Amazon seller account suspended? What to do!
When the Amazon seller account is suspended, all selling rights are lost. This means that as a seller, you lose the right to sell your own products on the marketplace. In some cases, there may only be a suspension in certain areas of the account, for example, it is possible to be suspended for Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and only be able to sell through Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). Additionally, Amazon can suspend part of the product range if the conditions for suspension are present for the respective products.
IMPORTANT: In the event of an account suspension, Amazon freezes pending revenues for about 90 days to deduct any returns, while outstanding orders can still be shipped. When an Amazon seller’s account is suspended, they do not receive the payment due from Amazon. In this case, they must wait until their account is unlocked to access the so-called Amazon balance.
If an account suspension occurs, the message “Your account has been deactivated” appears in Amazon Seller Central. Additionally, Amazon sends the respective seller a deactivation notification via email, listing the reasons that led to the suspension.
How does an account suspension occur?
Amazon places high demands on sellers who sell through the platform. This affects all areas of the supply chain: from product authenticity, shipping, returns processing to customer communication. Amazon measures the performance of the SELLERLOGIC in all these areas. Accordingly, the e-commerce giant is very sensitive when these requirements are not met by sellers, which can lead to the suspension of one’s account.
Concrete reasons that can lead to suspension
Poor seller performance
If a seller’s performance does not meet Amazon’s requirements over a certain period, this can lead to a suspension. A defect rate of over 1%, a too high rate of negative feedback, A-to-Z Guarantee claims, or credit card chargebacks are examples of inadequate seller performance.
Violations of sales policies
If sellers violate one or more of Amazon’s policies, they can be suspended. For example, send
Incorrect seller information
Incorrect information about the Amazon Seller can also lead to suspension. The most common are:
Patent and plagiarism allegations or counterfeit goods
Copycats or similar are not uncommon on Amazon. Therefore, Amazon treats such cases very rigorously by suspending such products or even sellers.
Compliance violations
In the fight for the Buy Box, sellers or resellers must be extremely careful when determining prices. If Amazon detects collusion in price setting, this constitutes a violation of antitrust law, which can lead to the suspension of the respective sellers’ accounts.
The existence of duplicate accounts
Amazon identifies sellers who have two Amazon accounts through data such as the VAT identification number (VAT ID), the names of the shareholders, and so on. In cases where there are duplicates in this data, both accounts are suspended.
What can be done against an account suspension?
The unlocking of the seller account is a process that can be handled by submitting a plan of action through an Amazon procedure. The plan of action includes 3 essential questions that a seller should specifically answer:
When creating or implementing the plan of action, there are points that are essential according to Amazon:
More about creating or implementing the plan of action can be found here.
What can be done in advance to prevent this?
Not every violation leads directly to an account suspension. Typically, Amazon issues a warning in advance. Based on experience, Amazon warns the respective Amazon seller in about half of all cases before they are suspended. In doing so, Amazon informs in advance about exceeding a metric and gives the seller time to rectify the issue.
If there are violations of review policies, for example, a seller can delete reviews from friends, family, etc., and indicate that they will refrain from such behavior in the future.
Conclusion
The reasons for an account suspension can be varied, and the consequences are often far-reaching. The good news is that account suspensions usually do not occur without reason. A seller who performs well and adheres to the sales policies as well as other compliance rules generally does not have to fear account suspension.
Should an account suspension still be imminent, Amazon will communicate this in advance. In such a case, immediate cooperation with Amazon and prompt resolution of the issue often helps to prevent the suspension. In the case of an unjustified account suspension, it may be worthwhile to seek legal assistance.
