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Is the VC account, which was once like a cross-border "dragon-slaying sword", about to fall from the altar? There was a saying in the cross-border e-commerce world: whoever has the VC account will win the world . It seems a bit exaggerated, but in fact it declares that such accounts are more likely to seize the initiative in the market competition.
However, accidents never happen. Recently, there have been many reports in the industry that Amazon will regulate VC accounts, causing panic in the industry for a while. It is learned that recently, there has been a rumor in the industry that Amazon will ban 90% of VC accounts . One of the sellers who broke the news said: VC accounts with annual GMV below 10 million US dollars will face the risk of being banned by Amazon. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure It is understood that the so-called VC account refers to an exclusive account set up by Amazon for sellers in the supply model. Compared with ordinary seller accounts (SC), VC accounts enjoy many "privileges" , including obtaining various sales data in the background, increasing product traffic entrances, etc. , and being able to obtain more exposure and sales opportunities. Many big sellers have achieved soaring performance with the help of the VC model. Therefore, once the above-mentioned revelations about the VC account were released, they quickly sparked heated discussions in the industry. It is learned that since May this year, sellers on Amazon's US site have reported that their VC accounts have received emails from Amazon stating that the cooperation with Amazon will be terminated after 60 days. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure Then in July (when the 60-day email deadline expired), the VC accounts of many relevant sellers were banned and they were unable to log into the backend. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure At the same time, many sellers also stated that their VC accounts were banned without receiving any email notification. In this regard, the vast majority of sellers believe that 90% of the data circulating in the rumor may be a bit exaggerated, but the second half - Amazon will regulate VC accounts with annual GMV below 10 million US dollars may be true: because the VC accounts that were notified of 60-day store closures had monthly sales ranging from 200,000 to 600,000 US dollars. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure In this regard, some sellers speculated that Amazon’s crackdown on VC accounts was intended to eliminate sellers without strength, but other sellers said that Amazon was most likely cracking down on those VC accounts that abused their privileges. Judging from feedback from the industry, in recent years, many SC sellers seem to have long been resentful of VC accounts that abuse their privileges. As we all know, VC accounts have always been very popular among Amazon sellers due to their many privileges such as exclusive A+ pages and the ability to modify listings. At one point, they were even sold for a high price of nearly 3 million yuan. However, in a market environment with mixed quality, it is inevitable that some bad-intentioned people will take advantage of the situation and disrupt the industry ecology. As the popularity of VC accounts increases, it also further spawns chaos such as VC accounts tampering with other people's listings, snatching reviews, and maliciously selling at low prices . It is learned that in the past few years, many domestic sellers in the industry have had their listing main pictures and titles maliciously tampered with by VC accounts, resulting in their listings being removed from the shelves due to infringing information. In March of this year, the head of an Amazon product promotion company in the United States also shared a maliciously tampered Amazon listing on his social media: the title was changed to a swear word "3-IN-1 The Seller is a Motherf**ker". ▲ The picture comes from foreign media According to the seller, the listing was not restored to its original state, but was removed from Amazon. It is worth mentioning that the comments below the post are full of complaints from Amazon sellers against some bad VC accounts, which attracted the attention of many foreign media. Many sellers believe that the "privileges" granted to VC accounts by Amazon are full of loopholes and can easily be used by those with bad intentions as a tool for malicious competition . Amazon should take rectification actions, such as introducing a new risk control system, strengthening the performance evaluation of VC stores, and reducing the listing editing rights of VC accounts. Some sellers traced back the wave of account bans in 2021 and said that the turmoil was also caused by foreign media collective reports that the Amazon platform was full of violations such as fake orders. Therefore, when the above news was collectively reported by many foreign media, they believed that this might become the fuse for Amazon to start a new round of account bans against illegal VC accounts. It is understood that perhaps to prevent VC sellers from continuing to "do whatever they want" or perhaps because they heard the voices of sellers, Amazon has been continuously upgrading risk control for VC accounts in recent years , strengthening relevant audits, and banned a number of non-compliant or risky VC accounts in March 2023. Since March this year, many sellers have also reported that VC accounts have been strictly investigated. However, as of press time, Amazon has not yet publicly released any information regarding the above rumors , so these speculations can only be used as a reference. If Amazon really launches a new round of audits on illegal VC accounts, it will surely be another bloody storm, but at the same time, the platform ecology may also be regulated to a certain extent, which is not all bad news for compliant sellers.
We will continue to follow up on subsequent developments. If you have any latest news, you can also report it to the editor, or discuss it in the comment area~
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