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Permanent ban for having 4.9 star feedback?
 

Okay Amazon is really getting to me.

I had one account a few months ago, and was doing great. I had sold about 100 items or so over about 3 months (started things off slow to build feedback). It was hard to get people to leave feedback, so I only had around 5 or so, but all were 5 star. Then, I get a buyer who clearly did not read the listing and left me a negative out of the blue without contacting me. I offered them a refund after receiving the negative, and then the next day was kicked off for poor performance.

Months later, made a new account with a friend's info. Account was active for a few months as the other one was. Again, I had very little feedback, but all was 5 stars. Out of the blue, Amazon kicks me off. I appealed it saying that I have had zero chargebacks, had tracking for all my items, and all 5 star feedback. No late shipments, nothing. They said I was suspended for 30 days and then would be re-evaluated. Re-evaluation came, and they decided I deserved a permanent ban.

It has been several months now (finally got my money from them after 90 days + another 30 days in them deciding if I was suspended or not).

I logged into my account, and I still have all 5 star feedback, except for one 4.9, however, now I have a more substantial number of feedback built up. So I emailed Amazon again and politely asked for more information on my suspension since I have proven to be a stellar performer with high customer satisfaction. Again, they told me I was banned for life due to poor seller performance.

So what gives? Is this all a scam?



This brings me to another question. What about Fullfillment by Amazon?

Is it safe to make a new account, and sign up for FBA and send them a bunch of stuff and list a bunch of items? I can understand that listing a large number of items to start is a bad idea, but if Amazon has the items in hand shouldn't that be good enough? I am afraid of sending them items and screwing me over. Or telling me that my customer satisfaction is poor when they are the ones shipping the items out.

Could it have anything to do with the items you were listing????

That was my thought. Also, it is possible that Amazon received complaints about you that you are not aware of.

Amazon will NOT normally ban someone because one feedback was 4.9 stars instead of 5. There are plenty of 4 star sellers on Amazon with 92% positive feedback ratings.

HOWEVER, if any of the following apply in your case, it becomes clearer...

1) Were you ever rude or argumentative with someone, either a customer or Amazon employee?

2) Are your "Customer Metrics" where they should be? These include shipping times, refund rates, etc. and can be found on the seller menu. I believe you can still view these, even if your account is blocked.

3) Did you answer all of your customer inquiries in a timely manner? I try to answer within 2-3 hours, but anything over 24 hours looks really bad to them.

4) Are your items considered "high-risk"? Specifically, are you selling anything that is favored by counterfeiters? Even if your items are legitimate, if they are highly counterfeited, you will have a problem.

Amazon will usually specify the reasons your account was closed, but sometimes it can be a combination of things. Like maybe they saw what they perceived as a rude answer to a customer through their email system AND you are selling Windows 7 and P90X AND your refund rate is 6%?

Using FBA won't save an account, but it CAN help insofar as Amazon knows the merchandise IS available and they are controlling the shipping. BUT - if you get kicked off, you will have to pay a fee to get your merchandise back. If you are not 100% sure of the legitimacy of the items in question, don't do it. Amazon employees can SMELL counterfeits from a mile away.

Why would you make a new account using friend's info instead of completely stealth?

Items were all 100% legitimate. In fact, all of the items are still listed on Amazon's pages, some of which are being sold by other sellers.

Customer Metrics are also all in line. 0% refund rate, 0% late shipment rate, ect. Never had any problems. I was always polite to customers and Amazon employees. I find that though buyers can be frustrating, it is always important to maintain professionalism and cater to their needs. I honestly can't think of what it could be.

I did have a previous account in which I was banned for selling a conversion service for iPhone 4 phones. The buyer would send me their black iPhone, and I would convert them to the color white. Amazon gave me the boot (zero tolerance, no warning). Their reasoning was that they were under the assumption that I was selling the actual white iPhone 4 which has not been released. People on Amazon sell the white parts (screens, ect) so I did not think that I was doing anything wrong since I was also selling the parts in addition to the service of installing them.

However, this account had nothing of that nature listed.

I would never ever do FBA. Thinka about it. You send amazon all your inventory and they ship it for you. At any given time they can can your account and keep your stuff.FBA does not cement your selling acccount. Remember amazon themselves are screwing sellers out of their funds why would you send your merchandise to a bunch of crooks. Another thing is i know for a fact that amazon is buying from third party sellers and re selling the merchandise!! That is how they roll.. secret shoppers .. Just go stealth and keep your merchandise in your possession..

perhaps a competitor, with alot of pull, reported you for some reason. Even if your merchandise is 100% legit, if you are an unproven seller, they may suspect knockoff, and that is enough to get you the boot.

Just create another account, and move on. Dont lose your sanity trying to figure out why Amazon doesn't love you anymore. F them, and open 5 more accounts.

[QUOTE=beaches;206844]I would never ever do FBA. Thinka about it. You send amazon all your inventory and they ship it for you. At any given time they can can your account and keep your stuff.FBA does not cement your selling acccount. Remember amazon themselves are screwing sellers out of their funds why would you send your merchandise to a bunch of crooks. Another thing is i know for a fact that amazon is buying from third party sellers and re selling the merchandise!! That is how they roll.. secret shoppers .. Just go stealth and keep your merchandise in your possession

Can they legally keep your stuff though?

The thing that atrracts me to FBA is that first of all I could ship stock straight from my suppliers to Amz. Secondly, you can market your goods much easier with FBA because sites like deal forums don't allow you to post marketplace deals, but if it's FBA then it's allowed, that can send you alot of traffic.

Maybe instead of sending all that you want to FBA for one Amz account, you can break it into parts and spread it over a few accounts to lessen the risk

Can they legally keep your stuff though?

Legally? You're talking a huge corporation. You are a small fish who likely can't afford to hire legal counsel. These big companies know this. Once in a while they screw over the wrong person and get too much attention over their slimy policies, but usually these companies get to screw people and keep a low profile.

They don't just keep your stuff. They will send it back to you for a per-item handling charge. If it is COUNTERFEIT, however, they can turn it over to Customs to be destroyed.