We’ve outlined how account suspensions happen, the ramifications of losing selling privileges and what to do in the case of an ‘Account Under Review’ emergency.
Nothing can summon fear quite like an ‘Amazon Account Under Review’ notification. For many brands, Amazon has become an incredibly important sales channel, and the prospect of being suspended from the marketplace is far from pleasant.
We spoke with Lauren Sutehall, Bobsled Client Project Manager, about her experience mitigating Amazon account suspensions.
‘Account Under Review’ means that a seller’s selling privileges have been removed temporarily. Customers will not be able to purchase their products on Amazon until the condition that caused the suspension is resolved. Please note that ‘under review’ is not the same as ‘banned’. With a suspension, you still have an opportunity to appeal.
Quite a few, actually. Negative health metrics (i.e. customer service performance) are a common cause, including “order defect rate”, “late shipment rate”, and “pre-fulfillment cancel rate”. For example, if a seller is consistently shipping products to customers late, this may result in negative reviews, and from there selling privileges may be removed.
Other causes of account suspension revolve around not adhering to Amazon selling policies;
products not as advertised, items flagged as prohibited items and expired items, to name a few.
Lastly, listings that are identified as inauthentic or counterfeit will certainly put a seller’s account at risk! Selling a restricted product is 100% not allowed.
You will be notified of your suspension under “Performance Notifications.” The message may read: “Your Amazon.com selling privileges have been removed.” This may also include a list of ASINs that are in violation of Amazon’s policies.
In the below example the seller received a notification titled: “Urgent: Amazon selling account under review.”
Depending on the issue and the number of times this issue has been identified by Amazon, the resolution can actually be very quick. Amazon requires a seller to submit a Plan of Action as part of their appeal. Within this Plan of Action, a seller should display a clear understanding of what they did that was wrong/in violation of Amazon’s policies. Defining that “root cause” is an important part of the solution.
For example, if an account is suspended due to an Order Defect Rate (ODR) > 1%, a seller needs to understand exactly what negatively impacted this performance metric. This may be a result of ongoing negative feedback due to products being damaged on arrival that lead to A-Z Guarantee Claims. Credit card chargebacks can also impact ODR.
After the root cause has been identified, the seller must also deliver a viable step-by-step solution. If customers are complaining about damaged products, reviewing packing procedures in your factory, performing additional drop-tests, improving packaging quality or layering, and potentially changing shipping providers are all steps that can mitigate the damaged goods issue.
Sellers can submit their POA within their Seller Central dashboard by navigating to Seller Central > Performance > Performance notifications > Suspension Notice > Appeal.
Exactly as I described above - the most recent seller I worked with who experienced an account under suspension had their selling privileges suspended due to an ODR >1%. All the steps listed above to prevent the goods from being damaged on arrival were taken.
Among the steps taken, the biggest positive effect came from changing shipping providers! After the new provider took over, reports of damages fell to basically zero in a matter of weeks. The account remained “under review” for a few more weeks, but we saw the ODR slowly move back into spec. There is a 60 day limit on metrics, so if an account has an order with a defect, it will take 60 days to fall away from the reporting.
Above: 60-Day Time Window Screenshot
The review time frame can take anywhere from days to weeks, while Amazon decides whether or not to reinstate an account. I have seen 24 hours and I have seen over a month; the timing is situationally dependent.
Don’t panic! Think logically about how you can convey to Amazon your understanding of the root cause of the suspension and acknowledge the issue. Passive aggressiveness or an accusatory tone won’t lift a suspension. There should be an honest admission of errors, whether intentional or not, as part of the appeal process.
After the initial panic, many sellers' next feeling is one of impatience. Avoid writing follow up messages every few days, as this is not likely to expedite the review process and may irritate the reviewer on the other end of the line. Don’t criticize Amazon’s process... take the necessary steps to get back to selling on Amazon!
Have you run into an account suspension pickle? Consider your next steps carefully. Implementing the wrong strategy may prevent you from selling on Amazon over the long-term.