‘Amazon seller suspension’– A three-word phrase that is nothing less than a terrifying nightmare for the Amazon sellers. With the rise in internet usage and availability, the popularity of eCommerce is climbing new heights with each passing year. Amazon is the biggest player in this field and seller account suspension can affect your business severely.
According to Statista, every month nearly 197 million users visit Amazon.com across the world. This traffic flow of buyers is attracting a number of sellers, who wish to have a bite of the profit slice. As of the latest stats, Amazon has approximately 9.7 million sellers worldwide, out of which 283K sellers registered in the first quarter of 2021 alone.
However, merely registering and creating an Amazon seller account is not enough to grow and run your business smoothly. You need to deliver quality to the customers and serve them to the best. You need to understand that a business can do nothing without customers.
Amazon knows this very well and follows it strictly. Therefore, it keeps on screening the sellers based on their performances. The one who fails to meet their performance criteria is either suspended or banned and kicked out of the Amazon family, based on the severity of the issue. So, the question is, if the account has been already suspended, what should be the next step?
Answer: Amazon Seller Account Reinstatement.
Account reinstatement refers to the reactivation of the account. To continue selling your product to your customer, you need to reactivate your suspended Amazon seller account. Before discussing the account restatement process, let’s explore the factors responsible for the account suspension as well as the practices to prevent it.
There are majorly 3 factors that can lead to Amazon Seller Account suspension-
Amazon consistently analyses its seller performance to ensure better customer service. Amazon notifies its sellers about its performance, which you can find out in the performance notification section of Seller Central. Seller performance measured on 4 metrics-
An Amazon seller should abide by all the guidelines provided by Amazon. If the seller fails at this, their account might get suspended. Here is the list of guidelines provided by Amazon-
Not everything can be sold on Amazon. Hence, to make the process smooth and clear, Amazon has a complete list of both the products that can be sold and those that are restricted. If you sell any restricted product on Amazon, your product is liable to be suspended.
In the case where your account has been suspended by Amazon, do not panic. You can reactivate/reinstate your seller account by submitting a well-crafted appeal. If it gets accepted, your account will be reactivated. However, make sure you submit it within 17 days of suspension.
In the appeal, you need to explain your Plan of Action(POA) on how you are going to improve and compensate for your mistake. Once you submit the appeal letter, wait for the response. The expected response time ranges from 48 hrs to even weeks. Hence, if you don’t receive the response very early, do not panic and end up sending multiple appealing letter copies to Amazon. Instead, wait for the response for some time.
If your POA seems feasible to Amazon, they accept your appeal. However, if they find your plan of action unrealistic they might deny and give you another chance to submit a new appeal. The probability of giving you another chance to submit your second appeal is quite low. So, you should not take any risk or hurry while submitting your first appeal for the reinstatement of the Amazon seller account.
Here is the template that you can follow while drafting your appeal for the account reactivation. Thè appeal letter starts with the greeting, followed by the most important part i.e. the Plan of Action(POA), then the final closing statement just like any other letter. Try to keep your POA brief and specific and never sound defensive in your letter, as it might have an adverse effect on your application.
The Plan of Action(POA) is divided into 3 parts- Problem Statement, Solution, and Prevention Plan
Describe what was the problem with your account. List the issues due to which your seller account was suspended. Never try to hide any issue or include any by yourself.
Describe the process, how you have solved all the issues – like Shipping backlogs, Inventory fulfillment, or policy violation. Inform them that none of the issues exist with your account anymore. Make sure you have actually addressed the issues, instead of claiming them falsely.
Along with the solution, also tell them the prevention plan as well. Convince them that you will never repeat the same mistake. Tell them about the arrangements you have made to prevent the issues from occurring in the future.
Here is an Amazon seller account suspended appeal template, that you can refer to while drafting your appeal letter.
Source: Amazon Seller Central
If you are an Amazon seller, you should be aware of the various processes associated with selling on Amazon. Do not leave any scope for mistakes and thereby suspension. Be alert with your account activities.
By now you might have understood, how can you reinstate the amazon seller account. However, if you are still doubtful, opt for Amazon reinstatement services offered by our experts. We will not only help you draft an impactful Plan of Action(POA) but also guide and support you throughout the account reinstatement process.
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