3 Easy Steps to File for an Amazon Appeal

Last updated on June 5th, 2023

Written by Himanshi Raj

When starting an Amazon business, one must always anticipate the worst-case scenarios and be prepared to troubleshoot in order to avoid delays. One of the common problems encountered by Amazon sellers is account suspension. Failure to resolve this can hurt your sales, put your business in financial jeopardy, or even lead to a permanent ban on Amazon. With this in mind, how do you write an effective Amazon appeal?

Some of the common reasons why your account may be suspended include: failure to comply with Section 3 of Amazon’s Business Agreement, non-compliance with Amazon’s guidelines, and complaints due product inauthenticity, expiration dates, or negative customer experience.

Since Amazon is one of the largest and most trusted marketplaces in the world, it is not shocking that they implement strict policies and guidelines to retain their reputation. However, account suspension may occur even to the most diligent sellers. Fixing account suspensions can be tricky for beginners, especially when tracking the main reason for suspension.

Luckily, Amazon allows you to use Amazon Appeal, a service aimed at recovering suspended accounts. It also tries to clarify what you can do to lift the restrictions and start selling again. Amazon suspension help has now been made easy and can be done through these three easy steps:

1. Determine the Reason for Suspension

One of the best ways to come up with the best Amazon appeal is to identify why the problem occurred in the first place. This step is critical and requires some analysis related to your performance, suspected policy violations, and possible product faults.

Upon suspension, Amazon will notify you via the email you have provided. The letter should contain an explanation for your suspension, so it is important to take note of the details and the steps they provide in order to recover your suspended account. 

Evaluate Your Performance

To evaluate your performance, log in to your account and visit your Account Health Dashboard. This will display data regarding your account’s adherence to Amazon's performance targets and selling policies. In the seller performance target part, check if you comply with the maintenance standard percentages:

• Order defect rate must be less than 1%
• Pre-fulfillment cancel rate must be less than 2.5%
• Late shipment rate must be less than 4%

Check Amazon’s Selling Policies

If you are compliant with these standards, proceed to reviewing Amazon’s Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct to double check. Amazon updates this from time to time without prior notice, so the policies last week may be different from this week. It is important to make a habit of going over Amazon’s policies to avoid the hassle of getting your account suspended.

Check the Prohibited Products List

Lastly, double check if there has been a violation regarding prohibited products. This includes going over the FBA Prohibited Products list to verify if you posted a restricted product or service.

Suppose these three processes do not resolve the issue as to why your account got suspended. In that case, you may contact Amazon and ask for a more detailed explanation. However, you must do this in the shortest amount of time possible since Amazon appeals are only considered within 17 days from the time that you receive your Amazon suspension notice.

2. Request for an Appeal

Unlike rants that you make when your food is served cold in a restaurant, Amazon appeals are more likely to be granted if they are objective, impersonal, and straight to the point.

Make sure to begin your Amazon appeal reinstatement letter with the recognition of Amazon’s reputation. State you are aware of the strict implementation of Amazon’s seller policies. Next, state that you admit that you have made a mistake and you intend to fix it as soon as you can. Then, you must proceed to enumerating the actions that you have taken to resolve the errors, and the actions that you plan to take or need assistance with in order to comply with the rest of the requirements. Providing a detailed action plan shows that you are taking these matters seriously and are willing to improve in order to continue being an Amazon seller.

Keep in mind that Amazon goes through thousands of letters and suspension appeals daily, so you should make sure that your Amazon appeal and plan of action are short and direct to the point. You can use bullet points to properly organize your arguments. If possible, mention your clean track record and excellent performance as a seller to establish your credibility.

Suppose you want a more precise and fool-proof letter. In that case, you may hire an Amazon suspension attorney or suspension consultant. They can also guide you throughout the suspension recovery process and help you take the necessary actions.

3. Wait, Research, and Re-strategize

After sending your letter, you may expect a reply anywhere from 48 hours to one week, and then follow up with the Amazon team if they seem to have missed your Amazon reinstatement letter. Make sure to copy your original Amazon suspension appeal in your second email. 

While waiting for Amazon’s response, conduct a more comprehensive research on actions you can take to get better feedback and reviews for the products and services you offer. This will help you prevent getting suspended for a second time.

You may need to sign up for the services of an Amazon Seller Account Management to help you monitor your performance and regulate your account. Hiring a professional to manage your Amazon seller account can help you in more ways than one. Experts can provide professional and seamless customer service that can guarantee customer satisfaction. This can be a huge factor in order to have return clients and consistent sales. Customer satisfaction will also reflect in reviews, therefore helping your listings climb the search results ranking organically.

Key Takeaways

Becoming an Amazon seller may challenge your patience and perseverance. Becoming better entails improving not just your financial sources but also your perspective. This is the way to become a successful and trustworthy Amazon seller. At the end of the day, every seller must adhere to the values that Amazon upholds, which is to put the customers first.

Account suspension may be a seller’s worst nightmare, but educating yourself about Amazon’s guidelines and the Amazon appeal process can help prevent such issues from happening. After all, time is money. If you want to learn more about how to speed up your reinstatement process and how to protect your seller account from suspension, contact Jayce at [email protected] today for a free consultation.