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Should I hire a lawyer for Amazon suspensions?

May 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Working the appeals system with a skilled Amazon consultant creates better results

By: Lesley Hensell

When my Amazon seller account is suspended, should I hire a lawyer? No. An attorney should not be your first call.

It’s an understandable knee-jerk reaction to start searching for a legal eagle. After all, Amazon has all the resources in the world. In other kinds of disputes, attack-dog lawyers are a great option for companies that need a fighter on their side.

But an Amazon suspension – whether for an account or an ASIN – is a very different animal from a lawsuit. Plus, there are several reasons that hiring an attorney early in the process can actually make it less likely you will be successful in your dealings with Amazon.

Legal eagles don’t fly in reinstatement appeals

There are a few simple reasons that attorneys do not make good Amazon appeal writers:

A key element to any account appeal or ASIN appeal is an admission of guilt. Amazon wants to know what you did wrong. Lawyers are opposed to admitting guilt – even if you were wrong. They are concerned that an admission of wrongdoing would hurt their client in future litigation. But without the admission, reinstatement will almost never happen.
Lawyers make threats and demands. Instead of going through the appeals process, some attorneys encourage sellers to send demand letters to Amazon’s legal department. This is a tremendous mistake. If you approach Amazon Legal instead of going through standard appeals channels, Amazon is very likely to stop communicating with you. Any future appeals you submit would be completely ignored.
Attorneys are not e-commerce consultants. For many appeal types, it’s critical that you correct failed business processes. The best appeal writers have experience with business processes and e-commerce. They know how to help your company identify gaps, update your SOPs and explain the results to Amazon.
Lawyers haven’t worked inside the Amazon machine. Ideally, your appeal should be written by somebody with an in-depth understanding of Amazon’s thinking, SOPs and structure. Teams that include ex-Amazon employees from Seller Performance and Seller Support can provide insight and guidance that a law firm cannot. Plus, Amazon consultants know how to work multiple channels inside of Amazon to solve your problems.
You cannot sue Amazon. With very limited exceptions, third-party sellers cannot file lawsuits against Amazon. This is part of the Business Solutions Agreement (BSA), which governs the relationship between the two parties.

When should I hire a lawyer?

There are some limited circumstances where third-party sellers should hire an attorney to protect their interests on the platform:

Intellectual property complaints can be difficult. Oftentimes, an Amazon consulting company like Riverbend can help you appeal these successfully. But in limited circumstances, you may need an attorney to defeat a complaint made against your company. Keep in mind, in these cases the attorney isn’t fighting Amazon on your behalf. Rather, the lawyer communicates with the alleged rights owner to try and convince them to remove their complaint. Or, in some cases, a lawsuit against the alleged rights owner may be necessary. This is particularly true for patent claims.
Sometimes, mediation is the end game. If the appeals process fails – both internally at Amazon and externally with government and quasi-government agencies – it’s time for mediation. This is allowed under the BSA. Some sellers choose to attack the mediation process themselves or with the help of a consultant. Others with a lot of money at stake may choose to hire an attorney to help with the process.

Our Riverbend Consulting team is full of ex-amazonians ready to help you. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Lesley is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where she oversees the firm’s client services team. She leverages two decades as a small business consultant to advise clients on profitability and operational performance. Lesley has been an Amazon seller for almost a decade.

Amazon taking up to 30 days to review price gouging appeals

May 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Both preemptive and suspension appeals are lagging for weeks

By: Lesley Hensell

Price gouging appeals to Amazon are lagging. Therefore, Amazon sellers under fire for price gouging could be waiting up to a month for a response from Seller Performance.

This shocking development comes after Amazon suspended or threatened to suspend thousands of accounts for alleged price gouging violations. Riverbend Consulting can confirm that one of our clients received approval of their Plan of Action yesterday – after almost 30 days of waiting.

Since mid-March, a growing number of Amazon third-party sellers have been warned for price gouging. In some cases, their individual ASINs have been blocked from the platform. After a few ASIN-level warnings, sellers then receive requests for a Plan of Action within 72 hours. The plan is to address violations of the Amazon Fair Market Pricing Policy.

In some cases, Amazon skips all the second chances. They then take the seller straight to a suspension or block of their selling privileges.

Why is this happening?

Since Amazon is under pressure from the public and government regulators to stop price gouging during the current health crisis. Some state and local jurisdictions make it illegal to raise prices on essential items more than 10 percent during times of disaster.

Unfortunately, Amazon’s enforcement of its Fair Market Pricing Policy has been an unmitigated disaster in its own right. Many sellers have been warned or suspended for ASINs where they did not raise their prices or raised prices commensurate with their increased inputs for COGS, labor, transportation and more.

At Riverbend, we’ve seen several appeals for price gouging that have received answers after two to four weeks. In addition, for some suspended sellers, Amazon Seller Performance is sometimes rejecting the POA but not emailing the seller to let them know. So if you’ve had a price gouging appeal lingering, contact Account Health Services and ask for a status. You might just find out that you need to submit an updated POA.

If you’ve been hit with a price gouging appeal, call on Riverbend Consulting. We can help. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Location matters: Who is writing your Amazon appeals?

May 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Some tasks are far too important to send overseas. Know who is writing your Amazon appeals.

By: Lesley Hensell

Who is writing your Amazon appeals? Should a virtual assistant (VA) on the other side of the globe write an appeal letter for your Amazon account?

In far too many cases, if you hire a company to help with your appeals, that’s exactly what happens. VAs can be extremely valuable to Amazon third-party sellers. But they are typically not well-suited to writing ASIN or account appeals.

What makes a great appeal writer?

At Riverbend, we have built a large team of consultants and account analysts. Our recipe for appeal writing success is as follows:

Domain expertise. Our team includes professionals with backgrounds in investigations, retail and warehouse operations, online selling and more. Most have worked at Amazon here in the United States, in Seller Performance, Account Health Services or Seller Support. Many have sold on Amazon. All understand how businesses run in the United States, as well as how Amazon sellers operate.
Interviewing and problem-solving skills. An effective appeal to Amazon isn’t just about telling Seller Performance what they wish to hear. Rather, it truly solves the underlying business issues causing complaints or problems. Our consultants speak with clients and suss out the problems. They advise our clients, answer their in-depth questions, and work together on real-world, effective solutions.
Strong language skills. Certainly appeal writing is serious business that requires a full command of the English language – written and spoken. In addition, a knowledge of the colloquialisms of the marketplace in question is a huge plus.

What are the gaps for overseas appeal writers?

When companies rely on overseas VAs to write appeals, it can cause a wide range of problems:

No phone support. Sellers should have phone and email access to the person who is writing their Amazon appeals, so they can explain the issue, ask questions, and arrive at a solution. Email support – direct with the appeal writer – should be a given. If a seller doesn’t have the ability to speak with the consultant or another well-versed team member, how can they get answers to important queries?
Language skills. It’s difficult enough appealing to Amazon without language challenges.
Lack of a big-picture vision. Overseas VAs are typically finding a sample past appeal they think might be close to the client’s situation. Then they cut-and-paste together a document that may or may not be relevant. This is not a recipe for long-term success – especially since it does nothing to solve the underlying issue.
Lack of in-depth Amazon expertise. Overseas VAs typically have not worked in Seller Performance or Seller Support. They don’t know paths to escalate – which are critical these days. By using US-based, knowledgeable resources, you are much more likely to gain insights into your account and a positive result.

Look out for bait-and-switch

Service companies of all sizes and types pull bait-and-switch scams on Amazon sellers. A salesperson or account manager convinces the Amazon seller to sign up for their services. After that, one of two things might happen:

Some companies give Amazon sellers form-letter appeals that were edited by an overseas VA to fit their situation. This customization is based solely on the notes take by the salesperson. No conversations ever happen with the appeal writer.
Other companies use their more highly paid consultants to write account appeals. But if they sign clients up for ongoing account monitoring or ASIN appeals, those appeals are created by overseas VAs. Sometimes, US-based resources run interference so that clients don’t realize what is going on.

Why would someone do this? Simple. They are saving a lot of money on labor costs. Ownership makes a whole lot more money for sub-par service by untrained overseas resources.

The service you deserve

How can you know if you’re receiving quality service from skilled consultants?

Look at the company web site. If a company has solid Amazon expertise, team members should be proudly featured online with details about their backgrounds.
Only hire a company where a US-based team member answers the phone. Therefore, if you cannot get a human on the phone, run.
Ask where the consultant working on your account is based.
Ask when the consultant will reach out to you by phone or email. Ensure you are going to be contacted by the consultant – and not by a go-between like an account manager or a sales rep.
If your service firm uses VAs, ask which tasks this group handles. Reasonable answers are tasks like Amazon customer service messages, reimbursements, listings audits, and other similar functions.

We are HERE for you and your business! Meet our team. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

The other side of IP complaints against Amazon sellers

October 28, 2019 Leave a Comment

Many brands are clueless about the damage they do with IP complaints and fake claims

By: Lesley Hensell

The number of account suspensions for alleged intellectual property (IP) violations on Amazon continues to skyrocket. There are several reasons this is so. But perhaps one of the most disturbing of these is a complete lack of understanding by brands that they are destroying small businesses. Last week, a lawyer called me. He wanted to discuss a pending lawsuit between a past client I worked with and a brand that helped get them suspended from Amazon. As we discussed the issues in the case, I found myself being sucked into a vortex of nonsense.

The lawyer laughed. “It’s insane,” he said. “What makes a seller think they can win this kind of lawsuit against a brand?” This attorney truly believes what he was saying. His client agrees. And in my opinion, they couldn’t be more wrong.

Anatomy of a lawsuit

For the purposes of this blog, let’s call my past client Acme. Acme was a pretty good-sized seller. In addition, he had quite a few IP complaints in his scorecard, mostly for trademark infringement. In my view, these IP complaints were likely all false and an attempt by the brand owner to control distribution. My client did not sell fake goods, nor did he list on the wrong ASIN. He had high-quality sourcing.

My client listed a product we shall call Supplement. He purchased Supplement from a large distributor. The product was real, with a perfect chain of custody.

One day, the maker of Supplement received a phone call or email to their customer care department. In this communication, a buyer stated they received an expired unit of Supplement that they purchased from someone on Amazon. This buyer did not give the name of the Amazon seller who sold the expired product to them.

The maker of Supplement had brand registry. They logged into their brand registry account and promptly reported every single seller of Supplement for IP infringement/counterfeit. My client was one of those sellers, and his account was deactivated by Amazon.

The seller fights back

Ultimately, Acme was reactivated. The company is now actively selling on Amazon. But they lost significant sales on Amazon during their suspension. Acme decided to sue the brand owner of Supplement for:

Tortious interference. Essentially, this claim asserts that the brand owner wrongly and intentionally interfered in the business relationship between Amazon and Acme.
Slander. By stating that Acme was selling counterfeit merchandise, the brand owner slandered the company as a lawbreaker and someone whom nobody should engage in business with.

Here’s where the lawyer’s dismissive comments enter the picture. The attorney for Supplement brand said the entire lawsuit was ridiculous on its face and would never result in an award for Acme.

During our conversation, I pushed back.

“You do realize counterfeiting merchandise is a crime,” I said. “If Supplement had filed an IP claim for trademark or copyright infringement, that claim wouldn’t have been true, either. But calling the product counterfeit raises this to an entirely new level. It was unethical, wrong and puts Acme at risk.”

The lawyer disagreed and then blamed Amazon, rather than his client.

“Supplement had no idea that something like this could happen,” he claimed. “They were just trying to stop the problem.”

Amazon’s culpability

And there, my friend, is where Amazon’s blame lies in all this. Because the platform must enforce IP complaints, it has erred on the side of ease for brands. Simply report a problem, and the listing is closed.

Unfortunately, many brand owners don’t seem to comprehend the seriousness of making false reports. And these reports are made – in abundance – every day:

Brands trying to control distribution lie about IP violations
Brands concerned about product quality report all sellers on a listing instead of pinpointing bad actors
Brands rely on lawyers or services to report “bad actor” sellers on their listings, which often results in authorized sellers being reported as well
Brands don’t recognize storefront names of their authorized sellers and report them
Brands don’t bother conducting test buys and just call everything “counterfeit”

At the same time, many brand owners honestly don’t understand how enforcement works at Amazon. They likely believe – like Supplement – that their report will only result in a single ASIN being blocked in a seller’s account. They don’t realize that false reports could result in account suspension, permanent closure, destruction of inventory and permanent holding of funds by Amazon.

Should brands have control over their products on Amazon? Brands definitely have cause for concern when their products are counterfeited, sold past expiration dates, sold in terrible condition, bundled in strange combinations, etc. All of these circumstances damage brand equity and dilute value.

But at the same time, making false claims of criminal behavior is problematic. And at least a few companies like Acme are going to see if they can help the IP pendulum swing the other way.

Concerned about your account, no matter the size, we can help put your mind at ease. Call Riverbend Consulting at 877-289-1017

What does Amazon really think about third-party sellers?

October 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

High-volume sales and a large catalog don’t protect your Amazon account

As we head into peak season, it’s easy for large third-party Amazon sellers to be over-confident about their position with Amazon. Many assume that their high revenue, large order volume or wide selection of offers protects them from enforcement actions by Amazon Seller Performance.

In other cases, sellers have had long-time personal relationships with account managers, sales folks or even executives in Amazon’s Seattle offices. These person-to-person interactions must offer some degree of protection, right?

Unfortunately, the larger Amazon becomes, the less any of these factors truly help a third-party seller:

Broad selection means nothing. Unique selection, however, is seen as a virtue. If you sell items that have a lot of other sellers on them, Amazon is not concerned about losing you as a seller. Someone else is already providing your inventory on the platform.
Similarly, a high volume of orders or big revenue numbers don’t protect you. Amazon can get those same sales from other third-party sellers or vendors.
Personal relationships are becoming less important as the company gets bigger. Many sellers make the mistake of believing that an “account manager” – who is really in sales at Amazon – can protect their account. That’s simply not true. These sales folks are responsible for bringing in new sellers and product selection. They do care about their accounts, since they are goal based on revenue. But they don’t have the power to make enforcement issues go away. Strategic account managers sometimes can help, but their arguments to Seller Performance must be based on facts – not your account’s size or selection.

What do Amazon executives care about? They love feel-good stories that prop up Amazon’s reputation:

Amazon executives like seller-owned brands that sell exclusively on Amazon and spend money for PPC, Early Reviewer, etc. These sellers bring in sales that Amazon wouldn’t have otherwise.
Amazon executives like sellers who bring unique products to the platform, through exclusive relationships with manufacturers, wholesalers and the like.

Being a unique brand or having exclusive offers on Amazon still won’t prevent Seller Performance from taking action if it perceives your products or customer service as poor or risky.

What is the takeaway for large third-party Amazon sellers?

Invest in strategies that ensure your Amazon customers receive excellent-quality products and fantastic service with every transaction. That will protect your account sooner than volume, catalog size or even Amazon relationships.

Concerned about your account, no matter the size, we can help put your mind at ease. Call Riverbend Consulting at 877-289-1017

Working the appeals system with a skilled Amazon consultant creates better results

By: Lesley Hensell

Legal eagles don’t fly in reinstatement appeals

When should I hire a lawyer?

Both preemptive and suspension appeals are lagging for weeks

By: Lesley Hensell

Why is this happening?

Some tasks are far too important to send overseas. Know who is writing your Amazon appeals.

By: Lesley Hensell

What makes a great appeal writer?

What are the gaps for overseas appeal writers?

Look out for bait-and-switch

The service you deserve

Many brands are clueless about the damage they do with IP complaints and fake claims

By: Lesley Hensell

Anatomy of a lawsuit

The seller fights back

Amazon’s culpability

High-volume sales and a large catalog don’t protect your Amazon account

Unfortunately, the larger Amazon becomes, the less any of these factors truly help a third-party seller:

What is the takeaway for large third-party Amazon sellers?

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