Amazon Seller Suspension Guide – Authenticity Complaints
As expected, Amazon treats authenticity concerns very seriously and follows a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ protocol when it comes to verifying the legitimacy of the accusation(s) made against the Seller. These accusations may stem from buyers, brand owners, or even other sellers and can range from the product being “not as described”, counterfeit, or of sub-par quality. It is up to the Amazon Seller to prove these ASINs are sourced through credible channels and are of top quality, so it is critical for Sellers have their documents used in sourcing, shipping, and manufacturing their products well organized and easily accessible. We discuss more about all documents Sellers should have on hand here.
Specifically when dealing with Amazon authenticity complaints, the Seller Performance Team needs to see unaltered supply chain documentation, including invoices, that they can verify with the supplier. If your invoices are missing any piece of verifiable information (i.e. an invoice number, full address and contact information, a quantity that also matches your inventory/description) then you need to go back to the supplier and make sure they give you an updated, completed invoice for your purchase. Ideally, this is done before you even attempt to sell a product on Amazon, or in the case of a authenticity complaints suspension, before you send the documentation through Amazon Seller Central. Otherwise, Amazon will not be able to verify your invoices and you will inevitably fail in your case of proving innocence. If you don’t have access to this paperwork, you are on a fast track towards an immediate suspension in a moment’s notice.
While no Seller is immune to authenticity complaints, including private label brands, there are things you can do besides keep your documents in order to ensure you escape the clutches of this type of suspension. A strong, well-written appeal with a POA needs to be presented along with your invoices and proof of authorization in order to convince the Seller Performance team you’ve taken sufficient steps to ensure your items are authentic and of top quality. We discuss how to write a top-notch Plan-of-Action here, but reach out to us here and we will custom yours based on your specific situation.
If you are an Amazon Seller that utilizes Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) and you receive a suspension due to authenticity concerns, you will want to immediately request back your inventory from Amazon until you can resolve the suspension or you risk this inventory being deemed counterfeit and confiscated. It is bad enough that you will be losing income from sales and any funds you have in Amazon will be frozen until the suspension is addressed, you do not want to lose your inventory as well.
If you happen to be a Seller who received a ‘justified’ complaint and can’t provide the proper documents, we understand that mistakes happen. A lot of new Amazon Sellers overlook the process of fully vetting their suppliers when they are excited by a wholesale price from an overseas supplier or a clearance rack buyout. Though you will need to make some larger business decisions to stay selling on Amazon, we may be able to help you as well.
5 Responses
I like to sell a good products
Hello, I previously reached out and did receive a call back from you but since my situation is currently a little more complex it seems, I would rather write it out. I received an account violation for authenticity. I called Account Health and they suggested not to leave it on my account health and address it. They suggested if I acknowledged it, it would go away. I acknowledged the violation.
A week later, I received a performance notification asking for documentation to verify Authenticity. I didnt read the entire message, I figured deleting the asin would be good enough.
It wasn’t. 10 days later, all of my listings in this category were inactive. I went back and checked the performance notification and it did in fact say that if I did not submit it then my Popular Books Category listings would be blocked.
I received another notification the day my listings became inactive stating that because I did not submit the required documentation that my listings are blocked but it also stated to resolve this I can still submit the requested documents. Which were invoices, receipts, delivery orders, or contracts.
Each submission I have made so far has been rejected.
The email states that if I believe this happened in error or was unjustified to explain why and they will investigate the matter.
So since my submissions are being rejected, I looked into why this even happened. And I realized and noticed that an order that was returned the same day I received the policy notification for the same ASIN was under my NCX as the only order returned for this item.
I checked my return requests and I saw that this person made multiple return requests and in her first return request she stated
“Package was opened, BOOK NOT OPENED. I ordered one and then it said unavailable, so I ordered another one and that said unavailable. Next thing you know I have 2 coming.”
Her other return request she said:
“This was a duplicate order. And the return label would print so now I have to pay for shipping. This sucks!’
And her final return request that she ended up using to return and was under NCX was :
“This item was an OVERPRICED DUPLICATE. I couldnt print the label.”
Under NCX it said this was translated by Amazon on 04/26th, the same day I received the original performance notification. Once you read everything you can see that she was not suggesting that this item was inauthentic.
I have been dealing with this for 3 weeks now and I have NO option to appeal or even submit a plan of action. It seems my only option is to dispute.
Not only have I provided receipts and documentations. Because they have the option to explain if I believed this was in error why I came to this conclusion and to explain so they can investigate. I provided all the facts of this customers order along with her other return requests as well as the NCX where it says translated by Amazon and all I receive is a rejection that I provided documents that were not requested.
I am not sure if you are able to help me and I am sure you may think you can. But I want to reiterate that I do NOT have the option to appeal and providing any explanation to the Seller Performance Team is like banging your head against the wall. So it seems my only option may be to some how escalate this or take a legal approach.
If you are able to help, I would love to know how. Thanks
Hi Sofia, thank you for your detailed comment and for bringing this to our attention. We apologize for the delayed response here. We have already connected with you via email regarding your account deactivation issue. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us again. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Product authentication complaints this reason my account is deactivated
Hi Ankit, thank you for reaching out to us. We apologize for the delayed response here. We have already connected with you via email regarding your account deactivation issue. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us again. Thank you for your patience and understanding.