Account Suspensions, Amazon Terms of Service, and the Seller Code of Conduct
Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace and a household name today because customers trust the platform and the products.
To maintain this trust, Amazon expects its sellers to maintain the authenticity and integrity of its platform by following its terms of service, policies, rules, and regulations.
If you are an Amazon seller, you must follow Amazon’s Terms of Service and the Seller Code of Conduct to avoid potential customer complaints, IP infringements, and account suspensions.
Whether you are a new seller or seasoned seller, it’s vital to maintain a healthy account and keep Amazon’s customers happy – remember, the customers who buy your products are Amazon’s customers, not yours.
Any notification from Amazon should be taken seriously. DO NOT ignore it, even if you are no longer selling on Amazon or you’re seeking to remove yourself from the platform. It’s best to leave the platform with a clean account and on good terms with Amazon.
Some of the most common ways Amazon sellers get suspended:
- Copyright, Trademark, or Patent Infringement
- Selling counterfeit products, or receiving complaints/claims of counterfeit products
- Selling damaged, defective, or liquidated products as new
- Creating an Amazon listing for an existing product (duplicate ASINs)
- Drop-shipping violations, such as shipping in non-Amazon boxes or from other 3rd party marketplaces
- Purchasing and selling products from unauthorized distributors
- Poor customer reviews or multiple customer complaints
- Review manipulation
- Contacting customers for non-order or product related issues
- Selling dangerous goods, recalled products, restricted products (restricted policy violation), or products with safety issues (safety complaint)
- Inauthentic complaints
- Price gouging
- Late shipments
The above reasons are frequent, but there are many others. If your account is suspended, you will need to file an appeal, also known as a Plan of Action (POA), to get your account reinstated.
Fortunately, filing a POA is not a legal process, so you the seller, or an individual on your behalf such as a team member, or a consultant, can help with the appeal process. Regardless of who is appealing the suspension, it’s important that the POA is well-written, provides authentic documentation, and is laid out clearly in a specific format, or it will be rejected.
You only get a few chances to appeal before Amazon makes a permanent ruling and the suspension stands.
If you knowingly or unknowingly find yourself on the wrong side of a product or account suspension, contact us now.
