POA

When do you need to create a POA for Amazon?

March 11, 2021 Leave a Comment

Reactive vs. Proactive

By: Lauren Barbera

Humans, are fallible, and the systems we build are also fallible. It is inevitable that a blip in our operations or policy adherence will happen because we are human.

When this blip happens, it can feel like Amazon engages in a parental-style finger-wag of shame as they ask sellers to create a POA for Amazon. This stings, especially when it feels like the error was caused by something out of our control. Writing these POA’s can also be stressful and time consuming, which can be an added frustration when you feel this time could be better spent running other aspects of your business.

I can hear you thinking “But we fixed the blip as fast as the blip could be fixed! How could I have known there was an imminent blip?!”

Is Amazon asking for us to divine the future before it happens?

The answer is both yes and no.

Amazon fully understands that problems will occasionally arise that impact operations. The recent AWS outage is a great example.

However, if it is any consolation, Amazon forces its own internal teams to provide Plans of Action when they’re responsible for a problem impacting operations. They call them “Post-Mortem COE” (Correction of Errors). They hold their own feet to the fire as much as they do so with sellers.

The long and short of it is

Amazon knows, down to an approximate dollar amount, how much service and policy failures cost them in terms of current and future buyer behavior. Buyers don’t know you’ve fixed the blip, and they don’t care. All they are concerned with is that the widget they ordered did not arrive, was late, different than expected, in a lesser condition than expected, or they suspect the widget is inauthentic.

Amazon has been able to quantify all of those experiences in terms of dollars spent after the ‘Widget blip event’.

So, Amazon has decided they do not want buyers to HAVE ‘widget blip events’. Amazon wants the buyer to receive the widget they ordered on time, exactly matching the product detail page, and in the condition advertised.

THIS is why Plans of Action are required. Amazon KNOWS people are fallible. They want to know what, to the best of your abilities, you can do to give yourself the most robust safety nets possible to avoid future WBE altogether. Can people avoid car accidents that are entirely all together not their fault? Unlikely. However, if that accident was the cause of your not being able to get packages out the door on time, Amazon wants to know that you have a backup plan for when things happen that are genuinely outside of your control. Simply crying, “but the widgets were shipped eventually!” doesn’t tell Amazon what you will do to prevent future late orders in the event of emergency.

Resolving the root of the widget blip that caused Amazon’s enforcement is only step 1. To be fully proactive, Amazon also wants to know that you have already done the work to prevent a poor buyer experience caused by future blips even before they ask for a Plan of Action.

In short

An ounce of blip prevention (so as not to repeat the same events in the future) is worth a pound of POA avoidance going forward.

Do you need help providing a Plan of Action? Contact us at Riverbend, we are happy to help! 877-289-1017

Lauren helps clients find real-world, scalable solutions to their problems and translates them through the Amazon lens. Lauren worked for Amazon for nearly 12 years, first in Seller Performance Operations, then on the business teams managing Seller Performance programs. She tirelessly worked to address authenticity, fraud, money laundering, and condition, all while providing front-line support to Amazon executives via high-level escalations. If you ask, Lauren WILL sing karaoke duets with you.

Take responsibility for your Amazon account

May 19, 2020 1 Comment

Don’t ignore those pesky notifications from Amazon

By: Sam Newlands

Amazon loves sending performance notifications. Sellers dread them and can easily assume Amazon is out to get them, but this is not the case! The dreaded performance notifications and flagged ASINs are a way Amazon has the seller take control and responsibility for their account. First and foremost, when you receive a Performance Notification, do not ignore it! Especially if a plan of action is being asked of you. If you ignore these notifications you put your account at risk of being suspended which could be detrimental to you, especially if your Seller Account is your sole source of income. Take responsibility for your Amazon account.

Here are 3 ways to start taking responsibility for your Amazon account:

Stop Blaming:

I’ve heard numerous times, “The customer just wants their way”. Of course they do. They are the customer. Have you ever gone shopping whether it be in person or online and have a level of expectation of how your experience should be? So do your customers, and Amazon is 100% about the customer’s buying experience from clicking on “Buy” to receiving their purchase. It is your job as the seller to provide good buying experience, even though it is seemingly behind the scenes.

Stop Complaining:

Amazon isn’t out to get you. Competitors more than likely aren’t scanning the vastness of Amazon perusing the pages looking to make life difficult for you. While

we do technically live in a dog eat dog world, when you receive a performance notification from Amazon, either they have found an issue that needs to be

addressed, or a customer’s buying experience expectations weren’t met and there was a complaint. Yes, some customers want to complain for the sake of complaining, but Amazon doesn’t want you to complain in response. Instead, do a little bit of research. Did the performance notification ask you for a plan of action? Look at the complaint, have you received any previous complaints on the same item? Are they similar to the new one? Is there a bigger issue that needs to be addressed with your item? Take a look at the bigger picture of the complaint. Amazon wants to know you’re taking accountability for the items you offer to sell on their marketplace. This is why they ask you about the root cause of what caused the complaint, you are in charge of your items and your account at all times.

Don’t Take It Personally:

Remember, Amazon really wants to know the root cause of a complaint, what you’ve done to address it, and what you’re going to do to prevent future complaints of that nature. If you write a plan of action, and it gets approved, Amazon expects you to follow that plan of action. Words are fleeting, action is proof. Again, Amazon is not out to get you. Understandably, getting denial after denial can be frustrating and can feel personal, it is not a personal affront to you as the seller. Take the time to really look into your supplier, your inventory, past and present complaints (if applicable), and ways you can make your seller account really stand out.

Looking for other ways to protect your account? Check out this blog: How to spring clean your Amazon Account. Of course, we are here to help you, if you ever have questions, concerns, or want some guidance in how to write your appeal, contact us at 877-289-1017 or visit our

website: www.riverbendconsulting.com

Happy Selling!

Sam applies her impressive tenacity to get Amazon seller accounts and ASINs reinstated. She enjoys research and looking beyond the surface layer to help sellers solve their issues. While working at Amazon, Sam was involved with the AWS and SES teams looking for fraudulent account activity and unauthorized account take over.

Spring clean your Amazon seller account

May 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Don’t let a messy Amazon account cause problems or hamper sales. Clean it up!

By: Jay Morane

Spring has sprung. Don’t only spend time cleaning your house. Invest some time spiffing up your Amazon seller account. That’s right, spring clean your Amazon seller account.

I want to give you a few tasks you can tackle today that will help reduce the risk of future problems. In addition, I’ll offer suggestions that may increase sales.

You can’t spell Spring without IP

Anyone who has dealt with an intellectual property (IP) issue will tell you that they are not fun. IP issues can be related to trademark, copyright, counterfeit, or patent. Unfortunately, they can be pretty complicated.

There are steps you can take today to reduce the possibility of an IP issue in the future and better prepare you to address one if it should happen:

Clean up your inventory. Just because a listing is inactive, out of stock or you have never sold it, that does not mean it cannot cause you headaches. IP issues can arise from any listing that appears in your inventory, even if you never had any units of that item for sale. If you have a bunch of listings in Manage Inventory that you are not going to sell, delete them! Why take a chance on having to address an issue that you can prevent just by deleting the listing?
Can I see your license and registration? If you are selling licensed, copyrighted or trademarked products, you are at risk for an IP issue. That is the harsh reality of selling on Amazon. Even if you are authorized to sell a product, at some point, you could be asked to prove it is authentic. If Amazon were to request documents such as a Letter of Authorization or Licensing Agreement, do you have that paperwork? Now is the perfect time to get yourself prepared for just such a situation. If you do not have these documents, contact your supplier or the Rights Owner to get them now. Keep them on file. That way if something does happen, you can respond quickly and minimize the downtime for your account.

April showers bring May … Product Detail Pages:

When was the last time you looked at your Product Detail Pages? Let me clarify that. When was the last time you looked at them on your phone?

A very wise colleague pointed out to me that most of the shopping done on Amazon is through the use of mobile devices such as our phones. However, most sellers create their listings on PCs and laptops, which have fairly large screens. The pages are created with images to be seen on these larger screens, and the titles may get a bit lengthy to maximize the search exposure.

Then there are the bullet points and descriptions, which can also get a bit wordy at times. In the end it looks great on a 24-inch monitor screen, but how does it look on a 4-inch cell phone screen?

Now is a good time to go back and look at some of your Product Detail Pages from a different perspective – a smaller one. Break out you cell phone and take a look at some of your PDPs. Do they convey the necessary information in the smaller format? Are they easy to read and understand? Do the images appear clear and easy to see? Are your bullet points ordered with the most important one first?

You want your Product Detail Pages to be clear and concise at any size.

Have questions? Now is the time to get answers

Don’t wait until crazy Q4 to have your critical questions answered. Just spring clean your Amazon seller account! If you need advice or have questions about your Amazon account, ask them now! Check out the help files on Seller Central. Go through Seller University. Start some discussions in your favorite Amazon seller groups.

Or, if you need help, don’t hesitate to contact us at Riverbend Consulting. We are happy to get your account shipshape. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Jay Moran is a Consultant at Riverbend Consulting. He is a strong advocate for the sellers and goes above and beyond to use his skills to help in every way he can. Jay has experience in Amazon Seller Support/FBA as well as the Amazon Account Health Team. He worked with sellers to assist them in understanding the metrics and policies related to their Account Health as well as assisting them with reinstatement.

Amazon taking up to 30 days to review price gouging appeals

May 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Both preemptive and suspension appeals are lagging for weeks

By: Lesley Hensell

Price gouging appeals to Amazon are lagging. Therefore, Amazon sellers under fire for price gouging could be waiting up to a month for a response from Seller Performance.

This shocking development comes after Amazon suspended or threatened to suspend thousands of accounts for alleged price gouging violations. Riverbend Consulting can confirm that one of our clients received approval of their Plan of Action yesterday – after almost 30 days of waiting.

Since mid-March, a growing number of Amazon third-party sellers have been warned for price gouging. In some cases, their individual ASINs have been blocked from the platform. After a few ASIN-level warnings, sellers then receive requests for a Plan of Action within 72 hours. The plan is to address violations of the Amazon Fair Market Pricing Policy.

In some cases, Amazon skips all the second chances. They then take the seller straight to a suspension or block of their selling privileges.

Why is this happening?

Since Amazon is under pressure from the public and government regulators to stop price gouging during the current health crisis. Some state and local jurisdictions make it illegal to raise prices on essential items more than 10 percent during times of disaster.

Unfortunately, Amazon’s enforcement of its Fair Market Pricing Policy has been an unmitigated disaster in its own right. Many sellers have been warned or suspended for ASINs where they did not raise their prices or raised prices commensurate with their increased inputs for COGS, labor, transportation and more.

At Riverbend, we’ve seen several appeals for price gouging that have received answers after two to four weeks. In addition, for some suspended sellers, Amazon Seller Performance is sometimes rejecting the POA but not emailing the seller to let them know. So if you’ve had a price gouging appeal lingering, contact Account Health Services and ask for a status. You might just find out that you need to submit an updated POA.

If you’ve been hit with a price gouging appeal, call on Riverbend Consulting. We can help. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Lesley is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where she oversees the firm’s client services team. She 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.