webinar suspension prevention featuring chris mc cabe - 11.11.15

Suspension Prevention:Tips from an Amazon Insider

Hosted by:

Colleen QuattlebaumCustomer Success Manager

eComEngine.com

Chris McCabeAmazon Merchant Consultant

eCommerceChris.com

Today we will discuss...● eComEngine Product toolbox review● What is Product Quality?● Addressing Warnings● Understand Your Supplier● Commingled FBA Inventory ● Expired and Resellable Inventory● Keeping an eye on competition● Communication Tips● How to Protect Yourself● Questions● Special Offers

Who is eComEngine?● Providing innovative tools to

Amazon sellers since 2006● Full product suite of web-based

tools, easy user interfaces

● Help Amazon sellers manage feedback, restock their stores, decide what products to sell, and more

Leading feedback management tool for Amazon merchants

● Personalized, automated feedback requests● Numerous options for targeting and

excluding● Create SKU specific email campaigns● Receive email and text alerts when negative

feedback is received● Negative feedback related to item quality

can put you at risk for suspension● Simplified removal of negative feedback

● Product Review Management - coming soon

www.feedbackfive.com

Smart Inventory Management

Powerful forecasting tool for FBA Sellers

Suggests what to restock and whenAnalyze SKU ProfitabilityCreate POs Print shipping labelsUpload box contents, including

SKU expiration dates

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Spy Before You Buy

Market intelligence tool to evaluate items for the FBA market

Affordable, pay-as-you-go pricingEasy interfaceUpload a list of UPCs or ASINsInstantly receive a report to help you

answer these questions…Know the products you are selling

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Suspension Prevention Tips

Chris McCabeAmazon Merchant Consultant

eCommerceChris.com

• Amazon merchant account assessment• Manage client communication with Amazon• Research account suspension causes and identify/ create solutions with a

Plan of Action (POA)• Help sellers understand risks of violating Amazon’s policies and how to

avoid trouble• Advocate change in the appeals process

Our Specialties

• Amazon’s Product Quality (PQ) Team is tasked with protecting marketplace customers from rule-breakers:

a) Investigates sellers based on complaints or reported policy violations/ manual investigations

b) Buyer comments generate automated keyword review – policy warnings go out

• Team members cover suspension actions, review appeals of suspensions and assess Plan of Action (POA)

• Sends warnings for rights owner reports or complaints

Product Quality Defined

• Match all business operations with those cited by Amazon Best Practices• Assess all policy deficiencies on the account:

a) Are all inventory items matching 100% to product detail page?b) Are listing comments accurate and follow Amazon Item Condition

Guidelines?c) Are any non-branded generic items listed against brand ASIN pages? d) Were items sent in insufficient packaging, resulting in damage when

the order was fulfilled?e) Is there an item that is potentially not authentic?

Addressing Warnings

Understanding your Supplier • Does the supplier have a positive track record with other Amazon sellers? • Are they on the manufacturer's web site as an authorized re-seller of the

items? Are they the manufacturer? • Do they provide professional, detailed invoices for you to submit (as

needed) to Amazon policy teams if buyer complaints prompt scrutiny? • Have you independently verified the quality of the supplier’s product?

InvoicesNecessary Info:• Dated in the last 180 days• Volume accounts for sales levels• Not over-redacted• Supplier can be verified, contact

info, web site URL, etc.• Professional, presentable format• Shipping info (date, method,

tracking, etc.)• Payment info (terms, payment

method)

Invoices

Understanding FBA Commingled Inventory Risks

• Sticker or label prior to sending to FBA if commingled inventory• High risk category items sent in by other FBA sellers increases risk of

non-compliant product • Potential buyer authenticity complaints if Amazon fulfills the order with

bad product from another seller, while you are the one warned for it

• Ensure correct FBA sellable inventory• If no “opt out,” FBA returns ,

used items that show up in “New” condition for sale

• Policy notifications will pile up for “Used Sold as New” and “Inauthentic” warnings -- identify these quickly and respond accordingly with relevant item quality info

• Open tickets and contact FBA to ensure that items no longer considered “New” are not being sent out

Resellable FBA Inventory/ Returns

Expired Inventory• Expiration within 60 days to the date• Within 90 days of expiration, email

• Be sure suppliers send you inventory with distant expiration dates and /or verify the dates of expiration before ever sending items in to FBA

• In 2015, Amazon greatly expanded enforcement on expired products, with policy warnings increasing. (Re)- Act accordingly

• Restock Pro offers a feature to track expiration dates

Expired Inventory

PQ Response Time • Standard appeal review and response time is supposed to be 24-48 hours,

reality is 2-3 weeks• Sometimes responses don’t match the situation or ask for the same info as

past responses• How to proceed? Find an escalation path• Some emails are not responded to – the account is annotated, nothing

goes out• Email into multiple email queues to get a reply faster

Bezos Escalations• I sent in my POA -- I never got a reply• Don’t Give Up! – Escalate to Jeff• Cite the lack of reply or repetition of the same reply• Prepare a Revised POA if prompted for more

• Examine all Quality Assurance processes• Scrutinize all product detail page content for inaccuracies or unclear

information• Maintain excellent communication with policy teams – if they send a

warning, do a detailed analysis and send a reply• Pay attention to buyer complaints in Feedback, claims and messages to

you about problem orders• Identify any systemic operations problems

How to Protect Yourself

http://ecommercechris.com/

Questions?

Thank you!

Special Offer● From Chris McCabe

Free step-by-step Amazon account audit checklisthttp://ecommercechris.com/ecomengine/ Chance to win a full Amazon account review by ChrisWinner will be selected on Nov 13, 2015

Special Offer● eComEngine Coupon Codes

www.feedbackfive.com - FB5-WEBCM - 30 day free trial www.restockpro.com - RSP-WEBCM - 30 day free trialwww.ecomspy.com - SPY-WEBCM - 150 free spy credits

Thanks for SubmittingQuestions...

What are some of the main causes for suspension?

Too many returns? Late delivery?Not keeping to the style guide? i.e. exclamation points in

the title.

Can you get suspended for receiving too much negative seller feedback?

What % of customer complaints will trigger suspension?

Is there a limit to the number of times you can request to have an appeal for a

suspension?

How severe are the consequences?

How do we contact Amazon directly when it comes to our suspension?

My account was suspended a few years ago and no details are provided as to why. Is there a best way to appeal the

suspension? What are the odds of getting my account back?

What reports or metrics should we monitor to avoid trouble?

Does Amazon have a layered system in place to curb automatic computer

suspension for accounts with either longevity, high metrics, or high volume?

We got suspended in the past because we received emails from buyers with "received damaged or defective item", and Amazon suspended us because we were selling supposedly

used items as new. How can we prevent these emails? Customers are likely to send those emails, because they do

not want to pay return shipping.

Is there are tool or metric that can help identify if a specific SKU has a high

defect ratio? What is the number that triggers Amazon that this SKU is

defective? How do I know when I should stop selling it?

If I am selling a product and I am not aware it is a trademark violation, is my account at risk for being suspended?

How can we be safe from false claims from other sellers?

Special Offers● Chris McCabe

Free step-by-step Amazon account audit checklisthttp://ecommercechris.com/ecomengine/ Chance to win a full Amazon account review by Chris

● eComEngine Coupon Codes - Extended Free Trials○www.feedbackfive.com - FB5-WEBCM - 30 day free trial○www.restockpro.com - RSP-WEBCM - 30 day free trial○www.ecomspy.com - SPY-WEBCM - 150 free credits

Thank you!