As many brand owners just noticed, Amazon likes to use the entire month of June to remove sellers for listing violations, policy breaches, code of conduct lapses and just about anything else that could negatively impact Prime Day if they did nothing ahead of it. No one wants to spend money on ads or put effort into deals or invest hugely into Prime Day if Amazon will just start taking down thousands of listings during the big event.
While most suspensions can be resolved with proper appeals and escalations, numerous brand owners continue to mishandle these issues, losing time, revenue, and potentially missing out on the spoils of Prime Day.
I’ve listed two most common policy flags we've seen in the past few weeks:
One major suspension cause right now is for competitor abuse –and Amazon sends it to legitimately guilty parties and to falsely accused sellers. Sellers might receive a deactivation notice stating they have been "working with or influencing customers to leave negative product reviews to damage or abuse the seller, their listings, or their ratings," which is a policy violation, or a warning that they are at risk of deactivation, pending an appeal. Those in the AHA program (Account Health Assurance) can appeal to keep their accounts active during the appeals process, but everyone else gets deactivated in short order.
If your account is temporarily suspended, Amazon must accept a viable appeal for these offenses, you can’t expect to keep selling for more than a few days. Unfortunately, "temporary" could become "permanent" for brand owners who misunderstand the necessary next steps. Account owners must know how to dispute baseless claims and how to appeal valid suspensions. If you’re ever in doubt over which path to take, get an expert opinion. It doesn’t have to be ours but you do have to make sure they’re right.
If you're at fault, demonstrate to Amazon that you have ceased such practices and implemented compliance strategies to prevent future violations.
Due to Amazon's ongoing efforts to combat review abuse, be aware that hiring poorly vetted third-party services or assigning tasks to employees that harm competitors will fall on you, the business owner. If you are buying from competitors with the intent to cancel orders later, therefore tying up their inventory, or to leave negative reviews, you can expect retaliation not from the competitor, but from Amazon. The company has improved its tools and Abuse Prevention team SOPs to detect actions that negatively impact other sellers, especially around Prime Day.
If a competitor successfully convinces Amazon that you’re attacking them and you’re not, you can dispute the violation by demonstrating your adherence to the Seller Code of Conduct. Focus on policies related to interactions with other sellers. But have a coherent story to show them and if they don’t provide ANY info on what you’re accused of, battle back with calls with Account Health and cite examples of all the times you’ve tried, and failed, to get better info. Use that as a basis of your new dispute.
Remember, template appeals are worthless to send in. Amazon read most of the copy and paste templates already and they’ve started flatly telling sellers that they know it’s an appeal that you barely looked at or worked on. If your appeal is that weak, you’ll receive a message stating, "We received your submission. Your submission did not include the information as requested on your Account Health page for this warning."
This means you need to toss the templates out and refine your appeal strategy. Conversely, if you receive a message saying, "We have reviewed the information provided and have removed the policy warning from your Account Health page," then great! Amazon agreed it was a false flag. However, this doesn't guarantee you won’t face this issue again. It could come up next week or month, so be ready.
Secondly, many sellers still use prohibited methods to boost their sales rank and positive reviews, such as including non-TOS compliant packaging inserts or using enhanced buyer-seller messaging techniques. Despite the numerous public stories about suspensions for review abuse violations, some brand owners looking for a quick boost still resort to these outdated tactics or somehow believe that as long as you don’t actually ask for a review, it doesn’t matter what it says on the insert. I don’t know why these ideas still float around, but mid way through 2024, suspensions still occur for it.
Once you’ve started contacting customers outside the Amazon messaging system (no matter how it started) and once you begin offering free gifts, high discounts or other benefits that look and sound like compensation, you’ll begin getting more positive reviews whether or not it’s asked for. Amazon knows that, and so do all of us.
We've also seen sellers suspended or threatened with suspension for promising rewards to "contest winners" who provide email addresses or proof of positive reviews. Inserts offering "free gifts" for buyers who follow a QR code and provide contact information are also common. The misconception that you can do contests and pick out “lucky winners” also persists, but Amazon uses the suspension process to correct this.
All of these methods fall into “no fly zones” under Amazon policies. If you’re offering any form of compensation for reviews, it’s not going to last too long. This includes inserting requests for positive reviews or incentives in product packaging, offering refunds or reimbursements in exchange for reviews, and diverting negative reviews to yourself while sending positive reviews to Amazon. If you have inserts like this in your current packaging, it’s best to remove them. And don’t put five stars on an insert! Amazon hates it, and it’s easy to report. Many sellers lose their accounts simply because they have five stars across the top. It’s an easy way to get shut down.
As before, some sellers are suspended as soon as Amazon discovers what they’re doing to boost good reviews illicitly, while others are only told to appeal it in order to avoid an account suspension. Either way, a successful appeal will be required to resolve it. Subpar appeals are often answered with generic, opaque messaging that only tells you that you’ve failed to provide “sufficient information.” Don’t be one of the uninformed brand owners who gets stuck in that relentless loop.
Final Thoughts
The key to maintaining a healthy and active seller account is proactive compliance and swift, effective responses to any policy violations. Here are a few final tips:
- Regularly Review Amazon Policies: Stay updated on Amazon’s seller policies, especially those related to reviews, restricted products, and intellectual property.
- Audit Your Listings: Frequently audit your product listings to ensure they comply with Amazon’s guidelines.
- Implement a Robust Compliance Strategy: Develop and maintain a comprehensive compliance strategy that includes staff training, regular audits, and swift action plans for handling violations.
- Prepare Strong Appeals: In case of a suspension, be prepared to submit well-documented, detailed appeals. Include all required information and clearly outline the steps you’ve taken to address the issue and prevent future occurrences.
Prime Day represents a wonderful opportunity but it's also loaded with potential minefields for Amazon sellers. With Amazon's heightened enforcement measures, it's crucial to stay ahead by ensuring full compliance with all marketplace policies.
Stay vigilant & stay compliant, so you can make the most of Prime Day!