As beneficial as selling in an online marketplace like Amazon may be, a factor to keep in mind is that you have to play by their rules and regulations. If you choose not to, then you’ll find yourself ousted. An Amazon account suspension is no laughing matter, and it can prove to be a difficult task to get yourself reinstated. Having a good plan in case of suspension can make the process a little easier, as well as knowing who to consult on the matter.
We’ll talk about some tips on how you can avoid an Amazon suspension in the first place, including discussing some common causes of account suspension in Q4 and some practical ways to get to reinstatement quicker and easier.
Listing Violations
The first thing to look out for is the misuse of ASIN variations and other listing violations.
There’s a few different reasons people do this: some want to get their products listed in as many possible places, and since many people seem to be doing this, they doubt that the violation will actually be enforced; or they simply have no clue about the violation or left the matter to someone equally as unaware.
But whether you’re aware of it or not isn’t the issue for Amazon, they really only care that it’s there.
If you’re unsure about ASIN’s, when to use or not use a child ASIN, talk to an expert who really understands the ins-and-outs of Amazon’s policies and procedures and can help you list your items in the most effective way.
Sales Ranks & Reviews Manipulation
Another thing to watch out for and avoid is the manipulation of sales ranks and reviews.
Amazon takes this kind of stuff very seriously, and really cracks down on it to the point where even wording an email to a customer in the wrong way could count against you. And if Amazon catches up with you and takes action against you, it will be quite a challenge to get reinstated here, especially with more severe violations.
But if you do get suspended over a more mild violation or even a misunderstanding, then a thorough Plan Of Action will work well to get you back on track.
Owners ‘Rights” Infringements
Abuse of reporting owners’ rights’ infringements is the third violation to avoid.
While it is encouraged to defend your business from hijackers or counterfeiters as a small, private label seller, it becomes a different story when you’re trying to file a bad claim for items you’re trying to resell or report other third-party sellers under poorly-guised pretenses.
This kind of cheap tactic can get turned right back around on your head; it creates a huge headache for Amazon, and they’ll come after you hard once they get to you.
Performance Metrics
Performance metrics are a big factor to look out for, especially come the holiday season.
It’s highly advised to be at top level performance: ship your items and respond to customers promptly. If not, you will take some serious damage to your metrics and bring the customer service department after you as well.
Cancelling batches orders because of stock outages, pricing errors, or other reasons will also do some serious damage to your metrics and bring your dangerously close to suspension.
When it comes to metrics, Amazon will round up all the sellers flagged for low performance metrics and will either manually suspend them after a quick look around, or simply automatically suspend you.
Keep your metrics in as good shape as you can! And if some technical glitch is the cause of your poor performance metrics, then take it to seller performance as soon as possible!
Ignoring Performance Notifications
The final thing you want to avoid is ignoring performance notifications.
If you’re getting notifications about poor item quality or condition complaints, then the best possible thing you can do is to look into and fix them. Ignoring these notifications is a surefire way of getting yourself suspended. Once you’ve seen to it, contact Amazon and show them exactly what you’ve done to rectify the problem.
Suspension
If you do get suspended though, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end for your business. You can take steps to get yourself reinstated!
The first thing you need to do is to give an honest assessment of the situation. If you’ve dealt with a similar situation before, wrote up a solid Plan Of Action, and got yourself reinstated with minimal fuss, then it’s worth a go to try to get yourself back in the game.
But if Amazon hasn’t given you as much information as you need or requires more expertise than you currently have, then a different method may be called for in this instance.
Discern which of these two paths is open to you before you decide to actually take any sort of action.
If you’re doing this yourself, make sure you work according to their rules and system, and not your own bias or expectations. And if you’re going to have someone else help you out, make sure they know what they’re doing.
If this problem is legal based, will it benefit you to have a lawyer handle the matter, or are you honestly and realistically capable of solving it yourself?
If you’re unsure about how to tackle any of these issues or want to do your utmost to avoid an Amazon account suspension, then people who specialize in e-commerce consulting, like Gapstow, can work with you to help you keep your Amazon business safe and flourishing.
Contact us to see how we can help your e-commerce business and exactly how we can offer our services to best suit your needs!
