What is the Amazon 2.14 incident? Review of the Amazon 2.14 incident

Event Review

On February 14, 2018, Amazon banned all sellers who had engaged in "fake orders" without warning. The main features of this ban are: the account cannot be logged in, and it is still impossible to log in through "recovering the password"

On March 2, 2018, a seller reported that he received an email at around 8 a.m. and followed the instructions in the email to log in to the seller backend. After changing the password, he was able to log in normally. Sellers who have their accounts back must submit an "appeal plan" within 17 days for review by the Amazon platform, and the review period is about 90 days.

On March 6, 2018, sellers protested at the door of an Amazon warehouse in Guangzhou, China: Give me back my hard-earned money!

Seller response

Sellers' Voice

“No matter what Amazon sellers did, at least Amazon should give the sellers an explanation, instead of just confiscating the outstanding payments like a robber! This is unethical and illegal!

We have contacted at least 500 sellers who were treated this way. The lowest estimated loss is more than 100 million US dollars. It is said that there are tens of thousands of sellers who have suffered losses this time. We have nowhere to appeal.”

It also sparked a topic on Weibo: "Amazon's black-hearted platform has banned a large number of Chinese sellers for no reason." As of now, it has been read 321,000 times.

Amazon responds

Amazon is committed to continuous innovation to enhance and protect consumers' shopping experience and create a fair, healthy and sustainable business environment for sellers around the world. Sellers must comply with relevant policies when selling goods on Amazon. Any seller who violates Amazon's policies may be disqualified from selling, have their account suspended, have their funds withheld, or even be held legally liable, depending on the severity of their behavior. If sellers have any questions about their accounts, please contact Amazon's seller support team or account manager, and we will investigate and verify and take appropriate measures.

Seller Alert

1. Fight for your rights rationally

In the face of this incident, the sellers’ interests have suffered considerable losses, but do not let anger overshadow your rationality. Try to fight for your rights and interests in a non-violent, reasonable and legal way. You can seek help from relevant institutions, associations, etc.

2. Be familiar with platform policies and regulate your own behavior

For sellers, no matter how the platform changes, being familiar with the platform’s policies is the basis for gaining a foothold on the platform. Although Amazon will block accounts, sellers should still regulate their own behavior to reduce the possibility of being "accidentally injured."

3. Find a new platform solution

Don't rely on one tree, invest in multiple platforms and spread the risk.

References

• 1. Amazon responds to account suspension: Sohu.com [cited on 2018-03-14T16:00:00.000Z]
• 2. Seller warning: servicesgroup website [reference date 2018-03-14T16:00:00.000Z]