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Are you taking responsibility for something you didn’t do?

October 28, 2020 Leave a Comment

Amazon said you need to admit fault. But do you really?

By: Jay Morane

“I didn’t do anything, why should I admit that I did?”

In the time I worked with Amazon and while at Riverbend, this is one of the most common statements that I’ve heard from Sellers. It revolves around the mistaken assumption that you have to admit fault when submitting your appeal or Plan of Action. That is not necessarily true.

Don’t take it personally.

Do not take anything that happens with your seller account personally. Everything Amazon does is a business decision. Nobody at Amazon woke up one day and thought “Hmm, let’s get (insert your name here) and ruin their life.” There are millions of sellers on Amazon so most of the actions taken are based on algorithms and automated reviews, there is nothing personal about it.

If you did it, admit it.

If you did what Amazon says, then you need to admit fault. You may not have done it intentionally, but you still did it. Compare this situation to when you get pulled over by the police. They come up to your window and ask you “Do you know why I pulled you over?” They know why they pulled you over, but they want you to admit fault for the situation. You may not have been speeding intentionally, but you still did it. If Amazon takes an action on your account, they know why and they are looking to see what you are going to say. If you are at fault, explain why it happened and how you will prevent it from happening again. There is a difference between guilt and guilt with intent. Amazon guilt

Guilt versus responsibility

If you are not at fault, then you do not have to say you are, but you do have to accept responsibility for what happened. After all, it is your account and Amazon feels you should be responsible for what happens with it.

Sometimes it is the little things that are overlooked then the buyer breaks out their microscope and brings it to Amazon’s attention. Buyers have more free time than ever which means they are scrutinizing the items they receive more closely. They are finding the little scratch that was on their new item.

Was there something you could have done to prevent this? Updating the detail page, a better inspection process for condition, or checking for a Rights Owner.

It is tough to accept responsibility for something that may be out of your control. FBA returns going back into sellable, buyer mistakenly thinking something is inauthentic when it isn’t. These situations are harder to appeal because you, as a seller, may not have done anything wrong but because of a bad buyer experience, your ASIN or account is deactivated.

How can you get that account reinstated?

This is where may sellers try to argue principles with Amazon rather than taking responsibility for their account. Don’t. You may be right but the person who reviews your appeal is not the one who is going to say that Amazon was wrong and reinstate your account nor can they change Amazon policy. If you feel that strongly about something, write to Jeff Bezos at his email address. There is a team that actually reads those emails and acts on them. Sellers are deactivated wrongly, it happens more than it should, but arguing that point with Amazon is not going to get your ASIN or Account reinstated.

If you need any assistance with account reinstatement, or anything else give Riverbend a call (877) 289-1017. We are happy to help!


Jay MoraneJay 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. There 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. Jay enjoys spending time with his wife and has been known to tell Dad jokes on occasion.

Filed Under: Account Appeal, Account Health, Amazon, Amazon Appeal, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Central, ASIN, Customer Serivce, FBA, General, Seller Central, Seller Performance Tagged With: Account Health, Account Reinstatement, Amazon, Amazon guilt, Amazon seller, ASIN, FBA, Suspension

Think like Amazon – prioritize the buyer experience 

June 26, 2020 Leave a Comment

Customer service, insert cards and avoiding suspensions

By: Kayleigh Cockerill

“Amazon aims to provide an excellent buying experience for all of its customers.” If your ASIN has ever been suspended for a single complaint, you know this to be true. Amazon will oftentimes side with an unsatisfied buyer, even if a seller has processed hundreds of sales with a perfect track record. In the world of Amazon, the buyer experience is paramount. This platform gives customers multiple opportunities to express their dissatisfaction through Buyer-seller messaging, returns, product reviews, feedback, and the dreaded chargebacks and A-Z claims. Furthermore, customers are more likely to leave a review for a negative experience than they are for a positive experience, making it much more likely to hear from all your dissatisfied buyers. So how can you, the dedicated seller, prevent a small buyer issue from turning into an ASIN or account suspension?   

Buyer-Seller Messaging Service

MFN Sellers know how critical Buyer-Seller Messaging is in resolving buyer complaints. Before leaving a negative review, buyers often try to resolve their issues with the seller directly. A delayed response or poor resolution will frequently lead to negative feedback, a chargeback, or A-Z claim. Too many of these and your account is at risk for being suspended for a High Order Defect Rate.  

To mitigate this from happening, here are some helpful tips:
  1. Designate an employee with strong customer service skills to handle Buyer-Seller Messaging. If you are a one-man operation, block off time and dedicate it to communicating with your buyers. Prioritize your customer service; don’t let it be an afterthought. Many sellers forget these communications make up their Customer Service Rating.  Amazon surveys buyers who contact sellers via buyer-seller messaging asking, “Did this solve your problem?” Yet, another opportunity to rate their experience.  
  2. Check and respond to buyer messages regularly – ideally once in the morning and once in the evening. Buyers value a quick response, a fast resolution, an apology (if necessary and even if only for their inconvenience), and a follow-up message to ensure the issue is resolved. 
  3. Create template responses that require minor personalization, like the customer’s name. This will cut down on your response time and allow you to give each buyer a helpful, friendly, grammatically correct, and complete message every time.  
  4. Always give the buyer the benefit of the doubt and ask the buyer what resolution would be satisfactory. You have every right to ask for photos if the buyer is willing to keep a defective item at a discount. But decide ahead of time if the extra steps add value to your resolution or if the buyer is even willing to take a partial refund.  
  5. Follow through on your agreed-upon resolution quickly. If you wait to process a refund you’ve promised through Buyer-Seller Messaging and it is not issued quickly, impatient buyers will file a chargeback or A-Z claim.  

Never ask a buyer to remove negative feedback or incentivize them to leave positive feedback. This is a violation of Amazon’s Code of Conduct and can lead to account suspension. Therefore, never direct buyers to a site outside of Amazon. For obvious reasons, Amazon wants to keep all traffic within its platform. Don’t forget, Amazon has visibility to all buyer-seller communications so follow all rules and policies without fail.  

Insert Cards for MFN orders

Insert Cards prompt buyers to contact a seller directly in case there are problems with their order. Language like Happy with your product? Things not going as planned? Problems with your order? followed by your store’s email address and phone number encourage buyers to contact you if they have issues with their order. Instead of contacting Amazon, you become the first solution they are presented with. If you sell in a category where buyers often order the wrong item for their needs, like automotive parts, this tool can make the difference between an ASIN suspension for condition and a replacement product or discount.   

As with buyer-seller messaging, the insert card cannot direct the customer to a site outside of Amazon, incentivize the buyer to leave a review or ask for only positive reviews.

In conclusion, prioritizing the buyer experience will decrease your incidents of negative feedback, poor product reviews, chargebacks, and A-Z claims. Not sure how you’re performing in these areas or need advice on specific problems your store faces? The Riverbend team regularly assesses and consults with sellers on these very issues and more. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.


KayleighConsultant Kayleigh Cockerill, relentlessly fights for clients with suspended Amazon accounts. With a degree is in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Kayleigh is inquisitive, process-oriented and pays close attention to detail. When she isn’t being a superhero to Amazon sellers, she enjoys crafting, reading, baking, taking voice lessons or participating in races and obstacle courses.

Filed Under: Account Appeal, Account Health, Amazon, Captive Team, Customer Serivce, General, Seller Central, Seller Performance Tagged With: 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon seller, Captive team, Liquidation, Suspended, Suspension

Should I hire an ex-Amazon employee to write appeals?

June 18, 2020 Leave a Comment

Amazonians can provide excellent insights – if they are real and relevant

By: Lesley Hensell
Writing Amazon appeals requires a special set of skills. Persuasive, clear prose helps. Responsiveness and attentiveness to the client are a plus. But more important than anything else is a true understanding how Amazon works for and with third-party sellers. Who embodies this last set of skills? The best candidates are ex-Amazon employees and long-term Amazon sellers.

When we launched Riverbend Consulting, our team included two Amazon sellers and one ex-Amazonian. Since that time, we’ve dramatically grown our ex-Amazon staff. Today, we have eleven Amazonians who fill consultant and analyst positions.

Fake Amazonians everywhere

Unfortunately, we’ve noticed an ugly trend in our industry. Many consulting firms are claiming to have ex-Amazon employees on staff – when they have only one or none at all. If you want an edge with your account or ASIN appeal, you’re better off with a firm that has real Amazon knowledge in-house.

Here are some strategies to be sure you’re getting the expertise that you have paid for:

  1. Check the web site. Companies that have real Amazonians on staff advertise it on their team page. Ex-Amazon employees are a valuable asset, so their bios will be included as well.
  2. Ask questions. If a firm claims to have ex-Amazon employees, ask for names and details. Confirm they actually work at the company full-time and aren’t simply a name used to draw in business.
  3. Determine their departments. For straight-up appeal writing, a team that includes Seller Performance and Seller Support experience is your best bet. Those with knowledge in other areas could be helpful for long-term account management and performance.
  4. Find out how long they’ve been gone. Processes and people change continually at Amazon. This makes more recent experience critical. While knowing the “Amazon way” of thinking and working is incredibly valuable, at least a few employees should be more recent Amazon team members to ensure fresh, relevant knowledge.


What can ex-amazon employees do for you?ex-amazon employee

At Riverbend, our ex-Amazonians hail from a wide range of departments: Seller Performance, Seller Support, Account Health Services and AWS.
Should I hire an ex-amazon employee to write appeals? Our Seller Support pros know strategies for ungating issues, catalog folks don’t. Our Seller Performance team members understand nuances of the appeal process unlike anyone else. Likewise, our Account Health Services employees provide great feedback on how sellers can extract information about their accounts.
Amazon can be quite siloed. Employing experts who have worked in many of these silos gives us access to a broader range of information and strategies to help our sellers solve their ongoing challenges with Amazon. Best of all, we are well-equipped to provide prophylactic strategies that head off problems before they occur.
When a client has a question that one of our team members cannot answer, it goes into the company chat. Chances are, one of our ex-Amazonians knows the right information – or how we can get it.
What’s more, not every employee can be an ex-Amazonian. But we have enough Amazon knowledge in-house that our non-Amazon staff receives extensive training and mentoring from those who spent time at Amazon. It makes for a great mix of consulting know-how, people skills and domain expertise. So, should you hire an ex-amazon employee to write appeals? We think so!
Have questions for our team? Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Lesley HensellLesley 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. Lesley has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: Account Appeal, Account Health, Amazon, Amazon seller, Customer Serivce, General, Seller Performance, Suspended Tagged With: Account Health Services, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Performance, Appeal, AWS, Deactivated, Reinstated, Seller Support, Suspended, Suspension

What does the explosion in Amazon related account suspensions mean for you?

June 17, 2020 4 Comments

Some related account suspensions are Amazon errors, some are ancient history

By: Lesley Hensell
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.
linked amazon accounts
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?
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. If you have more than one account, never sell the same inventory. Stay away from offering the same items, brands or – if possible – categories.
  4. If your account is suspended for related accounts, be ready to provide a reasonable explanation – even if you’re guessing.
  5. 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.

Lesley HensellLesley 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. Lesley has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: Account Health, Amazon, Linked Account, Related Account, Suspended Tagged With: 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Amazon Seller Performance, Linked accounts, Marketplace, Related accounts, Suspension

Amazon’s dirtiest FBA secret: Used, nasty and broken returns

June 11, 2020 Leave a Comment

Third-party Amazon sellers should monitor returns carefully or risk buyer complaints

By: Lesley Hensell

Curling irons with someone else’s hair in them. Mouthwash with broken seals. Coffee makers with smelly old moldy coffee inside.

These are only a few of the disgusting surprises that FBA sellers have experienced. Why? Because Amazon’s FBA returns handling processes are – to put it kindly – lacking.

Amazon FBA returns
What happens when customers return items to FBA?

One reason buyers love Amazon is the friendly returns policy for FBA purchases. Amazon makes it easy for customers, who can take a look at their mail-order item and decide to send it on back.

Unfortunately, buyers don’t always return items in new condition. This might mean torn packaging, broken seals, or even used items. 

When an order is sent back to the FBA warehouse, Amazon personnel are supposed to inspect it carefully. They are charged with determining if the item is still in “new” condition. If so, it is placed into the seller’s fulfillable inventory. If not, it is placed in unfulfillable. A third possible scenario involves Amazon repackaging the item. This happens when the product is in new condition, but the packaging is not. Amazon reserves the right to repackage it and place it back into fulfillable inventory. (The setting that once allowed sellers to turn off repackaging has been taken away. Sorry, folks, you’re stuck with it.)

Amazon’s warehouse employees are graded on the number of transactions they conduct per hour. Human nature dictates that this leads to inaccuracy as employees try to meet or beat the required work level. Of course, quality naturally suffers, and items that should never be placed into fulfillable inventory are re-sold.

Another problem occurs when Amazon puts returns in fulfillable from categories that are supposed to be disposed of or not required to be mailed back to the warehouse. Supplements are a good example. These items should never be put back into fulfillable, but often are anyway.

What can 3P sellers do to protect themselves?

The most worrisome scenarios with bad returns involve products that a 3P seller stocks over the long term. Therefore, the higher volume you sell over time, the more potentially bad returns are sent back to the Amazon warehouse.

There are a few strategies that 3P sellers can employ to combat the problem:
  1. For private-label products, add a printed seal. Include language such as “if seal is broken, item is not new.” This seal is not for buyers. It’s for personnel on Amazon’s FBA returns processing teams. This way, they will be more likely to place an opened item into unfulfillable inventory.
  2. Sell down or sell through. For products you replenish, allow your stock to sell through. Alternatively, sell it down and then place a removal order for the remaining units. In the meantime, restock with a different SKU. This way, bad stock being resold multiple times will be removed from the FBA warehouse.

In conclusion, if you need help with your FBA strategies, don’t hesitate to contact Riverbend Consulting.  Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.


Lesley HensellLesley 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. Lesley has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Filed Under: 3P, Amazon, ASIN, Customer Serivce, Quality Control, Returned Tagged With: 3P seller, Amazon, Amazon FBA, Amazon seller, Broken seals, Buyers, Complaints, Condition, Expired, Returns, Returns processing, Suspension, Used sold as new, Warehouse deal

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