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Discover the top 3 tips from industry experts to avoid Amazon seller suspension and protect your seller performance, account health, and brand reputation. Learn how to stay compliant with Amazon’s policies, avoid policy violations and intellectual property disputes, optimize your product listings, and provide exceptional customer service. With our actionable insights, you can safeguard your Amazon business and achieve long-term success.
Selling on Amazon can be a great way to reach a wide audience and grow your business, but it’s important to understand the platform’s updated policies and guidelines to avoid any issues or suspensions. Being suspended from Amazon can be a serious setback for any seller, and it’s essential to take the necessary steps to avoid it. In this article, we will provide 3 helpful tips to avoid Amazon seller suspension. By following these tips, sellers can reduce the risk of suspension and continue to grow their business on Amazon.
3 Helpful Tips to Avoid Amazon Seller Suspension
Account suspension is a common issue many sellers face, and reinstating your account can be an overwhelming process. Amazon is fairly upfront with its rules and regulations. Yet many sellers may be surprised when their account gets suspended.
The repercussions of a suspension can be devastating for a beginner seller, or an established seller. Between the inability to sell your products and the continued warehouse costs, Amazon seller account suspension can cost you thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Even worse, the process of trying to establish a good standing, and the money you will need to invest again can be draining.
Understand Amazon Seller Account Suspension
To sum it up, an Amazon seller suspension occurs when the eCommerce Platform revokes your selling privileges if they believe that you have violated their policies. Some Primary Causes for suspension include:
-Policy violations
-Sale of restricted products
-Poor Performance
-Owning and using multiple seller accounts
Suspensions not only create a headache for sellers – they can cost thousands of dollars in lost sales, employee wages, and wasted storage and supply fees. Handling these issues independently can be difficult.
The 4 Types of Amazon Seller Account Interruptions
1.) ASIN Suppression
Amazon might not decide to revoke your selling privileges right off the bat. You might experience a Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) suppression. Even though your ASIN is suppressed, it’s still in the Amazon database, but you are unable to sell the product.
2.) Suspension
If Amazon feels that you have violated their terms and conditions or seller guidelines, they will suspend your seller account. Amazon is not always straightforward on its reason for the suspension. But in the case that they do provide a reason for the suspension, you can respond with an Amazon seller suspension appeal letter, otherwise known as a plan of action letter that details how you will address the issues. Some might get their suspension reversed at this point, but some accounts move to the next level of suspension.
3.) Plan of Action Denial
Even the best plans of action (POA) can get denied. Do not panic if your POA gets rejected. The best solution is to rewrite and resubmit your POA to Amazon as an appeal. There is no set limit for how many times you can re-submit, but the longer it takes, the more money you will lose.
4.) Banned
The worst-case scenario for Amazon sellers is having your account banned. Once you have been banned, Amazon will no longer address your correspondences or accept any appeals. It may be possible to create a new account, Amazon is typically very good about recognizing new seller accounts from those who have been previously banned.
Now that you’ve gained an understanding of how Amazon seller account suspension works, let’s explore some tips to help you avoid a suspension altogether.
These 3 Tips
1.) Educate Yourself
The more you know the better. Amazon guild lines are periodically updated, you will receive emails notifying you of any guideline changes. Open any Amazon emails immediately, so you don’t overlook seller account changes and make a catastrophic mistake.
If you breach any of Amazon’s guidelines or policies, you have a high risk of account suspension. Some violations, especially those that pertain to product safety can result in account suspension without warning. The best solution will always be to stay educated on guidelines and view updates when they are made.
2.) Stay Proactive and Honest
One of the best ways to measure your Amazon seller account’s success is through customer satisfaction. Improve upon or remove any products that seem to greatly dissatisfy buyers. Become proactive and transparent about protentional inventory issues, shipping delays, and out-of-stock items. List your product descriptions shipping times, and return/exchange policy. Go the extra mile to personalize your customer experience, and create positive buyer interactions.
3.) Manage Your Metrics
The Amazon Seller Central dashboard is a fantastic tool for sellers to gain insight into their account health. Metrics are crucial markers that tie your customers’ overall experience to your account success. Pay attention to that data. Some criteria that you need to make sure you always meet are:
-Negative feedback <5%
-Pre-fulfillment cancel rate <2.5%
-Late shipment rate <4%
-Order defect rate <1%
If you notice any of these rating drops, take action immediately. Keep a close eye on these metrics to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Even the most diligent Amazon sellers experience account suspension. But there are many ways to avoid such a drastic outcome. Pay close attention to the details, customer satisfaction, and remain diligent while monitoring metrics.
As you grow your business, make sure you check out our other blogs for more interesting articles relating to Ecommerce and business strategy.
Happy selling!
