If you’ve just got a suspension, take a deep breath and let us guide you through the process of getting your seller account reinstated.
What’s the difference?
- Suspension. It means that you still have a chance to appeal.
- Denied. It means that your appeal has been rejected, but you still have a chance to submit a revised action plan.
- Banned. It is the worst thing that can happen to your account. Your appeal failed and Amazon will no longer respond to your requests.
Of course the first thought is that you can register a new account. But note that it is against Amazon's Terms and Conditions.
Amazon selling privileges can be removed for three reasons:
- Violation of Amazon policies.
- Selling a restricted product.
- Productivity falls.
To learn more about the reasons for suspending your account, check your performance notifications in Seller Central. If your account is suspended you will also receive a notification: “Your Amazon.com selling privileges have been removed”.
Performance-related suspension notifications will start off like this:
“We have removed your Amazon selling privileges because of buyer complaints about the condition or description of items they received from you.”
Tips to Prevent Suspension
1. Ask tech support to post an annotation on your account to state that the ASIN was not fake.
Try to check your Amazon reports as often as possible.
Keep an eye on your returns, imperfect orders, and negative reviews. Keep track of what your customers say about your products. Also, keep an eye out for A-Z statements and your messages.
Pay attention to shipping, ensuring that you ship the item on time and your item is properly packaged. Remember that Amazon is on the customer side. Check your shipping, return and money back policies to help maintain excellent customer satisfaction levels.
Remember that unhappy customers = problems
2. Pay attention to listings
Ensure you label new products as “new” and used products as “used”. Examine your items carefully to confirm you choose the correct condition category. If you’re selling used items, check closely to ensure there are no missing parts.
3. Read your listings to check for any potential flags
Don't sell generics as a private label. If you sell a private label, tell your customers (and Amazon) how your product differs from similar products on the market. Speaking of product descriptions. Make sure you're both accurate and honest.
4. Don’t sell counterfeit
Simply put, don't sell fake goods. It's not worth the risk, even if you make money quickly at the start.
How to Appeal Against Your Suspension
If Amazon suspends your account despite your best efforts, conduct a thorough investigation across all of your account, paying close attention to any ASINs with previous policy warnings. You need to read the suspension notice carefully to determine which rules you have violated by accessing the Amazon policies and agreements page and checking your merchant's performance metrics. If you need more information about your suspension (and still have access to support), consider opening a ticket for clarification.
In the appeal, identify the reason(s) for suspension.
- Do take responsibility and acknowledge the harm done to the customer.
- Do tell Amazon you are committed to providing awesome customer service and you realise it is a privilege to sell on their site.
- Don’t criticise Amazon’s product quality process.
To increase your chances of a successful appeal, your Plan of Action should be thorough and based on your internal account findings.
This is a really important part of your appeal. Remember, if the investigators ask for more information, your appeal will be delayed… and time is money.
Your Plan of Action should identify the reason(s) that buyers complained about the quality of your products and contain solutions as to why it won’t happen again.
For example, if you’re a seller who has been suspended for shipping reasons, you may wish to include that you’re moving to FBA to solve the issue.
Once you’re ready to submit your appeal, visit the Performance Notification section within Seller Central, find your suspension notice and click the “Appeal” button then submit your Plan of Action.
Tips for Effective Plan of Action
Here are six tips for creating an effective action plan:
- Get a hold of yourself and don't write angry messages about Amazon's slow processes, the speed of the technical support team, or complain to them about how disappointed and heartbroken you are about losing your account.
- Keep it simple and give them facts. Focus on policy matters not performance metrics.
- Don’t blame buyers if you’ve received policy warnings.
- Don’t include extraneous information or commentary regarding the account review process or Amazon.
- Use bullets or numbers instead of paragraphs to communicate your understanding of what went wrong along with the steps you’ve taken to correct it.
- Include a short introductory paragraph that quickly shows the reader your overall grasp of what happened and how you already resolved it.
In conclusion
Learn from your own mistakes. If you have been suspended, submitted an effective action plan, and reinstated, learn from this experience and take steps to ensure that this does not happen again.
Remember that maintaining Amazon's high standards and playing by the rules will allow you to continue selling in the marketplace and create a positive customer experience that benefits everyone.