In this article, we are going to discuss different reasons for suspensions of Amazon Seller Central account.
There are several reasons behind any suspension of Amazon Seller Central account. You wake up one fine day and realize your Amazon seller central account does not exist anymore. Why has it got deactivated abruptly? What is happening? So many questions on your mind and you seriously wants to know why this has happened. Usually, Amazon Seller Central Support caution us to check our Account Health when the holiday season is approaching. Poor account health not only imperils your account and also alters your Buy Box opportunities. Considering, around 40% of Amazon’s sales come from third-party sellers; we should only assume that these “random” and “odd” suspensions are only for a good cause.
Amazon has always had a history of introducing new features consistently and making their platform more trustworthy and safer for their most precious customers. However, getting your account suspensions or terminations can be every Amazon seller’s horror story. Adding on, the account resolution can take a few weeks resulting in shallow business. While this is not avoidable, but there are ways you can definitely prevent it.
Here are some reasons discussed below for suspension of Amazon Seller Central account.
1. Violating the Amazon Policy
- Amazon’s Policy on the sale of goods
Selling prohibited goods mentioned in Amazon’s policy without necessary certification may attract a penalty. Sellers dealing with firearms, illegal animal products, ammunition and related accessories that have not met energy efficiency standards for lighting products will have their account banned.
- Selling fake goods
Products possessed by Amazon are of the desired quality. However, there are third-party sellers involved, the possibility of getting fake goods is high. Common fake products are DVD, digital products, movies, and beauty and skincare products. If a seller is found dealing with copied or fake goods, their accounts will be banned.
- Rights Infringement
If you are selling goods registered under another brand or possessing another brand’s trademark, and brand agents or buyers raise concerns of violations, Amazon can have your account suspended. Therefore, you need to check if your product possesses another brand’s slogan or trademark before posting it for sale on Amazon.
- Association
Using similar identifying information to register multiple accounts can result in prohibition of your accounts. A seller should not use similar identity information to create another Amazon account. If you want to create another account, use different identify information and ensure you don’t use a similar IP address to access both accounts.
- Guiding Buyers Out of Amazon
Some sellers have other stores where they sell products they have displayed on Amazon. They use Amazon as a promotional platform and guide buyers to another platform to purchase. If Amazon finds out, you will be warned, and your account will be put under review.
2. Issues with Product Quality
If a seller’s product is expired, unoriginal, or has a major functional defect, your account can be checked or suspended. Also, if buyers report instances of fake or issues with delivery, your account can be checked or restricted. Besides a product with many negative feedback and extremely poor rating can attract suspension or restriction of account. Therefore, it is important for sellers to ensure their products are high-quality.
3. Delay in Delivery or Wrong Delivery
Amazon requires a seller to deliver products to the buyer within two days; not later than three working days. If you exceed this period, that’s termed as a delayed order. Amazon caps delay rate at 4 percent; if exceeded, you get a warning message from Amazon. If the trend continues, your account may be suspended. Also, if the seller makes a mistake of entering the wrong tracking code for an order, leading to wrong delivery, this may put their account at risk. Although there is no set capping for these mistakes, it can attract negative feedback from buyers.
4. Reports of Poor Services
If buyers complain of poor services from a seller; maybe their emails or text messages were not handled, this can result in negative feedback which will put your account at risk of being reviewed or audited. Also, if the seller encounters many particular buyers, the rate of disputes may increase. This will consequently affect order defect rate pointers. If the tendency continues, the seller’s account can be put under reviewing and auditing. That’s why you are advised to reduce conflicts with buyers and aim to engage with them as fast as possible anytime they have a concern.
5. Logistic Bottlenecks
Regarding the distribution of goods, Amazon requires a minimum tracking rate of 95%. Amazon provisions require goods to reach the buyers within 17-28 days. If the period is exceeded and the buyer raises a complaint, it can result in your account being reviewed or restricted. Therefore, it is crucial that the seller chooses a quicker commercial carrier, FBA, or other warehouse distribution mode to ensure that the buyer gets their goods on time.
6. Violating Amazon Listing Title Rules
Here are several circumstances that violate Amazon’s listing heading rules;
– Having a similar copy of other sellers listing- including pictures, description, title, and other information that belongs to other brand sellers may lead to account suspension because of rights infringement.
– Including false information about pricing, promotion, manufacturing, freight and logistics costs that don’t relate to your product
– Inaccurate product information and product graphic description
If the above circumstances become apparent, your Amazon account can be put under audit and restriction measures can be taken. Therefore, it is important that the seller complies with Amazon Listing title specification by filling real product description and pricing information to ensure consistency.
7. Obtaining UPC Code through Informal Channels
Using automatic generator patch to obtain your UPC or using an informal channel to obtain it can put your account at a higher risk of being banned. If there arise complains from other sellers about your UPC, this can lead to restriction or banning of your Amazon account. Therefore, sellers need to use regular channels to buy a valid UPC. In fact, since July 2016, Amazon introduced a new policy whereby the UPC has to meet the provisions of GSI, failure to which is ruled invalid, and your sale rights can be frozen.
There are no specific resources to avoid an Amazon account suspension. With an increase in the number of seller suspensions, many sellers want to know what they can do to keep their account safe from suspension. Here’s a list of five things that all sellers can do to minimize the risk of an Amazon account suspension:
– Keep an eye on your listings.
– Monitor metrics aggressively, including on-time shipping and customer response.
– Respond to Amazon policy notifications/warnings about item quality complaints.
– Track notice warnings on specific ASINs and contact Product Quality teams.
– Research Amazon contacts in category or account management before anything bad happens.
If suddenly you get to know your Amazon Seller Central account got suspended, don’t get worried. There is a way to get back your account. By the time your account gets suspended. Amazon would send you the exact reason for the suspension of your Seller Central account. In this situation, you have to make a correction plan according to the reason behind the suspension of your account. Then you would need to submit a correction plan to Amazon.
The submission process of the correction plan that you would have prepared would be provided by Amazon. You just need to follow the process and submit that. Amazon will review your correction plan. Amazon will refer your plan to different departments. If your correction plan is good enough then Amazon will reactivate your Seller Central account. Usually, it takes 2-3 weeks to get confirmation from Amazon. Do not get worried and be patient. Make a proper correction plan, and your account will be reactivated.
Hopefully, this article was helpful for you. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to contact us. We would be glad to give answers to your questions. Please keep reading our blogs. Soon, we will come back with another article.
