April 24, 2024

catalogue

Introduction to Amazon Sales Policy and Seller Code of Conduct

2/Examples of violations

2.1/Manipulating product search results and sales rankings

2.2/Attempting to harm or attack other sellers

3/Guidelines for Complaints of Violations

3.1/Viewing Violation Information

3.2/Investigation before appeal

3.3/Appeal guidance

4/Amazon Official Compliance Help

4.1/What is the "Contact Me Now" function

4.2/What help can I get through this feature

4.3/Seller Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire

All sellers must comply with Amazon's sales policies and seller code of conduct when posting products on the Amazon marketplace, among which the violation of "acting fairly and not abusing Amazon's features or services" is more common.

The editor often hears sellers feel confused when faced with such violations. Today, we will provide a detailed introduction to the common types of problems related to this violation, as well as the common violations committed by sellers.

Due to updates in Amazon's policies, the appeal interface has also undergone significant upgrades. This article provides a detailed compilation of the latest appeal guidelines to help everyone understand and comply with the seller's code of conduct, promptly handle relevant issues in their accounts, maintain a good account health, and jointly create a fair and just business environment!

Amazon's sales policy and seller code of conduct stipulate that sellers must adhere to the principles of fairness and legality, and must not abuse any services provided by Amazon to ensure a secure purchasing and sales experience. The policy lists a total of eight guidelines, among which violations of the "fair conduct" principle are the most common and the focus of this article.

If you violate any of the seller's code of conduct, Amazon may take corresponding measures against your account (such as suspending or confiscating payments, revoking sales permissions, etc.), which may be an irreversible violation. Therefore, sellers must remember not to step on the red line!

The examples of unfair behavior provided by the Seller Code of Conduct include but are not limited to:

  Attempting to elevate search rankings by manipulating keywords or using incentives to influence buyer search behavior (resulting in natural search behavior).

  Provide misleading or inappropriate information to Amazon or buyers (such as creating multiple product detail pages for the same product or posting offensive products or images).

  Manipulate sales rankings (such as accepting false orders or orders that you pay for), or claim sales ranking related information in product names or descriptions.

  Attempting to increase product prices after order confirmation.

  Artificially increasing network traffic (such as using robots or paying for clicks).

  Attempting to harm other sellers and their products or ratings.

  Allow others to act on your behalf in a manner that violates Amazon policies or agreements with you.

Based on the above examples of unfair behavior, the following two types of violations of "fair behavior" can be roughly summarized:

Violation 1: Manipulating product search results and sales rankings

definition

Sellers are prohibited from controlling the buyer's account in any form and increasing their product search results or sales ranking by placing false orders on their own account.

case

Ms. Wang hopes to improve the search ranking of new products and contacted a third-party service provider online to help use a large number of fake buyer accounts to purchase products, increase the network traffic of product links, and manipulate search results related to product keywords.

Violation 2: Attempting to harm or attack other sellers

definition

Amazon prohibits sellers from attempting to harm or attack other sellers (such as maliciously belittling a competitor's product in an attempt to change its rating).

case

Mr. Luo sold a running shoe on Amazon Mall and found that his competitor had also listed the same product. He used the Amazon buyer accounts of his friends and family to place orders for similar products from his competitors and left false negative comments on these orders.

Knowledge extension/conceptual differentiation

Similarly, it is a violation of the buyer's product review policy. If a seller, for the purpose of improving their product review and rating, uses non compliant methods (such as providing compensation, hiring a third party to induce buyers to leave positive reviews, or purchasing positive reviews for their own products), it violates the buyer's product review policy. The non compliant seller will receive corresponding policy abuse notifications in the "Violation of Buyer's Product Review Policy" section of the policy compliance list on the account status page.

If the seller violates the "fair dealing" principle by using non compliant methods (such as hiring a third party to leave malicious negative reviews on other sellers' products) for the purpose of harming other sellers, the non compliant seller will receive corresponding policy abuse warnings in the "Policy Violation Warning" section of the account status page.

Kind reminder: If you engage in the above two types of violations, you may receive a warning of policy abuse, and in severe cases, you may be punished with account suspension.

The seller appeal process is divided into three steps:

① Search for compliance warning information on the account status page and read performance notifications.

② Conduct an analysis and investigation before appealing to determine the root cause of the problem.

③ Submit appeal materials and follow up on the results.

View violation information

Violation of the principle of fair conduct will result in a compliance warning on the seller's account status page, as shown in the following figure. Such violations will be categorized under the "Policy Violation Warning" section of the policy compliance section (path: Seller Platform>Performance>Account Status).

Kind reminder: If the violation has directly affected the suspension of the account, the seller needs to submit an appeal through the appeal button on the banner at the top of the account status page.

After clicking on "Policy Violation Warning", you will be redirected to the following page. This page will display the reason and date of the violation, and the seller needs to click the appeal button to proceed with the subsequent appeal steps.

At the same time, the seller will also receive a performance notification email, explaining the reason and basis for receiving the warning, and guiding the seller to appeal on the account status page.

  Example of Violation Performance Notification for Manipulating Product Search Results and Sales Ranking

  Example of violation performance notification attempting to harm or attack other sellers

Investigation before appeal

Before filing a complaint, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate any behaviors that may lead to violations and further analyze the root causes.

Generally speaking, common violations behind sellers manipulating rankings, comments, and traffic include but are not limited to:

  Hiring a third party to attempt to improve ASIN ranking or optimize reviews.

  The package was not sent to the address specified by the recipient.

  Request or accept false or fraudulent orders.

  Order self sold products.

  Provide compensation (including discount codes, discounts, etc.) to buyers who purchase your products.

Attempting to harm or attack other sellers, or their products and ratings, including but not limited to:

  Publish false orders to limit the inventory of competitors.

  Posting false negative reviews to harm the product reviews and ratings of other sellers.

Appeal guidance

The appeal page for fair conduct has been fully updated, with a focus on admitting violations. The appeal method has been changed from the previous action plan format to a questionnaire format. The updated interface will help sellers better understand Amazon's appeal requirements and enhance their experience of the appeal process.

For violations marked under the "Policy Violation Warning" item, the following appeal methods can be referred to:

Admitting violation (in the form of a questionnaire)

If the seller does not see the above appeal channels after clicking the appeal button next to the violation behavior, don't worry. Your appeal will be in the form of a questionnaire shown in the following figure. Please submit the corresponding appeal content according to the prompts on the appeal page.

The two common types of fair conduct violations mentioned earlier, namely manipulating product search results and sales rankings, and attempting to harm or attack other sellers, will be addressed through this appeal method.

On the page, the seller needs to confirm whether cooperation with third-party service providers has caused violations. Please check according to the actual situation.

If the seller is using third-party services, please provide the following information:

  Contact information of third-party service providers (such as name, email, address, phone number, website, etc.).

  What channels did the seller find third-party service providers through.

  Provide a detailed description of how third-party service providers engage in violations.

  Payment proof and chat records for cooperation with third-party service providers.

  Completed corrective measures and proof (such as proof of termination of cooperation with third-party service providers).

  Preventive measures to prevent the recurrence of violations.

If the seller has not used third-party services, please provide the following information:

  Individuals who have the authority to log in or operate the account (such as business partners, current employees, former employees, family members, etc.).

  How did the person engage in illegal operations.

  Completed corrective measures and proof.

  Preventive measures to prevent the recurrence of violations.

Attention: This appeal channel requires the seller to check the box at the end of the page that "all actions taken by a third party will be considered as actions of the seller's account itself". If the account continues to have repeated violations, it will result in the account being directly suspended, and it will be uncertain if there are any other appeal opportunities. Therefore, it is emphasized again that when appealing, please carefully read the content of the seller's code of conduct and implement effective corrective measures to prevent the violation from happening again.

Not admitting violations

If the seller believes that the marked violation is a misjudgment, they should submit evidence or examples through the appeal button that prove their account complies with Amazon's sales policies and seller code of conduct. The situation of sellers who choose this type of appeal channel is an isolated case and cannot be given specific examples. If sellers have any questions about this appeal channel before submitting an appeal, please make sure to use the "Contact Us Now" button to communicate your account situation with the account status specialist by phone, and then submit a subsequent appeal.

If it is determined to be a misjudgment, it is recommended to provide the following explanation

  The recent increase in product traffic/sales/reviews in the store and its reasons (whether sellers have conducted any promotional activities recently, such as creating coupons, participating in deal activities, etc.).

You can log in to the Amazon seller platform, click "Learn">"Seller Encyclopedia", search for the "Amazon Promotions and Peak Season" series of courses, and learn more about compliant promotions.

  Prove the authenticity of new orders and shipped packages (for example, MFN sellers can provide order related information and corresponding logistics tracking information to prove that there are no false shipments, false orders, etc.).

You can log in to the Amazon seller platform and go to the "Orders">"Inventory" page to learn more about order compliance.

  Provide the communication method and information content between the seller and the buyer, indicating that the seller has not provided compensation or accepted false orders.

Kind reminder: The Seller Code of Conduct stipulates that all communication information between you and the buyer must be sent through the buyer seller messaging service, and can only involve information necessary for processing orders or providing customer service. Amazon prohibits sellers from engaging in marketing related communication. If sellers and buyers engage in non compliant communication (such as inducing buyers to leave positive reviews, providing coupons for orders, etc.), the warnings or suspension decisions received by sellers are not Amazon's misjudgment~

Sellers can search for the "Communication Guide" on the seller platform to learn about Amazon's regulations on communication between sellers and buyers.

Kind reminder: Due to the different types of violations, sellers still need to use the appeal requirements in the actual performance notice received as the basis for appeal, and submit the final appeal document and explanation.

After reading the previous text, do you still have any questions about the appeal requirements? Policy compliance issues arise but the root cause cannot be identified? Is the appeal rejected and there is no way to proceed with the subsequent appeal? Quickly click the "Contact me now" button to contact the account status support team for assistance!

What is the "Contact Me Now" feature

"Contact me now" is a dedicated support channel launched by the account status support team for seller account status issues. Chinese sellers who have joined the professional sales program can access the application page by clicking the "Contact Me Now" button on the "Amazon Seller Platform>Performance>Account Status" page. Select the desired service language and fill in the phone number you would like to receive a call from the specialist to receive professional assistance from the account status support team from 7:00-19:00 China Standard Time.

I can obtain the help through this feature

All seller account health related issues can be assisted with this feature (such as inquiring about the reason for product delisting, seeking appeal assistance, etc.). However, if it does not fall within the scope of account health (such as FBA or inventory related issues, modifying listing content, or deleting product reviews, etc.), professional answers and support cannot be obtained through the "Contact Me Now" service. Please inquire and resolve through the corresponding channels (such as seller support on the help page).

The scope of services provided by the account status support team to assist sellers in appealing

✅   Identify blind spots in appeals

✅   Guidance on appeal format

✅   Discuss the level of detail in the appeal

✅   Explain the requirements for appeal materials

✅   Guide appeal channels

✅   Query appeal results

Scope not supported by account status support team

❎   Amazon logistics related services

❎   Product listing process

❎   Amazon Mall Transaction Protection Claim Appeal

❎   Brand registration and business promotion services

❎   Help with passwords and two-step verification

For the above issues beyond the scope of account status support team services, you can obtain assistance on the seller platform's help interface or consult your account manager.

Seller Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire

In order to continuously provide efficient services to sellers, after the call, you will receive a survey sent by Amazon in your registered email and performance notification. I hope you can leave valuable feedback to enable the account status support team to continuously improve and improve the services provided. Sincere thanks for your support!

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