In recent days, a large number of Amazon sellers’ accounts have been suspended for no reason, and before their accounts were restricted, no one received any notification from the system! Through the communication groups spontaneously established by sellers, we learned that some sellers operated in good faith and did not do anything that violated the platform regulations. Such mass store closures seemed particularly strange.
Many sellers sought help everywhere, but Amazon officials did not give any effective response or explanation. Some sellers even privately sought advice and help from investment managers, but to no avail.
According to the summary of feedback from sellers whose accounts have been restricted and the information obtained from service providers, some sellers’ accounts have been restricted and are under sanction review, but the specific review and reasons are unknown.
Some people also reported that the account restriction may be related to the second review of the account, but this view is not credible. After all, among the accounts restricted this time, a considerable number have been operating for two or three years.
Of course, in addition to being nervous, everyone is now hoping that the system may have caused accidental injuries. After all, similar incidents have happened before. A large number of accounts were accidentally damaged and then gradually recovered.
Given that most accounts currently have no clear reasons for being restricted, everyone is more likely to attribute this incident to system error and hopes that there will be a good result as soon as possible.
But we have to say that although this experience may bring a sigh to most sellers, we should still have some deep thoughts besides sighing.
During operations, account restrictions occur from time to time. Some sellers even regard account restrictions as an inevitable situation in operations, and jokingly say, "Sellers who have never had a dead account are not considered big sellers." However, no matter how nonsensical the statement is, it cannot match our serious thinking.
As a seller, in order to avoid account restrictions during operation, my suggestion is that we should do the following:
First, try not to do fake reviews. No matter whether the orders are placed by real people or by a system, as long as the human factor is involved, it is impossible to completely simulate the behavior patterns of real people. This will inevitably lead to abnormal account performance. In addition, Amazon is good at big data algorithms and settling accounts later. If one account that places fake orders is caught, cross-accounts will be implicated as well. Therefore, no matter how the orders are placed, it is difficult to escape Amazon's poisonous eyes. As for when they will punish you, this is really a time bomb. But as long as it is a bomb, there will always be an explosion. We often say that if you get involved in the world, you will always have to pay for it. If your account is restricted and there is a lot of inventory backlog and funds are stuck, and you have to give back all the money you earned in the early stage, why bother? Therefore, when it comes to the evaluation of fake orders, avoid it if you can and stay as far away from it as possible. We have our own operations team. We don't fake any orders, but we are still able to place orders steadily and grow our performance steadily. We don't have to worry about anything. We never have any worries or anxieties about "what to do if I get caught for faking orders". Isn't that great?
Second, stay away from infringement. In my daily classes for incubation camp students, I have always emphasized and repeatedly stressed that the sale of infringing products is definitely a black swan event. You may be able to make a little money temporarily, but once a problem breaks out, at the very least the listing will be deleted, resulting in unsaleable inventory. Clearing out or abandoning the goods will both result in losses. In more serious cases, the account will be restricted and the previous accumulation will be lost. In more serious cases, the infringement will be sued by the right holder or law firm. When the account is restricted, the funds in the account will also be frozen. Either the money cannot be recovered, or you have to find a lawyer to negotiate a settlement, which is often not a small amount. Of course, there are more serious situations, such as someone reporting you, and the Industrial/Commercial/Public Security Bureau coming to investigate you. Can you imagine the outcome? Therefore, stay as far away from infringement elements as possible.
Third, it is best to use independent computers and network cables to operate independent accounts to physically avoid account association. Currently, many sellers use VPS to operate multiple accounts, but the result of this situation is that no one can guarantee that the IP is clean and stable. As long as the IP changes frequently, the Amazon system will have an early warning, and the consequence of this early warning may be account restriction.
Fourth, do not change account information at will. Whether you change your computer, mobile phone number, network, or address information, payment information, email address, etc. in the seller center backend, it will trigger an Amazon system warning, which will lead to account restrictions. Many sellers have experienced updating their payment accounts during operations, which resulted in KYC review or direct account restriction. I think only those who have experienced it know the pain. Therefore, in general, try not to modify your account information. Even if your company's business license has changed, even if your office address has changed, do not adjust any information in the background. Amazon does not care whether your office location yesterday is the same as today. What Amazon cares about is that you have moved this information in the background. If you move, well, the system will freeze you!
In addition to the above suggestions, my suggestion for those whose accounts are currently restricted is not to harass Amazon customer service excessively without clarifying the situation, but you should not do nothing either. The correct attitude should be:
First, send an email to the Seller Performance Team (email: [email protected]) through the registered email address of the account, politely and restrainedly inquire about the situation, and try to get a response from the Amazon team;
Second, if you have good oral English communication skills, you can contact Amazon's US team by phone (Tel: 001-888-280-4331). Verbal communication is sometimes more direct and can achieve completely different results from written emails.
Third, send a polite email to Bezos (email: [email protected]), explaining your own situation, what you know about the situations of fellow sellers, your concern about the incident, and the important impact it has had. If it is an accidental system injury, it will be easier for Amazon executives to promote a quick resolution of the accidental injury if they know about it. After all, since Bezos founded Amazon, he has always emphasized in his annual letters to shareholders that Amazon wants to become "the world's most user-centric company." As sellers, we are indeed Amazon's users and work hard to serve Amazon's customers. I believe that Bezos and Amazon's senior management are not numb to this. Also, if the email we sent to Bezos himself became Amazon's "question mark" email, the incident would be resolved faster.
