Amazon Account Deactivated vs Suspended: What’s the Difference?

You might hear news of seller account suspensions on Amazon or deactivations of product listings. Suspensions and deactivations are part of Amazon’s goal of giving users a trustworthy shopping experience. The Amazon team tracks suspicious activities and swiftly acts on reports made against both seller and buyer accounts. The e-commerce platform is continually working on services and features to address issues like fraudulent reviews, counterfeiting, and false advertising.

Amazon Account Health Rating or AHR is one good example of these new features. It was in beta testing way back in 2020 and a new version is set to release this August for the US and Canada (with the rest of Amazon global this coming 2023). This new feature is for sellers to keep track of their Account Health by warning them of violations and risk of account suspension. Health ratings will be discussed in further detail below.

Amazon Suspended My Account: What Does it Mean?

Suspension refers to a floating condition, falling but not completely. In terms of contracts and accounts, a suspension refers to a temporary state wherein you are prohibited from performing as you normally do - falling out of favor but not yet doomed.

Amazon account suspensions occur when sellers are suspected of violating the regulations or business policies. Account suspensions limit the seller from selling on the Amazon platform. Suspensions also result in inaccessible funds. It’s a temporary condition as you need to reach out to Amazon within 90 days of receiving the suspension order. Once you are informed of the specific violations, you need to submit an appeal complete with a Plan of Action to address them. If your appeal is accepted, your suspension will be lifted, and you’d be free to continue selling on Amazon.

What Does Amazon Account Deactivated Mean?

Deactivation, on the other hand, refers to a complete shutdown wherein no activity can be performed. Account Deactivation can also include removing any information and assets stored in the account.

Amazon Account Deactivation not only stops you from selling on the platform but also removes the product listings you’ve worked hard on.

Listing Deactivation is the removal of listings reported to have violations.

Deactivation, like account suspension, can be appealed and, if successful, will get your account reinstated. But you’d need a strong Plan of Action and it’s best to have an agency to help you convince Amazon that you’re a trustworthy seller.

(Note: You can also deactivate your account and request the remaining funds to be transferred to your registered bank or financial account.)

Amazon Seller Account Deactivated: What to Do?

Getting your account deactivated is a hassle. That's why you should prioritize not getting it deactivated in the first place. One way to do this is to get yourself updated with Amazon news. You can do this by subscribing to a weekly Amazon newsletter like Seller Bites. With this, you get the freshest Amazon news delivered straight to your inbox!

But if your account is currently suspended, don't worry, there’s hope! Whether it was truly a case of negligence or a malicious act by others to target your brand, you can reach out to Amazon and contest the suspension or deactivation.

Here is a guide to help your reinstatement if you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having a suspended Amazon account:

1. Go to Seller Central 
2. Under the Performance tab, click Account Health
3. You will be directed to your Account Health Page. Click Reactivate your account found at the top of the page.
4. Follow the instructions: You may be asked to Submit a Plan of Action as well as supporting documentation.
5. Submit your appeal to Amazon.
6. Monitor your inbox. Amazon Team should reply within two days.

If only one or two of your listings are deactivated, check them carefully and the policies they violated, if any. You can then appeal for your removed listings by following the steps below:

1. Go to Seller Central, then the Performance tab, and click Account Health.
2. Select your issue in the Product Policy Compliance column.
3. Follow the instructions: you may be asked to modify the details on your product listing to comply with Amazon Policy and ToS.
4. Submit your request.
5. Monitor your inbox for Amazon’s verdict.

Reactivating your account takes time and patience. But, if you have enough proof to show Amazon was erring on the side of caution, OR if your plan of action is clear and realistic, you would be reinstated in no time.

Account Health Rating

“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” The adage still rings true. You need to be responsible for your seller account’s health and monitor seller performance as often as necessary.

The health page is divided into three: Customer Service Performance, Product Policy Compliance, and Shipping Performance. And you’d be able to view where you’re good, at risk, or critical.

In response to sellers’ concerns and questions, The Amazon Team is set to release a new Account Health Rating to help you monitor your account health. It's a color-coded feature that measures your seller performance based on your adherence and compliance with Amazon’s policies. It scores you from 0-1,000 in real-time, and it takes into account the size and scale of your business before any scores are awarded or deducted.

How does AHR work?

Listed below are the key points of how AHR works:

• All Amazon Seller Accounts begin with 200 points once they create their account.
• A green AHR (a score between 200-1000) means your account is “Healthy” and safe from deactivation
• A yellow AHR (a score of 100 - 199) means your seller account is “At Risk”. Quickly check the Account Health Page for any policy or listing violations. Resolve them quickly to get your points back up.
• A red AHR (a score of 99 and below) means your account is “Unhealthy” and is in danger of deactivation if not already deactivated.
• The severity of the violation: AHR is a point system and deductions are based on the degree of policies violated. These violations are ranked according to the severity and can be considered critical, high, medium, or low
• Repeat offenses would result in the violation points increasing with each repeat. And there is a maximum number of repeat violations per Amazon policy. Infringement has a maximum of five repeats, while prohibited products only get two.
• Business size: The AHR takes into account your business size and rates accordingly. A given example by Amazon is when you only have ten orders and one needs attention. Your AHR will not drop (even though one would make you 10% off-target already)
• Immediate deactivation: Please note that even with a “healthy” seller account, Amazon can and will immediately deactivate your account, on grounds of suspected fraud, illegal, or otherwise harmful activity.

AHR is a great new feature but ultimately it’s just an informative tool. Taking care of your Amazon Seller Account is still a hands-on responsibility that would be easier with capable Amazon Account Managers.

Conclusion

Suspensions and deactivated listings are measures taken by Amazon to ensure the safety of all its users, buyers, sellers, and partners. Unfortunately, this means one wrong move or false report can cost you. Account Suspensions Appeal and Reinstatement require prompt and smart actions.

Thankfully, Amazon is finding new ways to address seller-related issues and concerns. Their new Account Health Rating will be released soon. And this would be followed by other plans to be discussed in the Amazon Accelerate Conference this coming September 2022.

Despite this, Account Health is still primarily the responsibility of the brand and it’s best to have a reliable team backing your corner. Seller Interactive’s main strategy is Suspension Prevention. But we also have different approaches depending on the concern, including but not limited to Intellectual Property experts and account reviewers.  Book a call at https://sellerinteractive.com/book-a-call/W/ or call us at 1-800-820-3746 for fast and  effective reinstatement of your account!