Like any eCommerce platform, Amazon has a detailed code of conduct and several policies that sellers must follow. Failing to follow this code of conduct or violating these policies can lead to account suspension or, even worse, a ban. In Amazon Seller Code and Conduct Part 1 and Part 2 of the Amazon Selling Policy & Seller Code of Conducts, you will be able to find some of the main ways sellers have their accounts suspended. These are violations like selling unsafe products, authenticity issues or complaints, and more. In this continuation series, we are going to go through some more codes of conduct that you need to ensure to keep your account safe.
Circumventing the Sales Process
Circumventing the sales process is one of the most heinous offenses a seller can commit against Amazon. “Circumventing Sales Process” means when a seller intentionally directs customers and visitors out of one website to another website to redirect sales, visiting, and traffic.
If any seller on Amazon fails to uphold this regulation, Amazon may definitely suspend or, even worse, ban the seller’s account. Amazon will not tolerate any sort of sales circumventing. As a seller, you are only able to do transactions through Amazon SellerCentral and nowhere else.
Multiple Selling Accounts on Amazon
As an Amazon seller, Amazon wants you to have only work on one account to maintain, sell, and communicate with customers. To acquire multiple seller accounts on Amazon, you will need to show legal business reasoning as to why you would need more seller accounts for your product. If the reasoning and legal business papers fall into Amazon’s credentials, then you will be able to create more accounts for your business.
When giving sellers the opportunity to have multiple seller accounts, Amazon deeply supervises all the work done on each of the accounts to make sure each of the accounts maintains all the policies and code of conduct. They also look to see if each of the given accounts is maintained to the point and oversee the performance too.
Filing Infringement Notices as an Agent or Brand Protection Agency
There are many brands that may choose to have brand protection agencies or agents report intellectual property infringement on their behalf and accept submissions from authorized agents. However, Amazon does not permit individuals with active selling accounts to file infringement notices as an agent of a brand when the filing of those notices could benefit their own selling account, for example, by removing competing listings. Any sellers filing notices as an agent to benefit their own status as a seller may have their selling account terminated.
Fair Pricing Policy on Amazon
There are many brands that may choose to have brand protection agencies or agents report intellectual property infringement on their behalf and accept submissions from authorized agents. However, Amazon does not permit individuals with active selling accounts to file infringement notices as an agent of a brand when the filing of those notices could benefit their own selling account, for example, by removing competing listings.
Any sellers filing notices as an agent to benefit their own status as a seller may have their selling account terminated. If, by some chance, a seller fails to follow these rules, their Amazon products’ ASINs will be suppressed, and their accounts may also be suspended too.
To avoid this consequence, sellers need to follow these new policy rules to the point:
- Setting competitive pricing for products with other Marketplaces like eBay, Walmart, and more
- Setting reasonable shipping charges
- Set reference prices that are not misleading for shoppers
Category, Product, and Listing Restrictions
There are some specific products that cannot be sold on the Amazon marketplace, either because of legal or regulatory restrictions or Amazon’s very policies and regulations. In certain product categories, you need Amazon’s approval to create listings. You might also need to fulfill some more criteria to obtain approval.
There are many rules about product compliance and safety that every seller on Amazon should be aware of and follow correctly. Amazon wants a safe, trustworthy marketplace and customer safety is its utmost priority.
Product Detail Page Rules
Your product detail page is where customers make decisions about whether or not to purchase the products you sell. Because there is so much competition on the Amazon marketplace, many sellers have tried to misuse their product detail page to trap more sales.
To tackle this problem, Amazon provides policy-compliant ways to optimize your listings and bullet points. You should also be aware of all the things that are not allowed to do on Amazon product listings.
Amazon provides general rules in the “Amazon Services Quick Start Style Guide.” For products that have extra guidelines, you’ll need to consult the “Additional Category Guidelines.” You’ll also need to know what’s not allowed on a product detail page.
Here’s are some of the vital product detail creating guidelines that will help you make your product detail page title, description, bullet points, or images:
- Content that contains obscenities, pornographic material, or anything else that Amazon deems offensive or controversial
- Phone numbers, URLs, email addresses, or any other personal contact information
- Pricing, condition, or availability details
- Links to divert the sale off of Amazon
- Spoilers
- Product reviews, quotes, or testimonials
- Promotional images, including watermarks
- Requests for positive product reviews
- Time-sensitive information
You cannot add a detail page for an ASIN that already exists. You also cannot create false ASIN variations or use an existing ASIN detail page for a new color, size, material, or name of a product.
Drop Shipping Policy
Amazon says that drop shipping is generally acceptable. To have a third party fulfill orders to customers on your behalf, you must be the seller of record for your products and be identified as the seller on all packaging, inserts, invoices, and packing slips.
- Buy products from another seller and have that seller ship directly to customers.
- Ship orders with
- Packaging, packing slips, invoices, or any other material that includes seller contact information that isn’t your own.
Recalled Products
A product that is being recalled by a government regulatory agency, a brand owner, or a manufacturer may not be sold on Amazon. Amazon is notified of recalls in several ways. Once a recall is announced, Amazon will suppress all listings of products impacted by the recall. Amazon also notifies all past customers of a publicly announced recall.
- Sellers must remove inventory from FBA.
- Sellers must submit a Letter of Compliance to Seller Support.
- Amazon Product Safety will verify that all impacted inventory is removed, and if a seller’s Letter of Compliance meets minimum standards, the listing will be reinstated.
Insights!
You can easily become a very good seller on Amazon if you follow all the policies and seller codes of conduct that we have listed. We have also discussed what you should do to avoid getting your seller account suspended, denied, or banned by Amazon.
If you have any questions regarding this content, please comment below, and we will try to provide a solution for you. You can also contact us through our email to get any kind of facility you need.
