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Amazon Account Reinstatement

Should new Amazon Sellers be flipping products from deal sites?

August 5, 2019 1 Comment

Flipping products such as cheap or free inventory is tempting, but carries significant risk

By Lesley Hensell

 

It seemed like the ideal way to get started selling on Amazon – flipping deeply discounted or free products purchased right on Amazon itself! But this tempting method of sourcing can lead to disaster.

buying or flipping product graphic text

 

“I went to those deal sites online,” my client said during our intake call about his account suspension. “They have huge discounts for products listed on Amazon. So, I would buy the items and then flip them. The margins were amazing. Some stuff I bought had a discount of 90 percent or was even free.”

My client visited sites like Vipon, JumpSend and SnagShout, where Amazon private-label (PL) sellers post deals to drive sales and improve their Best Seller Rank. After buying the goods (or getting them for free), he listed them on Amazon.

As one might imagine, this had the immediate effect of angering the affected PL sellers. These PL sellers had brand registry, and they had also filed IP complaints. Lots of them. My seller ended up suspended.

In other cases, I’ve seen PL sellers perform test buys and claim the products are counterfeit, inauthentic, or used sold as new. They have left terrible, sticky feedback and complained to Amazon endlessly.

Try to understand the situation from the PL sellers’ perspectives.
They sell at huge discounts to launch their products – not to create competition on their very own listings! (We are talking about how such massive discounts violate Amazon policy, but that’s a topic for another day.)

As a result, the old phrase “too good to be true” comes to mind. These “deals” are too good to be true, if you’re planning to resell them on Amazon.

What should a new Amazon seller do instead? Every sourcing method carries expense and risk, but there are many alternatives that are safer – if not as profitable. Buy from wholesalers, distributors or local manufacturers. Even retail arbitrage and online arbitrage – which carry quite a bit of risk and are not a great long-term strategy – are less risky than buying from deal sites and incurring the wrath of PL sellers.

Have questions about the health of your account? Call Riverbend Consulting 877-289-1017.

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, General, Inventory Sourcing, Private Label, Quality Control, Seller Performance, Vendor Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon Account Reinstatement, Amazon Account Suspension, Inventory, Inventory Flips

Forged Documents: Fast-Track to a Permanent Block of Your Amazon Seller Account

July 31, 2019 Leave a Comment

No matter who tells you to “spiff up” those invoices, just say NO to forged documents.

By Lesley Hensell

As happens all-too-often at Riverbend, recently I was assigned a ticket for a new client who was suspended for forged documents.

During our call to discuss his account, he assured me that he had done nothing wrong.

“Did you ever edit an invoice?” I asked.

“Well, yes, but it was OK to do,” he answered.

I didn’t follow his reasoning and pushed for more details.

“I have an account manager at Amazon,” he explained. “They told me to edit the documents to fix the dates and quantities, so it should have been fine.”

This is pretty common in forged documents cases. Our clients feel justified in manipulating invoices because they believe they are somehow presenting the “spirit” of what actually occurred in their business. But Amazon doesn’t want an approximation. They want actual, true invoices.

Other circumstances where we’ve seen forged documents include:

  • The seller has multiple accounts and ordered merchandise under one company name, while selling it under another company name.
  • The seller bought items from a “friend,” rather than from a distributor, wholesaler or manufacturer.
  • The seller failed to obtain proper invoices – ever – from their supplier.
  • The seller sold more items than they have invoices to cover. This could be because they first conducted test buys or obtained samples.
  • The seller is worried about their invoices being from more than 365 days ago.
  • The seller is buying shady goods.
  • The seller created a false invoice to get ungated because they didn’t want to buy the minimum for new inventory they may not be able to sell.

In any of these circumstances, do not give in to temptation and submit a faked invoice. Just don’t do it.  You are much more likely to be successful with Amazon by explaining the circumstances of your less-than-ideal invoices.

On the other hand, if you forge invoices, it’s extremely difficult to convince Amazon to give you another chance. They will simply not trust you again. And for good reason.

Contact Riverbend Consulting to keep your account in good health.

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s  experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Fulfillment, Gating, Seller Performance, Vendor Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon Account Reinstatement, Amazon seller, Invoices

Amazon is refusing to release funds for some suspended sellers!

December 18, 2017 1 Comment

Amazon is refusing to release funds, they are permanently holding funds for some suspended sellers

By Lesley Hensell

Amazon appears to have made a recent policy change, where it will permanently attached the funds of some suspended sellers. Yes, Amazon is refusing to release funds.

This has happened in the past in cases of counterfeit or fraud. But now, Amazon is going after sellers who it deems have engaged in a pattern of repeatedly breaking Amazon’s rules.

For example, a client was selling products that Amazon deems “prohibited” for sale on the platform, even though they are legal in all 50 states. Amazon didn’t like the way our client listed the products. Instead of simply suspending him, they also attached the nearly $20,000 in his account – and say they will never give it back.

We are working to get the funds released and will keep the community updated.

The moral of the story? Don’t engage in a pattern of breaking Amazon’s rules. They will figure it out. And now, they might just be a lot more aggressive about ensuring you never do it again.

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast. Check out more of Lesley’s videos, here.

Filed Under: Amazon Tagged With: Account Reinstatement, Account Suspension, Amazon, Amazon Account Reinstatement, Amazon Seller Account, Related accounts

Your super old suspended Amazon account can be reinstated

November 21, 2017 Leave a Comment

Can your very old suspended Amazon account be reinstated? Yes!

By:  Lesley Hensell

How old is too old? When it comes to suspended Amazon seller accounts, quality is definitely more important than the number of years passed.

Recently, we got a client’s account reinstated 6 years after his suspension. Surprisingly, it took just one letter to Seller Performance, and he was back in business.If you have a languishing third-party seller account that is important to you, we suggest the following:

  1. Make sure you still have the correct login information. In some cases, sellers have forgotten and misplaced the email address associated with the account. This makes reinstatement virtually impossible.
  2. Comb through your email accounts and find any correspondence from Amazon relating to the account suspension. Keep in mind that most of the critical data in your account – even performance notifications – is no longer visible.
  3. Search your memory. Reconstruct the hows and whys of your account suspension. You need to be able to tell a compelling story including the reasons for the suspension, what you did to address the problems, and how you will ensure they never happen again.
  4. Hire a pro. For this particular kind of suspension, hiring a professional can be critical. You might only have one shot to convince Amazon when so much time already has passed.

If you have an old Amazon account that is important to you, contact us at Riverbend Consulting. We can try to get that account back on track.

Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, General, Seller Central, Seller Performance Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon Account Reinstatement, Amazon Account Suspension, Amazon reinstatement, Amazon suspension, Amazon third-party seller

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