New account - deativation email and asking for utility bill

[chris100]

Opened new account for registered business and tried to validate payment card.

First attempts looked to have failed....bank is probably not verifying authorization payments as address is different. After first showing card verified i am now getting 'credit card invalid' message.
Ok, i can retry with correct address of card. Maybe only just use correct postcode which worked in the past.

Already have my real home address for an active account so i'm using a generic office address.

Shortly after 'invalid credit card' i 'm getting the email ...

"Your Amazon seller account has been deactivated and your listings have been removed in accordance with Section 3 of the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement. Funds will not be transferred to you but will be held in your account while we work with you to address this issue.

Why is this happening?
We have taken this measure because we need additional documentation to verify your identity.

How do I reactivate my account?
To reactivate your account, please confirm that there is a valid credit card on file and provide the following documents in PDF, PNG, JPEG or GIF format. The documents must be legible, authentic and unaltered, and contain the required information. We do not accept screenshots. The name and address on the document must match the information entered in Seller Central.
– A business licence if applicable
– A utility bill dated within the last 90 days for piped gas, natural gas, electricity, piped water, mobile phone, fixed-line phone or Internet service with your name and address visible."

My questions are...
1. Is this a standard verification email for new account...or has something triggered it (charge card failure / suspicious 'non residential' address?)
Normally i'd expect a 'Information required' email. Deactivation email seems heavy.

2. Should i stick with my office address (creative utility bill)... or switch my residential address to that i have already used on an active Amazon account (not banned)?

[OldTom]

Happy to be corrected but during verification I believe you can't alter any info so they're looking for documents to match what's on record.

IMO it would be madness to jeopardise another account by linking the two with a shared residential address - a ban on both will surely follow.

[Captain_America]

What do you guys use for VCC on your accounts?

[chris100]

Originally Posted by Captain_America

What do you guys use for VCC on your accounts?

Real card from a high street bank. Got to open a fresh bank account for disbursement anyway. They provide a fresh debit card.

[Captain_America]

Cool, and it worked with just using the registered post code without house number?

I would leave all the info the same, and provide creative docs foe the business address.

[OldTom]

Originally Posted by chris100

Real card from a high street bank. Got to open a fresh bank account for disbursement anyway. They provide a fresh debit card.

So what address did you give for the new account? If its your residential address then the card will never pass verification.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by OldTom

Happy to be corrected but during verification I believe you can't alter any info so they're looking for documents to match what's on record.

IMO it would be madness to jeopardise another account by linking the two with a shared residential address - a ban on both will surely follow.

Yeah I agree. That was always the original advice here. Then heard ppl were using same details if account wasn't banned (though when one went down the others would be linked and soon follow) .

I've given documents in the past with mismatching info and got a second chance when they asked for corrections.

Noticed my card has been successfully charged and marketplaces are saying active. Hoping 'invalid credit card' message resolves itself. In the past you could always tinker with the credit card address until it charged successfully and so verified.

[Freakzilla]

Do you mean same info for the card address? You could use the same, but as you said if one goes the rest will at some point.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by OldTom

So what address did you give for the new account? If its your residential address then the card will never pass verification.

The new account has stealth address.

The problem is when you verify the charge card your bank wants address to match.
In the past you could edit the address of the card (or even add a new one) and Amazon would not worry if the card address mismatched with your stated residential address.

You could add a relatives card as long as it charged ok.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by Freakzilla

Do you mean same info for the card address? You could use the same, but as you said if one goes the rest will at some point.

It seems (when Amazon verify your credit card with test charge) some banks want the address to match. This might be just postcode or maybe house number too.

Other banks may be satisfied with just an OTP verification.

You have to pay deposit for all European marketplaces.
I had one email in French saying the card failed for Amazon.fr

Amount available in bank suggests the deposits are taken and marketplaces are listed as active...yet I was still getting invalid credit card message. It defaults to this page so needs to be solved.
Looked it up on Amazon forums and others have had the same. Hopefully a glitch.
I have tinkered with my card address details to try and rectify.

[e2free]

Originally Posted by chris100

It seems (when Amazon verify your credit card with test charge) some banks want the address to match. This might be just postcode or maybe house number too.

Other banks may be satisfied with just an OTP verification.

You have to pay deposit for all European marketplaces.
I had one email in French saying the card failed for Amazon.fr

Amount available in bank suggests the deposits are taken and marketplaces are listed as active...yet I was still getting invalid credit card message. It defaults to this page so needs to be solved.
Looked it up on Amazon forums and others have had the same. Hopefully a glitch.
I have tinkered with my card address details to try and rectify.

It’s not a glitch
You need to provide working card for Amazon and this account very less chances to active again since they already not happy with your setup and account deactivated utility bill request normally death of account only less then 5% chances to get pass bill request

[chris100]

Originally Posted by e2free

It’s not a glitch
You need to provide working card for Amazon and this account very less chances to active again since they already not happy with your setup and account deactivated utility bill request normally death of account only less then 5% chances to get pass bill request

Well, it got reactivated with utility bill. Allowed to progress to the next step which was the declaration that I'm not a politically exposed person.

Still pending verification so I will update in due course.

[Freakzilla]

How long did they take to verify the utility bill?

Originally Posted by chris100

Well, it got reactivated with utility bill. Allowed to progress to the next step which was the declaration that I'm not a politically exposed person.

Still pending verification so I will update in due course.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by Freakzilla

How long did they take to verify the utility bill?

Pretty quick....about 24 hrs.

I notice ( when I log in) I have no longer have the message about pending verification on my account overview page. Just the normal ' your account is under the 15k disbursement limit'.

Ok, just checked my email spam folder and I have received my 'congratulations start selling email' from Amazon payments.

One curious thing. They never asked for my articles of association for my limited company.
They asked for this in the past.

[Freakzilla]

I submitted a UTR LETTER Sunday night. Had no update yet.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by Freakzilla

I submitted a UTR LETTER Sunday night. Had no update yet.

I went limited company route so no UTR letter required. Will likely try sole trader again in future though.

Keep us posted today on how it goes. It should be straightforward as long as they still can't validate the UTR number (just check digit)

[Freakzilla]

It failed verification, and they suspended it. Fourth 10 year + plus account i've lost this year. Definitely a lot harder then it used to be.

I'm just pleased I created as many accounts as I did years ago.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by Freakzilla

It failed verification, and they suspended it. Fourth 10 year + plus account i've lost this year. Definitely a lot harder then it used to be.

I'm just pleased I created as many accounts as I did years ago.

Why do you think it failed? Was the check digit ok?

Do you think they can now verify UTR numbers with HMRC?

[amzrocket]

Just wondering why UK people don't register actual companies to use with their Amazon accounts? In the US you can register unlimited corps for that purpose, and the cost isn't that high, you need to pay a few hundred $ / year in filing fees to create/maintain the corps.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by amzrocket

Just wondering why UK people don't register actual companies to use with their Amazon accounts? In the US you can register unlimited corps for that purpose, and the cost isn't that high, you need to pay a few hundred $ / year in filing fees to create/maintain the corps.

It's extra hassle registering a company and having to open a business bank account. You still have to provide ID documents as director.

Each company will need a separate address to avoid being linked...but your name will link you when registering with companies house. Get one shop deactivated and it's quite possible you could lose others if they follow what's publicly available on the register.

The only step you avoid is the unique tax number.

[amzrocket]

Originally Posted by chris100

It's extra hassle registering a company and having to open a business bank account. You still have to provide ID documents as director.

Each company will need a separate address to avoid being linked...but your name will link you when registering with companies house. Get one shop deactivated and it's quite possible you could lose others if they follow what's publicly available on the register.

The only step you avoid is the unique tax number.

I see, in the US you don't have to provide any kind of documentation to open a corp, and for corp addresses I use the registered agent's address, which thousands of corps share (for amazon I don't use that address though). They do ask for director names, but no documents, so you can just put in whatever you want, and in most states the director names aren't posted on a website.

Food for thought, can you register a UK Amazon account with a US corp? Can get around needing to deal w/ UK Company house then.

[chris100]

Originally Posted by amzrocket

I see, in the US you don't have to provide any kind of documentation to open a corp, and for corp addresses I use the registered agent's address, which thousands of corps share (for amazon I don't use that address though). They do ask for director names, but no documents, so you can just put in whatever you want, and in most states the director names aren't posted on a website.

Food for thought, can you register a UK Amazon account with a US corp? Can get around needing to deal w/ UK Company house then.

Sorry I should have been clearer. It's easy to open a limited company in the UK. Costs £12 and no ID required but they want your national insurance number so you are linked on public record to your other limited companies.
You have to file every year and pay small fee.

You need a business bank account which can take a while to set up.

How much is it to start a US corporation?