If you block your Amazon account, you lose any Sales rights. This means that as a seller, you lose the right to sell your own products on the marketplace. In some cases, there is only a blockage in Partial areas of the account. For example, it is possible that you will be blocked from self-delivery (FBM) and can only sell via FBA. Amazon can also block part of the product range if the requirements for blocking the respective products are met.

Important: In the event of an account suspension, Amazon freezes outstanding transactions for approximately 90 days in order to deduct any returns, while pending orders can still be shipped. If an Amazon seller's account is blocked, they will not receive the payment due from Amazon. In this case, he must wait until the account is unlocked again to access the so-called Amazon balance to be able to access.

If the account is blocked, the message appears in Amazon Seller Central: “Your account has been deactivated”. In addition, Amazon notifies the respective seller of the deactivation by email and lists the reasons that led to the suspension.

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How does an account suspension occur?

Amazon provides high requirements to traders who sell via the platform. This applies to all areas of the supply chain: From Product authenticity, about the shipping, the returns processing up to customer communication. Amazon measures the seller's performance in all of these areas. The e-commerce giant is very sensitive if these requirements are not met by retailers. Violations of these requirements therefore often result in account suspensions.

Specific reasons that may lead to the suspension:

Poor seller performance: If the performance of a seller does not meet Amazon's requirements over a certain period of time, this can result in a suspension. An order defect rate above 1%, too much negative feedback, A-to-z guarantee claims, or credit card chargebacks are, for example, inadequate seller services

Sales policy violations: If retailers violate one or more of Amazon's policies, they may also be blocked. For example, sending marketing-related emails to customers or requests for positive reviews can cause a suspension.

Incorrect seller information: Incorrect information about the Amazon seller can also result in suspension. In most cases, these involve incorrect founding documents or outdated company addresses. In addition, all beneficial owners are often missed. Anyone who owns more than 25% of the shares must be named to Amazon.

Patent and plagiarism allegations or counterfeit goods: Copycats or similar things are not uncommon on Amazon. Amazon handles such cases very rigorously by blocking such products or even retailers.

Compliance violations: In the fight for the buy box, retailers or resellers must be extremely careful when determining prices. If Amazon recognizes an agreement when setting the price, this corresponds to a violation of antitrust law, which can lead to an account suspension of the respective retailers.

The existence of double accounts: Amazon can enable merchants who have two Amazon accounts through data such as the sales tax identification number (VAT-ID), name identify the shareholders and co. If this data is duplicated, both accounts will be blocked.

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What can be done about an account suspension?

Die unlocking The seller account is a process that involves the submission of action plan can be processed using an Amazon process. The action plan contains 3 key questions to which a seller should specifically answer:

• What are the causes that led to the lockdown?
• What measures has the seller already taken?
• What measures will he take in the future so that these problems no longer arise?

When creating and implementing the action plan, there are points that, according to Amazon, are essential:

• Be clear and precise.
• Give an explanation for each issue.
• Add evidence for all items.
• Highlight important areas in your supporting documents.
• If you are referring to things, name them in the editorial plan so that the Amazon employee can see them (case ID, batch ID, return number...).
• Write briefly and get to the point. An action plan should not be longer than one page long.
  
  

What can you do in advance to prevent an account suspension?

Not every breach immediately results in an account suspension. Amazon usually speaks a warning off in advance. Experience has shown that Amazon warns the respective Amazon seller in around half of all cases before they are blocked. Amazon informs in advance that a key figure has been exceeded and gives the seller time to rectify the issue.

For example, if there are violations of review guidelines, a seller can delete reviews from friends, family, etc., and indicate that they will refrain from such behavior in the future.