It is no secret that Amazon.com is a safe great place to buy almost anything you will ever need. You’re guaranteed a great price and a great user experience regardless if the seller is Amazon or a third party merchant. You can always expect the item to arrive within the said delivery date (or sooner) and almost nothing ever goes wrong – even when buying from a third party merchant.

How do they do it?

Amazon.com, eBay.com and all other marketplaces have changed dramatically since the early days of when I started selling on ebay.com (20 years ago). In those days, the buyer was responsible to decide to accept the risks based on past buyers feedback and the listing information. It was sort of like an educated guess.  This system worked, but only to a point. If something went wrong with the transaction, the buyer had to deal with the seller directly and hope it can be resolved. If you complained to eBay, they would say that they are just a platform / marketplace and they do not guarantee the transaction.  It’s hard to imagine this, but early on, eBay allowed any member to leave feedback on another member even if it was not tied to a transaction. Wily sellers and desperate buyers found ways to outsmart the system with all kinds of tricks and shticks. Counterfeit items were rampant on eBay.com and lawsuits and counter lawsuits the norm. It was the Wild West.

Online selling has evolved dramatically. These days, Amazon and eBay are involved in every aspect of the transaction. They regulate and police the marketplace so harshly, that one or 2 mistakes can literally get you shut down even if your selling and doing nothing wrong for years.  Amazon does not mind taking down a few people wrongly for the good of the marketplace. They don’t need to provide proof that you’re doing anything wrong nor do they give you a clear reason. They certainly do not need your money or business. I know personally tens of horror stories of people who got shutdown for doing nothing wrong. It happens without warning and there is almost nothing you can do. Some have had 5-50 employees and selling millions of dollars a year and are forced to let all their employees go and are stuck with millions in merchandise. It can wreck your life.

 Why can’t you just play by the rules?

This is the most common question I’m asked when discussing this with friends who do not sell on Amazon. I agree that Amazon often does have valid reason to shut you down and that is why we all trust and buy on Amazon.com. There are sellers that are indeed selling fake goods and playing games and Amazon does and should take action. The issue is when you play by the rules like most, and still get suspended. Some examples:

1)    A seller got suspended because someone left the following feedback “Great item, definitely NOT counterfeit”. The system picked up the word counterfeit and somehow they got suspended. It can take weeks to get a response from them.

2)    A seller was doing 300k a month’s selling sunglasses. He was buying from one supplier, all 1000% direct and legit. One or two buyers complained that it was “fake” – probably because they wanted to return it with free shipping. They suspended him and it took 2 months to get back. Wrecked his credit/ cash flow.

3)    A seller got suspended for opening a duplicate account (akin to murder in the Amazon.com sellers world). This was not true. One of his employees once logged on with his own account and amazon linked them and suspended him. It took 6 weeks for amazon to even respond to his explanation.

This is not even the tip of the iceberg of stories that I know personally. If you rely on Amazon.com as your main source of income, as thousands in our community do, you’re at the mercy of any random customer. The anxiety Amazon sellers have these days is very very high and for good reason. You never know when the tap will be turned off.

Ok, so what’s the solution?

GroupSourcing!

While I know of no easy answers, I started a group chat of high volume sellers that work primarily with suspensions, blocked listings and other compliance issues. The information shared from fellow Amazon sellers has been immeasurable to everyone in the group. Nobody can know everything but if we pool our knowledge, we stand a better chance in dealing with Amazon. When Amazon sends you a sellers performance warning, knowing if / when and how to respond can be the difference between staying in business and not. These tiny pcs of information can be critical for your survival on Amazon or get you reinstated if they do suspend you. It is often one keyword that they are looking for in an appeal letter that will put you back on the grid or cause you to be shut you out permanently. There are also professionals who can help you get reinstated. DO NOT USE SOMEONE NOT RECOMMENDED. When you’re suspended, people are desperate and it’s easy to fall prey to so called self-declared professionals.

More importantly, the information gleaned from fellow sellers can be what you need to prevent a listing from being blocked in the first place. Selling on Amazon can be great but you need to be ultra-cautious and follow every single rule. Even that may not be enough, so if / when they do shut you out, you need to know what made them take that action. You need to respond with exactly what they want to hear.  Having a support group is in my opinion the best way to deal with complicated Amazon seller issues.

To Join our Telegram chat / support group.

1) Install Telegram

2) Email [email protected] with your full name and a 50 word Bio to be considered.

If you are currently suspended and need immediate advice, email [email protected] with the word SUSPENDED on the subject line.

We will try to point you in the right direction.

Ed Rosenberg