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There is absolutely no doubt that the Amazon Marketplace has been a hub for many avid sellers looking to take their business to the next level. The e-commerce giant boasted a total of 2.5 million sellers on its Marketplace, 225,000 of which earned an annual total of $100,000.
If you're reading this article, you're likely an Amazon seller who built an entire brand from the ground-up. You put up the money and put in the work, but now it may be time to figure out how to protect your brand on Amazon. If you're looking to reinforce your brand's safety measures, you may check out this article and consider getting an Amazon Protection Plan.
As the name suggests, an Amazon Protection Plan provides fixed protection schemes for Marketplace sellers against any risks posed by the e-commerce market. Depending on a seller's goals, protection plans may be done alone or through a professional payment plan agency.
When done alone, you may opt to register your brand through the Amazon Brand Registry, which allows you to properly demonstrate your legitimacy and have access to special tools that may help you identify unauthorized sellers or product copycats in your online store. These include search and report capabilities, brand support, and brand-building perks. If you are not too familiar with how the Amazon Marketplace functions, your next best option is to seek a professional Amazon brand protection team.
Whatever your decision may end up being, getting adequate coverage is crucial for an Amazon business due to this simple reason. The plan not only attempts to safeguard your brand but also displays your credibility as a privately-labeled manufacturer of your products.
Subscribing to an Amazon Brand Protection program might sound like a fairly straightforward process. Still, it helps to be conscious of the potential menace you might face when running an Amazon business.
It's also fair to say that you would have already had an established brand with a significant amount of exposure and following on the Amazon Marketplace at this point in the game. It's normal to gear your mindset towards protecting your business' future and maintaining a healthy brand reputation.
Amazon hijackers have existed on the Marketplace for quite some time now, and they continue to roam the platform to leech off of established e-commerce businesses.
It's safe to say that all sellers have had horrible experiences dealing with hijackers: think of them as parasites who create counterfeit versions of an already existing product and then try to steal the Buy Box from the seller for a profit.
In essence, the Amazon Buy Box is a privilege card given to a merchant who's selling an identical item on the platform. Most of the time, the Buy Box owner gets the chunk of the sale for a specific product, so it only makes sense for the original manufacturers to take hold of this card.
Since Amazon hijackers are present, they sometimes manage to get a hold of the Buy Box and steal revenue. They simply create an identical version of the same product and sell them to unaware consumers who think they're getting the original goods.
From the onset, unauthorized resellers look extremely similar to Amazon hijackers. Both types of counterfeiters attempt to latch on to your already established business, but resellers do it differently.
Instead of manufacturing a counterfeit version of a product, unauthorized resellers simply buy your original product and resell them at a lower price without your permission. Since unsuspecting consumers are tempted to buy things at a lower cost, they would go for a reseller's price. This act is a complete violation of the Amazon First Sale Doctrine, which explicitly states that original manufacturers are the only ones who can sell their products and authorize their resellers.
On the other hand, unauthorized resellers make their way into the Amazon platform through a plethora of methods: either by creating false company names, Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs), or even overhyped marketing descriptions to lure customers away.
Infringement claims can likewise be a pain to deal with if you're running an Amazon retail business, especially since many things sound too technical and would likely require additional assistance. And more often than not, Amazon won't be able to help trickle you out of these situations.
These claims may range from various potential violations, including patent infringement, copyright infringement, and trademark infringement, among others. A sly individual may one day attempt to copy all your product descriptions into their pages, or digitally trademark your products to make them their own without your knowledge.
If you have tangible proof that your brand is already being infringed on the Amazon Marketplace, it would be best to seek a brand protection team's assistance. They are specialists who will be able to help you out with your case and would ensure that infringement claims will be dealt with professionally.
Now that you have a clear idea of what the Amazon Protection Plan is, it's time to give you some tips on maximizing it.
After all, you should get the best bang for your buck if you're thinking about maintaining your brand and securing your business' future.
The Amazon Brand Registry is a preemptive security measure for Marketplace sellers to ensure that their businesses are covered by the platform, at least to a certain extent.
Enrolling your business to the registry means establishing your credibility on the platform and using specialized tools to distinguish yourself from numerous bogus sellers. As previously mentioned in this article, Amazon will give you access to tools that you can use to your advantage. One such tool is the ability to manage your business web page and any other Amazon web page that uses your brand. This allows you to take control of your products and provide accurate representation for your online customers.
The brand registry will also allow you to do initial global/image/bulk ASIN searches and identify potential infringements. This is especially useful to protect your business against Amazon scammers who may claim your products for themselves.
The Amazon Brand Registry has so much more to offer, but on the surface, any seller would already know that it acts as the first line of defense for maximum brand protection.
Hiring experts to do things you don't know how to do yourself is almost always a good thing.
A brand protection team does just that. They are groups of Amazon professionals who provide in-depth assistance to e-commerce businesses on the Marketplace. These brand protection experts may help you catch unauthorized resellers trying to steal your customer base, or even resolve legal infringement claims should anyone attempt to scam you.
A brand protection team is key if you think you're not in complete control over your brand on Amazon, most especially since the platform's rules and regulations tend to be legally confusing sometimes.
Maximizing your Amazon Protection Plan doesn't mean you don't have to tweak some things anymore.
A great way to complement a solid protection program is a well-established Amazon marketing strategy. If your product descriptions are clear, concise, and written in a way that would entice consumers, you're most likely to build a solid customer base in no time. Solid marketing means fewer chances of the Buy Box being taken away from you by hijackers and fewer chances of appearing like a fake seller.
The Amazon Marketplace may pride itself on being the world's most popular e-commerce platform today, but it has its fair share of risks like any other website. There are hijackers, unauthorized resellers, and potentially fraudulent infringement claims that may wreak havoc on any business, so it's best to be aware and take the necessary steps.
The Amazon Protection Plan is highly encouraged for sellers to safeguard their business's integrity and to ascertain that it will remain long-term. Whether you want to register your brand to the Amazon Brand Registry, hire a professional brand protection team, or simply recalibrate your marketing strategy, this protection program definitely helps you.
Should you wish to take advantage of brand protection services, we at Seller Interactive might greatly help you. We are a team of reliable Amazon professionals who may help you protect your brand and deal with any problems that might arise in the future.
You may schedule a call with an Amazon account specialist by emailing us at [email protected]. Book an appointment today!
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