As an Amazon seller, it’s important to stay on top of your Amazon account health in order to avoid any violations that could lead to suspension or closure. By following a few simple tips, you can ensure that your account health remains in good standing and that your business continues to run smoothly. Here are five ways to stay on top of account health on Amazon.
What is account health and why is it important for Amazon sellers?
Account health is a measure of how well your Amazon account is doing in compliance with Amazon’s code of conduct. It includes factors such as your order defect rate, unresolved policy violations, and general adherence to Amazon’s selling guidelines.
Maintaining good account health is important for Amazon sellers because it helps ensure that your business runs smoothly and that you don’t run into as many problems in Seller Central. Account health affects many facets of your seller account beyond the risks of suspension.
Amazon Buy Box percentage, customer confidence, and a multitude of other subtle areas can be damaged if you aren’t on top of it.
What are the consequences of poor account health?
Having an unhealthy Amazon account can have serious consequences for your business. Poor account health could lead to any of the following:
- Suspension of your Amazon seller account
- Permanent account deactivation of your Amazon seller account
- Suppression of listings
- Loss of customer confidence
- Reduction in sales and profits due to any of the above
The stakes are extremely high. Amazon only brought in strict account health policies in the last couple of years and they’re constantly changing. Bans from breaching their account health rules are often permanent, so monitoring your account health could be vital to the survival of your business.
What are the best ways of staying on top of Amazon account health?
There are many considerations to make depending on your business model, but in this article, we will be focusing mainly on arbitrage sellers. Here are five tips for staying on top of your Amazon account health in 2022:
Keep an eye on your Account Health Rating (AHR)
Your account health rating is one of the most important factors in your account health. Amazon uses this rating to determine whether or not you’re a good seller, and it can impact your ability to sell on the platform.
AHR has a sliding scale of 3 possibilities. ‘Good’, ‘At Risk’, and ‘Critical’. These stages are self-explanatory, but if you reach the ‘Critical’ stage then you need to take immediate action as your account will be disabled in short order.
Make sure you keep an eye on your Amazon account health metrics and take steps to improve them if necessary. You can find the Amazon account health page by logging in to your Seller Central account and going to Performance > Account Health.
Be aware of the different types of violations and how to resolve them
Suspected IP Violations
Suspected IP (Intellectual Property) complaints don’t come from the rights’ owner directly. Amazon has its own system which determines if a seller is violating another seller’s IP rights.
If flagged, they will deactivate the listings or the account which are in violation. To prevent flagging if you’re selling a product that is designed to work with another brand’s products, make sure you update your listing with examples of fair-use phrases like ‘‘compatible with’’, ‘‘works with’’, or ‘‘for’’.
If this doesn’t work, you’ll need to raise a case with Amazon and try to reach the leadership team as quickly as possible.
Received IP Violation
Regardless of where products are being sold, a trademark or copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of a trade or registered mark on goods and services.
When receiving a notice of policy violation due to an IP infringement, whether the notice comes directly from Amazon or a different entity, sellers must take this seriously and address it immediately.
Genuine breaches of IP rights can lead to suspensions or even permanent bans from Amazon as well as legal action from the brand owners.
To prevent IP violations, ensure that the products you’re selling on Amazon aren’t gated or that the brand in question allows other sellers to resell their products.
If you do receive a notice of IP violation from Amazon, you’ll need to complete a root cause analysis (RCA) and raise a case. Make sure you follow up continuously and tick all of the boxes they require to get to their leadership team to take action.
If the notice comes from the brand owner you can respond to them directly to try to have them remove their claim. If you’re actually at fault you may have to capitulate and stop selling, but you can try to make a case with them.
This is a complex issue to solve – if you’re looking for support with complex case management then check out Seller Candy. They have a team of ex-Amazonians who can help you with this and many other issues you may face as an Amazon seller.
Double-check your product sources
Product Authenticity
The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited. You may not sell any products that aren’t legal for sale, such as products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured.
If flagged due to customer complaints, you must provide records of the authenticity of your products if Amazon requests that documentation (eg. invoices and any other documents which prove authenticity).
It may be helpful to analyse your returns data to get additional insights on which inventory may be causing issues.
Keep on top of customer complaints
Customer Complaints – Product Condition
Sellers who receive this form of buyer complaint usually find themselves confused upon receiving notice of it. The majority of high-volume Amazon sellers limit themselves to only sourcing products that are 100% new, unused, and packaged according to both industry and Amazon standards.
Why this type of complaint would become an issue at all for sellers who stick to brand new items tends to be a grey area. If you’re sourcing only new, genuine, unused products and you still receive these kinds of complaints, you can try to disable the Refurbishment option in your FBA Settings.
Stay up to date with Amazon policies
For those readers who already have experience selling on Amazon, you’ll know that they change their policies with shocking frequency, often with little to no warning. Keeping track of changes lets you head off account health issues before they arise.
For example, Amazon made a change so that certain categories require you to provide additional information and/or a supplemental guarantee before listing in those categories. Being unaware of this requirement before sourcing products could lead to either unsold inventory or Amazon account health-based issues.
Those participating or looking to participate in Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) should also review the FBA Product Restrictions page which lists products that aren’t eligible for the FBA program.
To prevent issues, make sure that you thoroughly investigate every product you plan to sell and that you have proper documentation for any products you list on your selling account.
Final word
Maintaining a good account health rating on Amazon is essential for any seller searching for success. In this article, we’ve outlined five ways to stay on top of your Amazon account health and avoid any violations that could lead to suspension or account deactivation. Following these tips will help keep your business running smoothly and ensure that you maintain a good relationship with Amazon.
If you’re struggling to stay on top of your account health or dealing with a particularly complex issue then talk to an expert in operational support for guidance. Thanks for reading!
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About The Author:
Richard Connorton is Seller Candy’s Partnership Manager. His favorite part of making a sale is getting to know people and building relationships. He looks forward to turning acquaintances into long-term pals.