The "suicidal behaviors" that lead to the suspension of Amazon seller accounts and how to prevent them

it is known,

Most of the red flags from Amazon in the background are not good news.

Especially if you receive an email saying “Your Amazon selling privileges have been removed.”

Generally it looks like this:

This is pretty much the worst email an Amazon seller has ever received.

Once your account is suspended, it means you may no longer earn income and can no longer sell on Amazon.

Therefore, it is necessary for sellers to follow Amazon policies to avoid this risk.

But many sellers still use “black hat tactics” to gain an advantage over their competitors.

Let’s look at the 10 most common ways Amazon sellers, especially Chinese sellers, get suspended.

1. Manipulating reviews

Generating fake reviews is a very serious problem for Amazon because it threatens the credibility of the Amazon platform. It is also the most common mistake sellers make and the easiest to avoid. Many review services and ranking services do not care who the reviewer is or how many reviews you get per sale. If you, as a seller, buy a review service to get 100 fake reviews, be very careful, such a service can generate all the reviews in a single day. This immediately sends a red flag to Amazon because their algorithm knows what is a "normal review rate" and what is an "abnormal review rate".

How to avoid it?

In short, stop risking fake reviews. We all know how important reviews are on Amazon, but is it really worth risking your sales rights to get fake reviews? There are better ways to accumulate reviews than fake reviews. You can join the Amazon Early Reviewer Program or the Vine program. You can also use manychat to get reviews safely. Or, you can use a certified professional service to avoid account suspension. Do your research and find the right sources. You can also build your own review team. ANKER does a great job in this regard.

Generally speaking, your review-to-sales ratio shouldn’t be higher than 5% . Anything higher than 5% might alert Amazon that you’re manipulating reviews.

2. Manipulating rankings

The Best Sellers Rank feature allows buyers to assess the popularity of products. Any manipulation of sales rankings is prohibited. Sellers may not generate false or fraudulent orders, including orders for their own products; provide compensation to buyers who purchase products, or provide buyers with discount codes to improve sales rankings. In addition, in the product listing, including the title and description, sellers cannot describe the product's Best Sellers Rank.

How to avoid it?

Don’t offer excessive discounts to boost sales (30% off is the highest discount on Amazon). Don’t offer a large number of units for giveaways or promotions. Start with a few per day (up to 10) and build up slowly. Don’t write “Best Seller” or “Number 1 Seller” on your listing. Don’t buy your own products to boost your BSR.

3. Infringement

Infringement of sellers’ rights such as trademarks, patents, images and copywriting is a big no-no on Amazon and is also against the law.

How to avoid it?

Sell ​​unique products, not copies of other sellers. Do your research to see if your brand name is already trademarked, which can be checked at www.uspto.gov.

Do not copy other sellers’ listings or images.

4. Sales of restricted products

Amazon has a list of prohibited products, and the law does not allow the sale of CBD products, medicines, etc., and those that Amazon has decided to stop selling are products such as fidget spinners, masks, etc.

How to avoid it?

There is a list of prohibited products in the Seller Central account help page. Read and follow them. Amazon wants you as a seller to know what is allowed to sell on Amazon.

5. Selling counterfeit products

Selling counterfeit products of competitors’ original products is not only prohibited on Amazon, it is also illegal.

How to avoid it?

Never try to sell counterfeit or substandard products.

6. Poor sales performance

A high order defect rate may result in account suspension.

How to avoid it?

The Order Defect Rate must be less than 1% . It is best not to have products that are of very poor quality or packaging. Here is an example of a seller selling a glass product that was damaged during shipping and the product became a pile of broken pieces when it arrived in the hands of the buyer. This caused Amazon to shut down the product listing and the seller lost their account because they relisted the product without taking any action, resulting in more damage and customer complaints. The seller believed that Amazon would package the glass products to prevent breakage, but this is not the case. If you sell fragile products, you must be responsible for protecting it with proper packaging. Monitor performance notifications and customer ratings, and if you receive an email from Amazon that the Order Defect Rate is high, then remove the products that you think may be causing this situation to avoid account suspension. Do not ignore these emails from Amazon.

7. High order cancellation rate before shipment

Amazon believes that sellers who cancel orders are creating a negative customer experience, which is not allowed.

How to avoid it?

Do not cancel a buyer's order unless there are special circumstances. The only legitimate reason to cancel an order is if your pricing is incorrect or there is a problem with the product. Therefore, it is best to thoroughly check the listing to ensure that all information is accurate before the listing is displayed as "live".

8. MFG sellers have poor shipping time performance

This only applies to self-shipping sellers. For self-shipping, the delivery delay rate must not exceed 4%. Amazon wants to make sure that sellers (especially self-shipping sellers) can deliver on time to avoid giving customers a bad experience.

How to avoid it?

Make sure to ship within 2 days of receiving the order. Always add a tracking ID, failure to add a tracking ID or a wrong ID may be considered as not sent, and even if you send the ID, it will be considered a late shipment.

In your Seller Central account under Performance > Account Health, you’ll find this overview:

If you find that all indicators are 0, don't worry. If not, then it's time to take action.

9. Failure to respond to Amazon performance notifications

This is common among Amazon China sellers who think they don’t have to respond to Amazon’s notifications. Find all emails from Amazon about your performance in Seller Central > Performance > Performance Notifications.

How to avoid it?

Always respond to Amazon emails promptly and professionally. It is important to be professional and polite, and not to blame Amazon or the buyer for the problem. Amazon is biased in favor of the buyer, so you can't blame the buyer for your problem. Amazon also wants you to know and understand all of their policies, so if you say "I did not know", it will not be effective with Amazon.

10. Account Linking

It is also very dangerous for a seller to set up a second account and connect it to the first account through the same company name or address, bank account, credit card, or IP.

Strictly speaking, it is against Amazon policy to open multiple seller accounts on Amazon. However, you can do so if you need to get permission from Amazon or set up an account that is not linked to an existing account.

How to avoid it?

Get permission from Amazon.

Generally speaking, it’s OK to set up a second account for an unrelated brand. Just make sure:

●Don’t use the same name as your first account;

●Don’t use the same legal data as the first account;

●Don’t use the same bank account as your first account;

Don’t use anything that links your new account to your old one.

● Make sure to use new IP, email, company name and address, etc.

Overall, if you want to continue selling on Amazon, it’s best to avoid risks and follow Amazon’s policies.