[See info below regarding Major Amazon Sellers Event Feb 22/2017 in Brooklyn] This is a continuation of an ongoing series of Amazon Seller Performance Related information.
The goal of these articles is to try our best to avoid compliance issues and best deal with them when we do get into trouble.
- New: “As part of our ongoing efforts to provide the best possible customer experience, Amazon is implementing safety requirements on mobile phone batteries and chargers.
You are receiving this message because you are currently offering mobile phone batteries or chargers for sale. To continue to offer these products for sale, please submit the required documentation by March 6, 2018″
- Feb 22, in Brooklyn is this years annual ASGTG professional sellers meetup / event bit.ly/ASGTG2018.
- SP started asking for invoices in used as new / Not as Advertised complaints. This is new. They also seem to be bundling a lot of ASINS together in ASIN complaints. They are grouping multiple complaints into one email asking for poas.
- “We have determined that your account is related to accounts that have written Amazon customer reviews for products that you have a financial interest in. This may include products that you or your competitors sell. Family members, close friends, or employees of a seller on Amazon may not write reviews for the seller’s items or negative reviews for items sold by that seller’s competitors. Sellers are not allowed to manipulate ratings, feedback, or customer reviews.” This is serious and if it continues, 100% suspension.
- “The sale of counterfeit products on Amazon is strictly prohibited. We will continue to withhold your funds if you cannot provide valid invoices or receipts for the items you listed on Amazon. If the equivalent amount is greater than the total amount available in your account, then the total amount will be withheld.” As mentioned if you LIST an item you cannot provide an invoice for, they consider it that counterfeit was listed.
- “Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you a reimbursement for shipment XXXXXXXXXX. This is because we have photographic evidence that no FBA shipment labels were placed in this shipment and because the shipment could not be received it was returned to the only logical source of the shipment….” This relatively NEW.
- New sellers that start selling branded items will be asked for invoices to prove authenticity even if no complaints are filed. In the past, for customer inauthentic complaints, receipts were sometimes accepted. I feel they are even more strict when they are just probing and assessing a new seller. This puts a serious damper on new sellers that are trying to do retail or online arbitrage. The online order confirmation or store receipts will likely not pass these types of inauthentic suspension.
- Amazon recently started emailing the actual invoices a seller submits for authenticity to the supplier and asks if this was the invoice that was issued. They have done this even for Chinese suppliers.
- If you do not have stock of an item (i.e. drop shipping), its essentially against TOS because you will not be able to provide invoices on items, you listed but never sold. Amazon is asking for invoices listed, more and more recently without sales.
- Amazon has made a strong push to catch forged or manipulated invoices. They can catch you multiple ways including simply calling up the supplier, checking if the order sequence makes sense (against other invoices) or identifying font mismatches.
Ed Rosenberg (to join ASGTG Sellers Group email [email protected] / asgtg.com)