As an Amazon seller, adhering to the platform’s rules and regulations cannot be taken for granted. If you compromise on the marketplace’s rules (provide poor customer service or sell inferior products, for example), Amazon can ban your selling account in no time.
When selling on the platform, sellers often ignore a few parameters while focusing on other facets of their store. However, to sustain your account and avoid any bans, it is important to pay attention to everything, including product quality, content, customer experience, shipping, return policy, etc.
Failing at even one of these aspects could lead to suspension or worse, a permanent ban from the platform.
Sounds like a nightmare, right? But, there is a solution!
Knowing which factors get your account suspended, taking preventive measures, and formulating a proper risk management strategy can help you avoid and beat the ban. Wondering how? This write-up has everything covered.
10 Reasons Amazon Can Suspend/Ban Your Amazon Seller Account
1. Selling Poor Quality Products
Amazon is known for offering quality products at low prices. And so, before allowing retailers to list their products on the platform, Amazon expects them to ensure a high standard of product quality. Some issues related to product quality that can cause Amazon to ban your account include:
- Selling low-quality or counterfeit products
- Selling unregulated or prohibited products (guns, alcohol, medication, etc.)
- Breaching Intellectual Property Policy
- Missing certification for selling particular goods
And so, to avoid a ban, keep product quality as your priority and do not sell products that violate Amazon’s rules.
If you are selling food or other similar items, ensure they are FDA certified.
Similarly, for selling any medical-related equipment, dangerous goods like firearms, or other things that require certification or regulation, make sure to disclose all the relevant information, upload safety data sheets and address all the hazardous items regulation questions while listing the products.
2. Providing Misleading Or False Product Information
Not giving accurate descriptions, providing misleading information, and writing poor content can have direct repercussions.
Any incorrect information about your product uses, pricing, benefits, etc., used in a bid to attract more sales, will lead to more negative feedback & reviews on your listings because the product customers get won’t match the expectations you have set.
Misleading information, too many complaints & negative reviews will give an alarming sign to Amazon and compel the platform to ban your selling account.
Hence, your listings must provide accurate and honest information. While writing your product features, displaying product images, or adding your product descriptions, make sure that you provide accurate information and that your product is a replica of what is shown in the images to avoid any suspension.
| Pro Tip: To have high-quality listings and unique & well-written product data, the best solution is to leverage Amazon listing services. Since professionals are well-versed with the platform’s regulations & rules, you can get quality content & listings that best adhere to Amazon’s rules. |
3. Having Too Many Negative Reviews
If your listings have a lot of negative reviews, Amazon will most likely ban your account! When you attract too much negative feedback, it tells the platform that there is a problem with your product quality, shipping, or customer service.
And so, there is a good possibility that Amazon will ban your account to protect its shoppers from choosing a product from a seller who has a record of poor performance
Thus, to avoid negative reviews on your listings, avoid delays in shipping, provide unparalleled customer support, offer high-quality products, address customers’ queries effectively, maintain inventory, provide accurate information & build your customer trust.
| Note: In greed of attracting product reviews, never buy positive Amazon reviews or ask your mates to leave you positive feedback. Remember, Amazon has strict guidelines and measures in place to check that the customer reviews on the listings are genuine and honest. If you somehow manipulate reviews, the platform is sure to take strict action against your account. |
4. Weak Customer Interaction
Another reason why Amazon can ban your account is poor customer communication. Hence, you must focus on providing excellent customer service. If you delay responses to your customers’ queries, send abrupt or rude messages or do not reply at all, be ready to face the consequences.
To avoid account suspension or ban because of this particular reason, be proactive in interacting with your customers and resolving their queries immediately. To ensure this, you can also leverage Amazon customer interaction services for quick & seamless customer support.
5. Creating & Operating Multiple Accounts
Take this seriously! Sellers might consider creating different accounts with similar information to get more visibility & sales. However, the marketplace strictly prohibits sellers from creating multiple selling accounts to prevent fraud from proliferating in the marketplace.
As a seller, you cannot use the same credentials such as a credit card, address, and email address for multiple accounts. Even if you try to manipulate information, sooner or later, Amazon will identify your accounts and will immediately ban all of them.
6. Delayed Shipments
Amazon has listed a few performance targets that all sellers must achieve. Some of these include-
➔Percentage of orders with poor customer service in two months time period (ODR) has to be lower than 1%
➔The percentage of orders that a merchant fails to complete also referred to as the ‘Pre-fulfillment cancel rate’ must be lower than 2.5%
➔Rate of delayed shipping (late shipment rate) on the sellers’ end should be lower than 4%
If this rate goes beyond the stated limit, there might be repercussions. Sellers will need to create a comprehensive order fulfillment strategy to keep their performance in check with respect to these targets.
Since managing a large number of orders and shipping can be challenging, you can also consider switching your account to FBA. Turning to FBA can help you save money and will also free you up from the hassles of the entire fulfillment process- from packing to shipping – thereby saving you from unwanted suspensions.
7. Canceling Orders Consistently
At times, there can be instances when you have no other option but to cancel the order. Well, this is not a problem if it happens once or twice. However, if you are consistently observed canceling orders, the platform may decide to suspend your account. To avoid this, don’t oversell. Do not take orders if they are not ready to be shipped.
Canceling orders on a frequent basis will not just turn off the customers & ruin their shopping experience, but will also give negative reviews and hamper Amazon’s reputation. Hence, make sure that your inventory is always well stocked up and you partner with reliable & reputed shipping vendors.
8. Not Following Product Detail Page Rules
Amazon has listed stringent rules and guidelines for creating a product listing page. This implies that sellers have to follow all the guidelines stated for product titles, descriptions, images, and other aspects of listings.
Some of these guidelines include the following:
- Do not write any inappropriate content (offensive materials, external links, seller’s contact information, promotional messages, etc)
- Create new detail pages if you have a new product; refrain from creating duplicate pages
- Categorize your products accurately
- Write product descriptions, titles, features & other listing content accurately
As a seller, you must comply with all the Amazon listing standards. Failure to do so may result in your selling privileges being suspended or even permanently banned.
| Pro Tip: Hire Amazon virtual assistants who can help you write compelling content for your listings. They ensure that you comply with all the guidelines & rules for creating product detail pages. Furthermore, skilled Amazon VAs can also help you handle other tasks pertaining to store management like order processing, product upload, content writing, and inventory management. |
9. Breaching Amazon’s UPC Codes Requirement
To sell products on Amazon, every seller must have UPC Codes for their products. These codes act as unique identifiers that help the marketplace track individual products. At times, sellers get these UPC codes from third parties or even get them printed on their own, which turns out to be a mistake.
As an Amazon seller, you must always buy UPC codes from legitimate sources, as any mismatch in the codes will either get your listing removed or suspend your account.
10. Copyright Infringement
Intellectual property & copyright infringement issues can also cause Amazon to suspend your seller account. Sellers must not use product images or content belonging to someone else. To use any content or images, they must acquire proper permission from the party that owns them.
Also, as a seller, you cannot use another brand’s logo and trademark. Hence, when creating your product listings, you must make sure that you are not violating any copyright laws.
Conclusion
Selling on Amazon is indeed a great opportunity for sellers to expand their business, reach millions of shoppers, and make better sales. However, to ensure sustainable selling, it is necessary that you abide by all the rules & guidelines laid out by the platform.
Ignoring any of the above-mentioned aspects can deprive you of all your Amazon Seller Account privileges, which you certainly don’t want.
