_ap) or select Account Health on the home screen of the Amazon Seller app on your iOS or Android device. The Account Health dashboard shows how well your account is performing against the performance metrics and policies required to sell on Amazon.
– iOS App (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-seller/id794141485?mt=8)
– Android App (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.sellermobile.android&hl=en_US)

We may not respond to further emails about this issue.
Sincerely,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com

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I’ve also attached the electricity bill (with personal info blurred out)

If anyone else has any guidance it would be enormously appreciated.

Thanks,

Rich