Many Amazon sellers are blindsided when a top-selling item in their store was suspended or their account was deactivated. If Amazon informs you that a profitable product is suspended or your account deactivated, you may have questions. “What do I do?” you may be wondering. You will need to develop a Plan of Action. Filing an appeal is how you can get your product or account reinstated. 

Let’s take a close look at why suspension or deactivation occurs.

Amazon notifies sellers of suspension by sending an email. The notification of suspension from Amazon usually describes the reason and states what might happen if you are unable to submit a successful appeal. Notification of suspension is also found in the Performance Notification section of your account. You may want to cross-reference the notification in the Performance Notification section with any email you receive from Amazon to ensure its authenticity. Beware of any phishing or suspicious communication from outside entities that are not Amazon. 

The reason Amazon provides for the suspension or deactivation may not be specific. The responsibility is on sellers to determine the exact reason for a suspension or deactivation. You may find the reason by either checking the content you have listed, customer complaints and/or reasons for returns, or the suppliers you use. 

Amazon Suspended Account – How to Respond

If Amazon suspends your account, you are temporarily unable to sell products on the platform. For the duration of a suspension, you are prevented from listing new goods and selling existing products. However, you should still be able to access your account to chat with buyers, look at orders, and address any possible issues with your account’s performance. If Amazon deems an account a risk (to the platform, buyers, or sellers), then the seller will be signed out of their account, and in this case, they may not be reinstated. 

Policy violations, sale of prohibited products, and issues with performance are among the most often-cited reasons for Amazon account suspension. Following a suspension, Amazon will hold all funds in your account for 90 days. The company will then notify you that you have 90 days to reinstate your account. If a seller fails to successfully reinstate their suspended account, they may not receive the frozen funds. If a seller does not want to submit an appeal or continue selling on Amazon, their account could be permanently deactivated. Taking action as quickly as possible, with the help and guidance of an attorney, is usually the best option. Submit your appeal well in advance to avoid a permanent deactivation or loss of funds in your account. 

Drafting a Plan of Action

When Amazon suspends an account, they may simply require a Plan of Action to achieve reinstatement. The platform usually also requires a supply chain document to be submitted with your Plan of Action. A temporary suspension is turned into a permanent deactivation if and/or when Amazon does not accept the material or documents you submitted. Amazon gives sellers 17 days after the company sent the notice of suspension to submit an appeal letter. Basically, you have 17 days to compose and submit your Plan of Action. While Amazon states they may respond to your appeal within 48 hours of its submission, it could take 60 days to receive their decision. A well-written suspension appeal letter is the key to getting your account reinstated. 

If a seller fails to submit a proper appeal and/or the necessary documentation to give Amazon justification for disbursement of the frozen funds, the seller may not get their money. You are required to give Amazon documentation that proves your inventory sourcing is legitimate, such as invoices. Nevertheless, a suspended account is not a lost cause. Often, the primary requirement is the submission of a Plan of Action. Amazon may also require other forms of proof to reinstate your account – be sure to carefully read the notification you have received. 

What to Include in Your Plan of Action…

What should I include in my Plan or Action letter? 

A Plan of Action letter should contain the following elements: 

• A direct statement that identifies the issue that resulted in the account suspension.

• An explanation that conveys the seller’s understanding of the issue and its cause, with an analysis of how the seller’s operation engaged in wrongdoing. 

• A detailed description of the actions the seller took to correct the issue at hand. A promise will not be enough. The seller must demonstrate proof of their corrective actions in their description. 

• Relay a strategy for avoiding and preventing issues going forward. Amazon wants to know about any procedural or processing changes the seller has made to diminish the possibility of a repeat offense. 

We wish to emphasize that Amazon usually does not approve reinstatement when the seller submits an insufficient appeal. If the Amazon Seller Performance team does not accept a Plan of Action, the account will continue to be suspended. Not only that, it can make resolution of the suspension more difficult. 

Lower the Risk of Amazon Suspensions

It is a good idea in general to thoroughly examine your Account Health dashboard and respond to any outstanding notifications to lower risk of a suspension. If Amazon has requested a Plan of Action, stick to the structure outlined above. Write as clearly and as  succinctly possible. Adding any language that is emotionally-charged or irrelevant will not help your appeal. You do not need to include any kind of history of your success or your personal opinion about the Amazon marketplace. Be very specific and insert examples of the ASIN that caused each issue. Break down your appeal into a numbered or bulleted list, aside from an introduction and conclusion paragraph, and limit the length to one or two pages, at most.  

An Amazon suspension could last several hours, days, or even weeks. The time is influenced by how quickly or slowly a seller responds with an appropriate Plan of Action. If a seller does not submit a quality appeal, they will have to go through the process all over again. 

Amazon’s Account Health Services can deny sellers’ Plan of Action repeatedly and give different reasons each time. They can also ask sellers for “greater details” without much information regarding the context. Amazon sometimes sends sellers several denials that ask for the same documentation, even if it was already submitted. If a seller facing this situation continues to send in the same documentation or an excessive amount of emails, Amazon may ignore them. This will extend the duration of the suspension. 

Filing an Arbitration, Escalating Request

If a seller submits a proper Plan of Action and does not get a response from Amazon in a timely fashion, they can escalate their concern to upper management. The request to escalate the concern regarding an appeal to upper management must be sent from the email address tied to the seller’s Amazon account. That request must be professional and contain relevant information. Sellers should not send spam-type emails to various Amazon email addresses to escalate their concerns. 

Sellers may want to create another Amazon account if they are permanently deactivated. It is generally not a good idea. Amazon regularly locates and suspends current accounts associated with deactivated ones. Doing this is a violation of Amazon’s policies. 

A seller may wish to retain an attorney to file an arbitration case against Amazon, rather than submitting an appeal for reinstatement. While that is an option, it may not make financial sense if the amount the seller is seeking to get from their account is less than $100,000. If the funds in a suspended account are less than $100,000, the best avenue for recovery of that money is to submit an appeal for reinstatement. Sellers who do not go forth with an appeal may not get the money in their suspended account. 

Preventing Amazon Suspensions

The following are the best ways to prevent Amazon suspensions: 

• Keep your metrics inside the appropriate range, according to Amazon. Ship orders efficiently, do not cancel orders unless necessary, receive positive reviews. Have a procedure in place to absorb any possible operational hiccups so you can continue to maintain your account health. 

• Be sure that you are in compliance with all relevant intellectual property rights. If appropriate, register patents, copyrights, and/or trademarks. When selling brands other than your own, obtain a licensing agreement or proper authorization to sell those goods. Intellectual property infringement claims are common, so have the necessary documentation and authority to defend your business if that occurs. 

• Write effective appeals in response to any notifications or violations sent to you by Amazon. Compose a proper Plan of Action and submit the correct documentation. 

• Maintain high standards of quality control for your products. If a product is defective, address the customer’s concern immediately. Test the products you sell. Any issues with your Amazon account’s quality should be addressed sooner rather than later. 

• Stay informed about Amazon’s policies and any related updates or changes to those policies. 

• If a particular ASIN is regularly flagged, remove that listing. 

• Be sure you have documentation related to your supply chain and be ready to show those documents to Amazon, if requested. The supplier must be authentic and credible. 

• Protect the security of your Amazon account by limiting access to authorized persons only. 

Stockman & Poropat, PLLC Can Help Reach Resolution

Our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC is passionate about protecting your Amazon business interests and intellectual property rights. If your Amazon account was suspended or deactivated for any reason, contact us to discuss your options for resolution. The importance of crafting an effective Plan of Action cannot be understated. Our firm has successfully achieved a large number of account reinstatements, as well as resolved hundreds of suits filed against Amazon sellers for infringement claims. Let us help you take care of your Amazon seller issues today!

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