Getting your Amazon account suspended is worrisome to all Amazon sellers.
Why?
Simply because you won’t be able to sell when your account’s suspended. The good news though is, there are ways for you to deal with it and we’ve put together this guide with everything you have to know regarding Amazon suspension.
Why Did Amazon Suspend My Account?
First you need to understand the root cause of the suspension. When your account gets suspended, this is the first question you will ask yourself. Here are some examples why an account could have been suspended:
Poor seller performance due to poor account health, negative customer feedback, and/or decreasing seller metrics, or
Amazon Policy Violation - infringing on the intellectual property of a brand, or
Restricted Product Listings is selling restricted, fake or inauthentic products
How Do I Get My Amazon Account Back?
After you have understood the root cause, you need to examine the notification that Amazon has provided you with. What is Amazon asking you to do?
But first...
Stay Calm
Panicking won’t do any good. Stay calm and revise the issue at hand.
Get a second opinion
If Amazon is asking you to submit a plan of action (POA) and you have not created and submitted one before, you may want to seek professional advice and support. You only have a limited amount of chances to submit a well written POA which clearly answers the questions Amazon are asking you.
Reach out to us if you are ever in this predicament for our support via our Deactivation Defence service. We assist you to protect your account from suspension and verification issues and get your account back in full working order, with this service. Our Deactivation Defence specialists know how to write winning Amazon appeals and plans of action to reinstate Amazon seller accounts and now offer our expertise to you.
Learn more about Deactivation defence HERE.
Create a winning POA
When creating your POA it needs to be well thought through, clearly stating the root cause why the suspension has occurred. The immediate measures you have taken as a result of the suspension and the preventative measures you will take going forward to mitigate the issue(s) recurring again in the future.
Also, when creating your appeal, you would want it to be strong right off the bat. This is so when you submit it, your chances of getting approved first time, is significantly higher. You should also include all pertinent information so Amazon doesn’t come back to you which could just prolong the process.
Supporting Evidence
Gather any supporting evidence that you will need to submit to Amazon with your POA, that they have specifically requested and that will help to support your appeal. Ensure you save the evidence in the correct format that Amazon has requested.
Submit Your Appeal
Submit your appeal through the correct channel. Amazon usually sends an email and may also provide a performance notice when an account has been suspended, and you will be requested to submit your appeal (POA and evidence) through the violation appeal page.
Account reinstatement is not processed overnight. It can take days, weeks or sometimes even months - and sadly, Seller Performance auditors only spend a few minutes reviewing each appeal.
Be Professional
An account suspension you remain professional and do not by any means involve any emotions in it. You should also take ownership with the suspension, and let them know of your action plans moving forward.
Do Not Open A New Account
Your goal here is to reinstate your account and we strongly advise against simply creating a new seller central account. Why? You are not fooling Amazon by doing so, and it won’t be long before they close this new account down and this will make matters worse by delaying your original account’s reinstatement.
Wait And Have Patience
Once you have submitted your appeal, be patient and wait for Amazon's response. They will usually issue you with an email response tagged to the violation appeal page, where you originally submitted your appeal. Depending on the type of suspension, the reason and the severity, it will need to be reviewed by their specialist team. Let them review your appeal, and wait for them to get back with you.
Final Thoughts
If your account gets suspended, remember it is not the end of your selling journey unless you have severely infringed Amazon's terms of service and done so knowing! It is up to you to take the necessary actions in order for it to be reinstated and learn from past mistakes to safeguard your account going forward.
Do take responsibility and acknowledge the harm done to the customer and/or brand.
Do tell Amazon you are committed to providing awesome customer service and you realise it is a privilege to sell on their site.
Don't criticise Amazon's product quality process.
So long as you have followed the steps we’ve mentioned above, and as long as you’ve submitted all the necessary documents and a professionally written POA, you will have a strong chance of account reinstatement.
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Need More Help? Here Are Some Additional Resources
Get Coaching: Want our help growing your eCom business? Apply for our Arbitrage Experts Academy Programme Here.
Free Training: How to start, systemise and scale your online business. Register Here.
Book a FREE Strategy Call: Get 1-2-1 support from the OSC Team to devise a tailor made plan you can follow to achieve scale. Click Here.
Get Expert Virtual Assistants: Want our build your team of transformational VAs and free your time? Learn more here.
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