4 Easy Ways to Reinstate Amazon Seller Account

Last updated on January 9th, 2023

Written by Mark Salvania

Getting your account suspended is one of the hardest things that you will have to deal with as a seller. Should you ask other sellers, they’ll say that it's hard to reinstate the Amazon seller account, especially if you don't have any previous experience with regards to how this works. With that, here are the things that you can do to easily get your account reinstated.

How to Reinstate Amazon Seller Account

When you get suspended, you can't reach out to Amazon suspension help. One of the things that you have to understand is that Amazon has suspended your account for a reason. It's guaranteed that you will have to deal with all of this on your own.

1. Understand the main cause of your suspension.

The first thing that you have to do is to understand why your account was suspended in the first place. If you're not able to do this, you'll have trouble moving forward. If you truly want to succeed in creating your plan of action, you have to make sure that you get the first step right. 

2. Read Amazon's suspension notice.

When Amazon suspends your seller account, they will indicate a reason as to why your account was suspended. Don't worry, your account won't just be suspended for no reason. This means that you're guaranteed that Amazon has really taken into consideration the reason why your account was flagged. You can also check the possible reasons stated here to double check.

3. Review your seller information.

It's not enough that you rely on Amazon's suspension notice when you're trying to learn about the cause of your suspension. You also have to review your seller information and see if there is something wrong with your listings, products, or customer reviews. You can view this information in the "Customer Metrics" section of your seller account. 

4. Create a plan of action.

You can’t reinstate your Amazon seller account without a suspension appeal letter. This letter will be the backbone of the reinstatement process. After an investigation and data gathering, you now have to move forward with creating your plan of action.

Plan of Action: What Does This Mean and Include?

A plan of action (POA) is what you include in your suspension letters. It's a way for you to reinstate your Amazon seller account. According to Amazon's guidelines, your POA should address the following:

• The root cause that led to the issue.
• The actions you will take to resolve the issue.
• The steps that you will take to prevent the same issue from happening.

Creating your plan of action: How to do this properly

When writing your plan of action, you have to make sure that you're following the guidelines set by Amazon. After all, you're trying to appeal, so you must consider that they have the upper hand. You must put a lot of effort into what your plan of action will be. Here are the things that you have to consider when writing your plan of action.

• Clarity and conciseness

It's perfectly understandable to want to say a lot in your appeal letter. However, it's best that you make sure that you keep it short and clear. Amazon receives thousands of appeal letters every day. The last thing that Amazon would like to read is a lengthy explanation and unnecessary rants. 

With that, it's best that you keep the content very clear and concise. State just what is asked of you, particularly the root cause, actions you'll take to resolve the issue, and the steps you're going to take to prevent the same thing from happening again.

• Be professional

For most sellers, Amazon has become their monthly source of income. They might even have staff that they need to pay. You might be one of these sellers who rely on your Amazon online business for your monthly income. With that, it's very much understandable for you to be emotional about the suspension. However, it's not exactly a very good idea to include a lot of emotion in your letter.

If you want to come up with an effective suspension appeal letter, you have to make sure that you have fully detached from your emotions when you're writing. This makes everything more professional and facts-based, rather than something that's driven with emotion. If you cannot fully dissociate from your emotions, you can hire an agency who's had experience with writing suspension appeal letters. In this way, you're sure that everything will be written in a professional manner.

• Provide an explanation for everything.

The moment that you receive your suspension notification, you'll also know of the reasons why your account got suspended. Your appeal letter should address everything in that suspension letter if you want to reinstate your Amazon seller account.

You can be as in-depth as much as you want, but make sure that you'll also be as concise and clear when making your point. Through your explanation, you're showing Amazon that you've fully understood what has happened and will avoid the same thing from happening all over again.

It should be clear that there is a very thin line between providing your explanation and being defensive about the situation. The use of a professional tone in writing will definitely help in this process. So, structure your letter properly to make sure that you're not getting very defensive about your situation.

• Present facts

There will be some cases wherein you will certainly feel that you were wronged by Amazon, or you have a valid explanation as to why you got suspended. Just make sure that you have all the evidence, like correspondence, screenshots, and invoices that will justify your claims. You may also have to highlight these in your letter, so it will be a lot easier to see by the one who is going to analyze your appeals. 

Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Waiting to Get Your Account Reinstated

Now that you're familiar with how you can deal with your suspended account, you will also have to know about the things that you shouldn't do. This way, you can significantly increase your chances of having your account reinstated. With that, here are the things you should avoid when you're trying to get your account back.

1. Don't rush into submitting your appeal.

While it's understandable that you would want to get your Amazon account reinstated as soon as possible, you should wait for some time before submitting your appeal. You might want to rush into doing this as soon as you get your suspension notice. However, it pays off to wait and make sure that your appeal is written properly. Take advantage of the time that you have before submitting your appeal and see to it that you have properly expressed everything that you need to say. 

2. Don't open a new account.

It may be tempting to open a new account right after yours gets suspended. But if you're already in the process of submitting your appeal, you shouldn't fall into the trap of creating a new account. This might just be the reason why you won't get your account reinstated.

Don't doubt Amazon's ways as to how they can find out if you have a new account. The company goes through great lengths to make sure that a seller only has one seller account. They really look into the IP and physical addresses, as well as bank accounts listed just to make sure that these are not coming from the same person.

This also includes those accounts that are made by other household members or people living under the same roof. Since it's most likely that you have the same IP address, Amazon tags this as the same seller. That's how strict Amazon's guidelines are when it comes to making sure that you won't create a new seller account after getting yours suspended.

3. Don't submit any inauthentic invoices.

One of the possible reasons why you can get your seller account suspended is getting negative reviews from your customers. These reviews may be from inauthentic products sold or those that weren't delivered at all. Many sellers would fabricate their invoices just to fit Amazon's standards.

Submitting any falsified, altered, inauthentic, or fabricated invoices would merit the disapproval of your appeal. Amazon deals with thousands of sales invoices every day. They would immediately know if the invoices you have presented as proof are legitimate or not.

4. Don't threaten Amazon with any legal action.

This is one of the most common things that sellers do when they receive suspension appeal letters. This usually stems from the initial burst of emotions regarding the suspension. You might be tempted to resort to threatening Amazon with legal action, especially if you think that you haven't done anything wrong.

When lawyers get involved, it makes the process more complicated. Usually, the appeals are significantly delayed compared to when there are no lawyers involved. So even if you feel like you got wrongfully accused, just focus on making sure that your suspension appeal letter is properly written, and your thoughts are all conveyed clearly.

5. Don't contact any Amazon support branches.

When getting Amazon suspension help, know that you can only do this through "Seller Performance." This is the dedicated department that deals with any suspended seller accounts. There are no direct contact numbers to get in touch with Seller Performance. Each correspondence, such as your appeal and follow-ups, should be done through email.

Key Takeaway

There are a lot of possible reasons as to why you can get your seller account suspended. After getting the notice, you can reinstate your Amazon seller account. You can only get your account reinstated if you have gone through the proper suspension appeal process.

Do you need help with your suspension appeal letter and are not sure about how to start? We can definitely help you with that! Book a call with one of our Amazon account specialists today, so we can start drafting your suspension letters. Send us an e-mail at [email protected] to schedule a call!