You must have set your sights for a blooming Amazon business and have worked incessantly to ensure your products get the visibility it needs. However, if one day you wake up to find your Amazon seller account suspended, it would be your worst nightmare. But relax; though it feels devastating, it’s just a nightmare. A suspended account means that your account is inoperative currently and you have an excellent chance to claim it back. You just need to be patient and make some corrective changes. But before you jump to decisions, it is important to understand how and why it has been suspended.
The first question that you need to ask is “what could have gone wrong?” There could be multiple reasons for this to have happened. Many of which are less concerning than others. You must understand that Amazon is very stringent with its rules. Its policies are extensive and Amazon keeps amending them now and then. This builds up confusion upon interpretation and subjective analysis. The suspension could therefore also have resulted from mere negligence of their policies. But to resolve the situation, you must analyze your account and get to the root cause of it.
There are majorly four reasons for which Amazon suspends a seller account. These are:
Poor Metrics– In order to operate efficiently and successfully, Amazon advises to keep a healthy seller account. It maintains a hawk-eye on your order rate, pre-fulfillment cancel rate, late shipment rate, negative return feedback rate, late response rate, invalid rejection rate, etc. Your metrics should meet minimum defined criteria of Amazon. If not, no matter how long you have been with Amazon or how big your scale of operations are, your account could be suspended.
Complaints from customers- Highly unlikely but it is possible that Amazon would have received negative feedback from customers about your services and therefore suspended your account.To prevent this, make sure you provide a quality experience to your customers and avoid faulting on delivery, product quality and packaging.
Policy Violation– Amazon being the strict, devout disciplinarian, you must abide by all its rules and regulations. If you have been negligent about the same, Amazon could withhold your selling privileges.
Inauthentic Product- Amazon’s fulfillment centers use existing Universal Product Code (UPC) to identify amalgamated products routinely. Selling sticker-less and unnamed products can get you flagged. You must diligently ensure that your inventory is properly documented and labeled.
Once you have identified the fundamental cause of your Amazon account suspension, reviving it is just another step left. Worry not, it will not be an enormous task! Here’s how you can revive your account and restore your listings, however, every step requires some patience in order to restore your listings efficiently.
You must’ve received a notification from Amazon about the suspension. Amazon also mentions a list of underlying reasons for the same. Once you have analyzed the situation and your oversight, you are halfway through finding the solution. The next step is for you to go over all the policies and your performance metrics. You can raise a ticket to understand any clause of Amazon’s stringent policy that seems difficult. When you’re done with that, you just need to convince Amazon that you are worthy of a second chance. For this, you must draft your honest account re-initiation appeal with Amazon. Your chance at appeal is golden and you must be vigilant about it. Here are a few tips to frame your appeal.
Once you’ve said your part, wait calmly. Amazon will review and give back your privileges if it qualifies your argument to be a valid one.
However, if for some reason Amazon decides otherwise, your account re-initiation request will stand denied. But that’s not even the end of it, so don’t lose hope. You still have a chance to submit a revamped and elaborate plan of action to convince and assure Amazon. Only a meticulously drafted appeal backed with an honest strategy is your chance out of this mess.
The most dreadful scenario is when your Amazon Seller account is banned. None of your efforts would be helpful at this stage, and you would have lost all your chances of recovery. So, be of utmost caution while doing business with Amazon. Prevention is far better than cure. So let’s discuss how you can prevent such incidences and scares.
How can you be assured that suspension doesn’t come your way? Well, you can’t be, but you can do your best to avoid it. It’ll help reduce your chances and keep your mind at peace. Here’s some things that you can maintain to avoid suspension:
Maintain your Metrics
Amazon is observant and strict, probably more than that scary school teacher or principal.It’ll not let any seller harm its reputation in front of its customers. Thus, you must be an exemplary seller and maintain all the third-party seller metrics to keep your and Amazon’s reputation intact in front of your customers.
Multiple Accounts is a strict No.
Amazon is uncompromising upon its one account per seller policy. If you’re selling your products through multiple accounts or have multiple accounts for even different products, mind that Amazon will know. Its algorithms are very efficient in identifying duplicates and if caught, it wouldn’t think twice before suspending your account.
Be thorough with Amazon’s Policies
Amazon changes its policies frequently and minutely. But you must observe the changes as once in a while one of these twitches could cost you your selling privileges. Keep a check on emails from Amazon about policy changes and follow the policy to the line. You can always raise a ticket and reach out to them for any clarifications regarding the same.
Authenticate your products
Your products must be authentic and tagged. Amazon fulfillment centers would seize sticker-less and undocumented products and consequently suspend your account. Don’t take useless risks, and remember to mark your products undoubtedly.
Paid Reviews
Amazon is very adamant about its genuine and unbiased service. It would not allow biased or false reviews on its platform. If you are caught with an incentivized review on your product listing, Amazon will cancel your listing and your account too.
No foul play
Amazon overlooks each and every element on its platform. The repercussions of meddling with Amazon’s rules could be devastating for your business. If you are seen redirecting customers to your website or messing with the transaction in any way, your account will be suspended. Also, such behavior invites heavy penalties.
Amazon suspensions are pretty frequent. If your account has been suspended, your focus should be on crafting the most robust possible appeal. It must convince Amazon to confidently reinstate your selling privileges. Further, it is recommended that you run regular audits of your business and cash flow to ensure you’re primed for growth and not suspensions in the cut throat and competitive world of Amazon.
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