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When to Hire Professional Help For Your Plan of Action

Plans of Action are a part of selling on Amazon. I wish they weren’t, but unfortunately, they’re very common. I started consulting for suspensions and Plans of Action not because they are fun and enjoyable, but because they are a reality, and many sellers need help with them, whether they realize it at first or not. The process of reinstatement can be a lengthy one that requires hours of thought, research, and determination. Without the knowledge of how to navigate this process, many sellers fail to win their appeals.

In a perfect world, a template would exist on what to say to Amazon to win an appeal, but this is not a perfect world. Each individual POA is a wholly different scenario which requires a unique strategy. Therefore, it is difficult to offer blanket advice for winning an appeal.

If I were to offer one piece of advice it is this: if your POA is addressing a simple problem containing very few variables, your chances of writing a successful appeal on your own are far greater. So, what qualifies as simple? Your root cause should be 100% identifiable and quantifiable. Many appeals are not so simple. Amazon typically suspends sellers who have issues which reach deeper, and affect multiple parts of their businesses.

I don’t often recommend sellers submit more than one or two appeals on their own. Here is the main reason why: if you fail to win your appeal, it counts against you, and it will be more difficult to win, even if you have to hire an appeal service. In other words, unless you have experience in this area, you are rolling the dice by submitting your own appeals.

Let me put it to you this way, in the form of two scenarios:

*Plan A: Zero up front, but 90% chance of $5,000.00 or more in lost revenues due to your business being suspended for six weeks, with a decent chance you will lose your selling privileges indefinitely.

*Plan B: $1500.00 up front cost with a 95% chance of success. Minimal lost revenue. Greater account health overall for the long term, lessening your chances for future suspensions.

So when is the right time to hire an appeals expert? My honest answer is BEFORE your first attempt. But for certain, if you lose your first appeal, or do not hear back from Amazon, it is vital you get the second try correct. DO NOT, under any circumstances, resubmit the same POA after an initial rejection or no response.

I don’t believe in making empty promises or false guarantees. I don’t promise people I can get them reinstated, even if I almost always can. What I can promise is through the process you will receive the tools and information necessary to have a healthier business overall moving forward. And I can pull from a very successful track record from my work with clients since 2014.

I do my very best to give each seller the attention that they deserve. I care about each person I work with, even to a fault. I invest my time and energy into winning these appeals because I take the job personally.

This is how I run my own business, how I consult, and how I approach Plans of Action.

If you are confident you can win your appeal on your own, please do so. If you want a much better chance of winning, give me a shout. And for certain, if you have lost your first appeal do not hesitate to contact me.

How to GET SUSPENDED from Amazon

I realize this post is a bit ironic and somewhat comical, but you would be amazed how many sellers actively do these things thinking they will not suffer the consequences.  If you are trying to get suspended by Amazon (which I know you are NOT), you will want to do one, or several of, the following things.

*Do the bare minimum.  Selling on Amazon is actual work, and you must be willing to pay attention to the details on an hourly basis. If you are not willing, you will not be selling for long!

*Don’t pay attention to your account regularly. Sounds obvious, right?  But even if you are 100% vested in FBA, this is not a set-it-and-forget-it business model. Customers and inventory will need regular attention!

*Think you are invincible because of short-term success. I have seen this one countless times. Amazon selling is volatile, and if you are not intentional, your short-terms profits can disappear in a matter of moments.  

*Prioritize profits over Amazon policy. Overcharging is a quick way to land on Seller Performance’s radar.  

*Think you have total control of your account health. Control every variable you can. But inevitably, because Amazon is not a perfect system, you will encounter issues outside your control. Plan for this.

*Cut corners on product condition. Don’t sell items that are new if they are not. “Damaged, but still new” is a fast ticket to buyer complaints.

*Rush when packing shipments. The time you save rushing through the packing process will be lost when faced with the problems this approach causes.

*Approach your Amazon business as a get-rich-quick scheme. If you are looking to make a fast buck, Amazon is not the place to do it in 2021.

*Fail to get permission to sell your products from the manufacturer/authorized distributor.  If you fail to do this step, you are open to IP complaints.

*Submit a fake invoice for ungating. Almost all ungating services will give you fake invoices. Though it may be a cheap, fast option it is not worth losing your business over. Invest in a legitimate ungating service, or contact me for help.

*Fail to respond to Amazon when they ask for a Plan of Action. Ignoring direct communication from Amazon will only result in a loss of selling privileges.

*Fail to be absolutely certain all of the information on your account matches the information on your vendor invoices. It can be easy to forget to double check this, but it will cost you in the long term.

*Fail to thoroughly read a product detail page before listing. Amazon listings often contain errors and fine print most sellers don’t catch in their desire to list quickly. This can lead to suspension faster than you think.

The point: don’t think you are invincible.  Plan for stormy weather and famines, because they are a reality in this business. Run a tight ship and spend extra time on the details, because not only will that save you time and hassle in the future, it will also help fireproof your business.   Check out the new book Amazon Plans of Action: Proven Tactics for Winning Appeals and purchase here.