The Amazon seller account: How to create your account, become a successful seller, and avoid account suspension
Every year, thousands of new sellers start selling through the Amazon platform. But before the first products go over the counter and large profits are made, the opening of the account with the online giant is required first. How to build your FBA business, create and optimize your listings, or grab the Buy Box, you will learn everything in our further blog posts. However, this one is about the cradle of your success at Amazon: your Amazon seller account.
We clarify how to create your seller account on Amazon and also address the question of how to avoid an unpleasant account suspension with a few simple tips.
Creating the Amazon seller account: Here’s how
Your seller account is the access to your commercial activities on the marketplace. You use it to log in later to Amazon Seller Central. There, you manage all settings that relate to your FBA inventory, your shipping method, or your listings – in short, Seller Central is the headquarters of your Amazon business.
First of all, you need to register. To do this, open this page from Amazon. There, click on the button “Sell now,” which will redirect you to Seller Central. Enter your details such as your name there. You will also choose a password at this point to protect your Amazon seller account.
The following will ask for some additional information from you or your company. So make sure you have this information on hand:
Which sales plan is right for me?
Depending on what goals you pursue as a seller, you can choose between different sales plans:
Regardless of which plan you choose, Amazon additionally charges a commission per sold item. This is based on the product category in which the respective product is listed. You can find a current price overview of the sales fees here.
Step by step: Set up an Amazon seller account
In the following section, we have summarized the steps to set up your own Amazon seller account in detail.
After clicking on “Complete Registration,” you were able to successfully create your Amazon seller account. However, you still cannot set up any products, as Amazon is first reviewing all your information and documents.
The worst-case scenario: The Amazon seller account has been suspended
It is the nightmare of every seller on Amazon: The seller account has been suspended. What follows are lengthy disputes with the online giant, in which you must prove that you are innocent or promise to improve – or simply both.
With an action plan, you can usually lift the suspension, but it is even better to prevent it from getting that far. Therefore, we want to provide you with six tips to prevent account suspension.
Why does Amazon take action against policy violations at all?
To detect policy violations or even violations of laws, Amazon relies on artificial intelligence that identifies problematic pages and accounts. Essentially, there are two reasons why the online giant takes a tough stance against potential violations.
The self-protection
On one hand, Amazon must also legally protect itself and shield against potential lawsuits. If there are legal violations on the marketplaces under the authority of the e-commerce giant and there have been no countermeasures, it is liable.
Customer satisfaction
The customer is NUMBER one at Amazon. If buyers receive counterfeit goods, are deceived by fake reviews, or if the seller performance is simply poor, the trust of customers in Amazon is undermined. It is probably unnecessary to elaborate further on the fact that this is not in the interest of the trading platform.
6 ultimate tips on how to avoid account suspension
Now let’s look at the triggers that can lead Amazon to suspend your seller account. The best tip we can give you: Play by the rules. Even if it sometimes seems that way: Amazon has no interest in arbitrarily and unjustifiably suspending seller accounts.
Admittedly, this is easier said than done, as there are quite a few Amazon policies. In addition, there are numerous legal requirements that you must comply with. Nevertheless, there are avoidable mistakes that we encounter repeatedly when accounts of sellers have been blocked by Amazon.
#1 Fake reviews are a bad idea
It is nothing new that reviews not only play a role in the placement of your offer in the Buy Box but also have an enormous significance for customers’ purchasing decisions. It sounds tempting to just allocate a little budget and quickly buy some reviews, doesn’t it?
If you get caught, Amazon has suspended your seller account even before you have paid the invoice.
Even if you ask relatives or friends for a review, pressure customers, or try to incentivize a positive review with financial incentives like a discount, Amazon reserves the right to close your seller account.
Therefore, rely on policy-compliant and legally sound options. This includes actively asking for a review. Simply include a nice flyer with your shipment that describes how important the honest opinion of your customers is to you. More tips on how to generate more reviews on Amazon can be found in our blog article and in this video:
By the way, too many negative seller ratings can also lead to account suspension. Which brings us to the next point: Seller performance.
#2 Out of Stock – out of business
No panic. Temporary supply shortages do not immediately lead to a suspension of your seller account. However, you should still keep a close eye on your inventory levels. On one hand, you lose the Buy Box if you run “out of stock.” If this happens too often, even your Private Label products may become disqualified for the shopping cart field.
On the other hand, your Amazon seller account will be suspended if the cancellation rate before order fulfillment exceeds the critical value of 2.5%. This is calculated from the ratio of canceled orders to all orders. So, if you have to cancel an order too often because you cannot deliver, you risk account suspension.
So make sure you have control over your inventory levels. You can also be supported by inventory management tools. Pay attention to an automatic connection to Amazon to prevent overselling.
#3 Deliver on time, quickly, and intact
Make sure to ship orders quickly and, above all, on time. Keyword: Customer satisfaction. The online giant has set high standards regarding shipping.
When you ship your goods, provide a delivery date that should not be exceeded, as the rate of late deliveries is one of the indicators that determine the “health” of your account. If certain requirements are not met, your Amazon seller account may also suffer and could be suspended.
The rate of late deliveries relates late shipments to the total number of all deliveries in the last 30 days. If it rises to 4% or more, account suspension is imminent.
No customer likes damaged products
Perfect shipping also means that the goods arrive undamaged at the buyer’s location. After all, it greatly affects customer satisfaction if the eagerly awaited product is broken or does not work.
Therefore, the rate of order defects is also an indicator of the health of your profile and a possible reason why Amazon may have suspended your seller account. It relates defective orders to all deliveries in the last 60 days. If the critical value of 1% is reached or exceeded, your time as an active seller could soon come to an end.
Prevent this by ensuring that all items are in perfect condition and make sure that they are not damaged during shipping. Therefore, rely on quality control and cushioning packaging material – especially when shipping fragile goods.
#4 Make customer service your priority
When you opened your account, you also agreed to Amazon’s seller policies. These state, among other things, that you must respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours – the sooner, the better.
If a request does not require a response from you, you can mark it accordingly in Seller Central. If you exceed the response time, it may happen that your Amazon seller account gets suspended.
The 24-hour rule also applies on weekends and holidays, by the way. So make sure that you are represented in case of doubt or outsource customer support.
Fulfillment by Amazon
In terms of customer service, shipping speed, and logistics, Amazon has set standards. It is particularly difficult for small to medium-sized retailers to meet similar standards. However, you can benefit from the experience of the e-commerce giant by using FBA. For this, you send your goods to a logistics center, where they are stored. From now on, Amazon takes over the entire order process: picking and packing, shipping, customer support, and returns management. This way, you can minimize potential sources of error and also gain access to the purchasing power of those who have a Prime subscription, as products shipped via FBA automatically receive Prime status.
#5 Defective product detail pages
Your seller account on Amazon can also be suspended if your product detail pages are inadequately designed. This can range from poor translations or erroneous texts to violations of intellectual property. Therefore, when creating and editing your listings, make sure to adhere to the relevant Amazon policies.
Especially images should be well chosen and checked. If the copyrights of the images, for example, do not belong to you, it can have serious legal consequences that go far beyond account suspension. It is best to have professional images of your products taken, as these have a significant impact on customers’ purchasing decisions.
#6 Complete information
Make sure that your information is complete. Outdated cancellation policies, missing documents such as business licenses, or an incomplete imprint are reasons for Amazon to suspend the account (temporarily).
Especially if you want to trade internationally, this point is important for you. Because then you will be required to provide far more tax numbers than in national trade. So make sure that your information is all complete and correct, and if in doubt, get an expert by your side. Remember: Four eyes see more than two.
Will I be suspended immediately for the first mistake?
It depends on the nature of the offense. At Amazon, your seller account will not be suspended immediately if you do not respond within 24 hours once or if your order is delayed on occasion. However, if these problems accumulate, Amazon will take action.
It is different with allegations of plagiarism and similar legal matters. Here, the account can be suspended immediately, as the online giant protects itself from legal actions against itself.
Your Amazon seller account is suspended – what you can do
In many cases, Amazon will ask you to submit a plan of action. In it, you explain how the problem occurred and what measures you have taken to resolve this issue and prevent it in the future. An explanation of how to best approach the Amazon plan of action can be found in our article on this topic.
By the way, if your Amazon seller account is suspended, you cannot open a new one, or the chance is extremely high that this one will also be suspended immediately. Amazon generally does not allow a seller to maintain more than one seller account. While an exemption from this requirement is possible, you will need good reasons for it.
In any case, remain factual, even if you feel unfairly treated. The suspension of your seller account will certainly not be lifted faster if you insult the Amazon employees.
How long does the account suspension last?
Unfortunately, a blanket answer regarding the duration of the suspension would not be credible, as too many factors influence the length.
On one hand, there is the severity of the offense. While formal issues can often be resolved within a few days, legal violations can, in the worst case, lead to the permanent closure of the account.
Your cooperation also affects the duration of the suspension. The faster you provide Amazon with all the required documents, the quicker you can reactivate your Amazon seller account. Unfortunately, forums often report lengthy discussions with the online giant, even though all requested documents have already been submitted. In such cases, you should seek legal assistance.
Conclusion
The seller account is your access to Seller Central and thus to the hub of your Amazon business. The account is created quickly, and after reviewing your information and documents, you can start offering your products on Amazon. However, the seller account can also be quickly deactivated if you do not play by Amazon’s rules.
Once the Amazon seller account is suspended, you have a mountain of tasks ahead of you to get it reinstated. It is better to prevent this and not let it get to that point, as many of the factors that lead to an account suspension are avoidable. Pay particular attention to fast shipping, honest reviews, stocked inventory, and optimal customer service.
Frequently Asked Questions
There can be many reasons why the seller account is suspended. Most commonly, poor performance (such as a high cancellation rate), formal errors (e.g., in the imprint), or legal violations (such as the purchase of reviews) are the triggers.
It is quite easy to sell on Amazon. You need a business, a product, and a seller account, which you can create quite easily. However, it is more difficult and a serious business to make a living as an Amazon seller.
First of all, stay calm and fix the error in your internal processes that led to the suspension. Often, Amazon also requires an action plan before your account is reinstated. If the suspension is unjustified or if you have problems lifting it, legal assistance may also be necessary.
There is no general answer to this. For formal errors, the process is completed within a few hours or days, while for legal violations, it can take months. A permanent suspension is also possible.
Amazon has stated in its policies that each seller can generally only open one account. The chances that the new account will also be blocked quickly are very high.
Many sellers eventually decide to open an Amazon shop. This is a good thing, as their own products can be presented there without suggesting competing products to the customer, for example. However, if the seller account is blocked, the Amazon shop is also “offline” and can no longer generate sales.
Image credits in the order of the images: © assia – stock.adobe.com / © sizsus – stock.adobe.com / © Jacob Lund – stock.adobe.com
