Common mistakes reviewed by former Amazon technical account manager
It’s every Amazon FBA sellers’ worst nightmare: the account suspension email. What you do the moment you get that email could determine whether you get reinstated or banned.
AmazonSellerLawyer interviewed a former Amazon Technical Account Manager to shed light on some common mistakes FBA sellers make when making an Amazon suspension appeal.
1. Not disclosing the information Amazon actually wants in the suspension appeal letter.
Sometimes, a seller may deserve to be suspended or banned for shady practices. In that case, it would be hard to explain in the appeal letter. And the worst thing you could do is try to skirt the real issue. Here’s what the source says:
I’ve seen FBA sellers who provide counterfeit invoices—the thing is, we see thousands of invoices day in and day out. And for every shipment that’s more than $1,000, we have to check the invoice. We know exactly what the counterfeit invoice looks like. If you type in “free invoices” on Google, I [know] what each fake invoice looks like.
- Did you claim multiple times to ship 100 units without actually shipping 100 units?
- Did you attempt to sell a potentially “hazardous” material on Amazon without getting it cleared?
Sometimes, it’s a simple mistake. Amazon gets that. But if the first issue, in particular, repeats—you can bet that you’re suspension bound.
If you have been engaging in dishonest practices, don’t continue the trend. Be honest and tell Amazon exactly what they want to know—your chances of being reinstated may be slim, but Amazon will be able to call your bluff anyway. CJ Rosenbaum states that “when appealing, it is best to provide the information requested by Amazon, nothing more, nothing less. When Amazon does not accept your initial plan of action and they seek additional information you don’t want to open the can of worms to other issues. Amazon allows its staff to work very independently and each person reviewing a plan of action or an appeal can choose to do a more thorough investigation or simply review what is in front of them. Keep your appeal simple, concise and persuasive. Stick with the information that they asked for.”
2. Disclosing more than Amazon wants to know.
The first mode of contact for any sellers is the Seller Support Team. They receive a notice that the account or listing has been suspended, and they look into the issue. The important thing to remember is that Seller Support deals with an overflow of seller issues every day.
The source shares what he noticed:
A lot of suspended sellers will write a big essay to the team at Amazon explaining a lot of [needless] stuff. The person reading it won’t have a lot of time to read the seller’s essay. Just state the point: Hey, [this product or my account] has been suspended, I have all the invoices, and this is how I fixed the problem. If everything is explained clearly and stated properly, Amazon will do their best to help solve the problem.
3. Waiting too long to take action.
There are lots of other FBA sellers doing their job well and dealing with suspended listings correctly the first time. Why would Amazon wait around for a deceitful or disorganized seller to get their act together?
“Amazon’s a big company,” says the source. “They don’t have time to wait around. And sometimes, they have no choice but to suspend you because you’re taking too long to fix an issue.”
To be continued…
Source: AmazonSellerLawyer
