Your Guide to Amazon Suspensions

Last updated on June 5th, 2023

Written by Himanshi Raj

Imagine going through so much effort to have your business run smoothly and waking up one day to a notification from Amazon that your account has been suspended. How disheartening. For every second that your account is suspended, it's money lost.

But how did this happen?

Before we begin to delve into making this your guide to Amazon suspensions and start crafting a well-drafted Amazon suspension letter, it is essential to cover the basics of what it is all about and how you can reactivate your account.

What is Amazon suspension?

This dreaded term is when your account or listing has been suspended from selling on the platform for numerous reasons, but mostly because you have violated or have failed to pass Amazon’s intricate metric procedures.

Currently, there are two kinds of suspension:

• Listing suspension - is when a specific product page/s is temporarily unable to continue selling for reasons stated in the email notification.
• Account suspension - is when your Amazon seller account is temporarily suspended from actively selling and all of the products listed under it. 

Either way, this means that unless you have thought and submitted a detailed plan to rectify the issue/s or have decided to seek the assistance of a firm that offers Amazon suspension appeal services, your account in question will be not allowed to sell goods on the platform.

Now that the basics are out of the way, the next question would be, “How did this happen?” 

The move to suspend can happen to every seller on the platform regardless if they are new or not. 

Taking time to research techniques on how to sell on Amazon successfully will guide you in knowing how to avoid situations like these. As long as Amazon detects that you either have failed to comply with its policies or is unable to reach its metric levels -- upon signup or as a continuing seller -- it will quickly inform you of the temporary cessation through an email notification.

Luckily, this is not the end of the world. Recognizing that sellers are also their customers, Amazon allows the sellers to file for an appeal. Let this article be your guide to Amazon suspensions.

Why did my account get suspended?

As a seller, taking the precautionary steps of learning the ropes on how to set up your account will help prevent you from having to make an Amazon suspension appeal letter. We have categorized below the most common reasons for the suspension.

Poor Performance

Every seller on Amazon needs to comply with all of its metrics in order to continue doing business on the platform. With the algorithms set in place, Amazon can closely monitor how your account is doing. Practicing the conscious effort to reply to customer feedback, good or bad, will help boost your seller rating.

1. Defect Rate: Amazon requires less than 1%. Make sure to be on top of quality control for every product you need to ship out. Once you receive an order defect issue, make the conscious effort to sort it out the soonest possible time. 
2. Cancellation Rate: This is the result of poor inventory management. This occurs when the seller has to cancel the order in the pre-shipment phase for the unavailability of stocks. Amazon states that sellers keep their cancellation rate at less than 2.5%.
3. Shipment Rate: Stick to your delivery commitment to avoid late shipment complaints. Anticipate peak and weather patterns. If needed, adjust the shipping timeframe to allow an ample dispatch schedule. If you go beyond the 4% target, this can be a cause for suspension.
4. Negative Feedback: Emphasizing that it’s a customer-centric platform, Amazon recommends a 99% positive feedback rate. This also encompasses how prompt you reply to good or bad customer feedback.

Product Violation

Amazon’s standard rules for product policies are put in place to protect the millions of consumers who flock the platform. Before you consider getting Amazon suspension help, carefully comb through the list and do a self-check of your account for:

1. Counterfeit items: Amazon is aggressive in not tolerating fake products sold in its market. It is normal for a paying customer to complain once they receive a knockoff of the product they ordered on the platform. And the burden of proof lies upon you as the seller. 
2. Product authenticity: Used item vs. New item. If you are selling both new and used item/s, ensure that the products are tagged accordingly. DO NOT TAG USED ITEMS AS NEW. Another critical thing to note is that damaged complaints fall under this metric. Ensure that packaging and quality check is thoroughly done.
3. Prohibited products: This is essential. Diligently go through the list as it is restricted as they are detrimental to any human or animal’s being. Or it might promote or be used for violence.

Seller Violation

If you’ve heard that long-running, successful sellers do not get suspended, that is entirely false. Whether you have a profitable account or have just recently signed up, you can get suspended. Among the most common reasons are: 

1. Multiple seller accounts. Amazon has a firm stand about this, as they encourage competition in the platform and strongly disallow businesses to create various accounts and further monopolize the market.
2. Intellectual property rights: This is when another seller has lodged a complaint against you, claiming that they are the rightful owner of the product/s you are listing. Or that you do not own the distribution rights to sell such items.

Managing your seller account on top of running the business can be daunting. Receiving a notification that either your account or listing is temporarily suspended is unnecessary stress and so reaching out to an Amazon suspension expert is a viable option.

How will I regain my selling status?

By submitting a comprehensive and concise Amazon suspension appeal letter. 

Numerous blog sites share tips on how to compose a Plan of Action (POA) and even go as far as detailing their personal experience with having their accounts suspended and enumerate the step-by-step process they followed towards having their accounts activated.

There is no need to be intimidated by this process. There are only two significant factors to consider when sending a reconsideration correspondence to Amazon:

• Understand and acknowledge the reason for the suspension.

At this point, you will already have a reason as to why and how this occurred. It might also help to emphasize the root cause of the problem to give Amazon some context. Avoid passing on the blame to the customer or Amazon’s process. Take full accountability for this mistake.

• Present a detailed POA.

After recognizing the blunder, it is advisable that you indicate (1) an objective and brief resolution to rectify the problem, and (2) take preventive measures to avoid this matter from happening again in the future. If need be, attach the necessary documents to support your case. 

In a nutshell

Going through the daily grind of running a business in the digital marketplace has its own challenges unique from brick-and-mortar establishments. Between fulfilling orders, responding to customer feedback, monitoring your inventory levels, keeping up with the metric scores, and dealing with vendors, it can be overwhelming.

Upon receiving a suspension notice, resist the urge to send an immediate reply. Instead, take a step back and assess the situation. Don’t rush it. As a seller, you will have 17 days to send an appeal. Seek out Amazon suspension help from our ever-helpful account managers at Seller Interactive who have proven track records of helping clients manage their seller accounts by dropping an email at [email protected].