What is an Amazon Plan of Action?
If your Amazon seller account or product has been suspended, you now face the challenging task of restoring it.
The Amazon appeals and restitution process is neither simple nor straightforward.
You may need to do some detective work to determine what led to the suspension to begin with, since Amazon may not to be forthcoming with the information.
You may also have an ambiguous email from Amazon requiring extra information and/or supporting documentation from you in order to restore the account or ASIN.
It’s likely you will be required to submit a Plan of Action (POA) to reinstate your account. Here’s what all that means…
What Is an Amazon Plan of Action?
The POA is a crucial component of the reinstatement process.
It’s a plan submitted to Amazon addressing what you did (or didn’t do) to cause the suspension, how you resolved the issue, and what you’ll do to avoid the same or similar issues going forward.
You must also include any further explanation or documentation Seller Performance requests.
It’s best to submit the POA with your Amazon appeal as soon as possible, ideally within 48-72 hours after you receive your suspension notice.
Before you submit a POA, you may need to start the appeal process first by responding directly to the notification in the Account Health section of your Amazon Seller Central profile.
Note: if you’re unable to login into your account, you may need to reply directly to the email you received. Since Amazon email addresses change frequently, you may need to search for the most up-to-date Seller Performance, account suspension, or compliance email address.
How Do I Write an Amazon Plan of Action?
Amazon wants you to resolve the problem, and improve your internal processes to avoid future problems.
This is what you will want to concentrate on with clear, objective, and straight-forward documentation that you have resolved the issue and won’t do it again.
Excessive references to the seller’s company, the negatively affected product, or subjective feelings will only hurt your case.
Effective POAs address:
- What caused the problem
- The actions you took to resolve it
- The actions you have taken to avoid such an issue in the future; and
- What you would like to happen next
See Scott’s book Amazon Plans of Action: Proven Tactics for Winning Appeals for a detailed explanation of what should be in your POA and over 30 example templates of POAs, relevant to the following issues:
- CARB Compliance
- Copyright Infringement
- Counterfeit Claims
- Damaged or Defective Product Complaints
- Drop Shipping Issues
- Used, Sold as New Complaints
- Duplicate ASINs
- Inauthentic Complaints
- IP Complaints
- Late Shipping Issues
- Price Gouging Complaints
- Restricted Policy Violation
- Product Recalls
- Retraction Request for IP Violations
- Safety Complaints
