What does the explosion in Amazon related account suspensions mean for you?
Some related account suspensions are Amazon errors, some are ancient history
A flood of related account Amazon suspensions has sellers wondering what is going on. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t a simple one. Earlier this year, Amazon changed its policy about multiple accounts. Before, if a seller wanted more than one Amazon account, they had to request approval and follow a set of simple rules. The most important of these rules was that the accounts could not sell the same inventory.
With the policy change earlier this year, Amazon said no advance permission was now necessary. However, sellers with more than one account must have a valid business reason for doing so. Plus, Amazon explicitly stated that if one account is suspended for whatever reason, Amazon reserves the right to suspend all of the accounts that seller owns.
Since that time, we have seen a rash of accounts going down for “related” or “linked” accounts. In some cases, these are real linkages. For example, we have sellers who owned a different account a long time ago and it was suspended, or they worked for another Amazon business and that created a linkage.
In other cases, our clients are being caught up in false positives. For whatever reason, Amazon thinks there is a link – but there honestly is not. Finally, in some cases, Amazon makes a tremendous mistake. They suspend a seller for having an account in another marketplace – be it Canada, Japan or elsewhere. These are flat-out technology errors on Amazon’s part. Appeals for related account typically require an escalation for reinstatement. Unfortunately, front-line Seller Performance does not feel empowered to turn these accounts back on.
Your best strategy?
- Make sure there are no linkages between your Amazon account and another selling account, such as account owners, tax ID numbers, bank accounts, credit cards, IP addresses, warehouse addresses, etc.
- If you have more than one account, ensure you have a valid business reason for doing so. This might be using one account for private-label products and another for goods purchased via wholesale. Or, some sellers are developing multiple brands on separate accounts.
- If you have more than one account, never sell the same inventory. Stay away from offering the same items, brands or – if possible – categories.
- If your account is suspended for related accounts, be ready to provide a reasonable explanation – even if you’re guessing.
- Be ready to offer detailed verification information about your account.
If you’re stuck or have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Riverbend Consulting. We are happy to discuss your case. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.
Author
Lesley is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where she oversees the firm’s client services team. She has personally helped hundreds of third-party sellers get their accounts and ASINs back up and running. Lesley leverages two decades as a small business consultant to advise clients on profitability and operational performance. She has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade, thanks to her boys (21 and 15) who do most of the heavy lifting.
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My account is suspended for 6 months, I have already sent everything I have and nothing happens, each time a different agent answers me by asking the same question…
Ivan, we hear this a lot! You aren’t alone. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or complete this form…www.RiverbendConsulting.com/contact-us
Lesley, so we have heard about different reasons for related accounts however we hear for the first time that the accounts can get suspend for the same warehouse addresses. What if different sellers use the same 3PL Fulfillment center and they are all shipping from the same address? What is the resolution for this?
Amazon should not link two accounts based solely on shipping address. They are only supposed to suspend if there are multiple factors linking the accounts – like if brothers owned two different accounts and shipped similar products from the same fulfillment center.
That said, we have been seeing some very strange and bad linked accounts suspensions over the last several months.