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Some things that Seller Performance looks at when they've got their eye on you
 

So you've been suspended once, or you've had a listing blocked or received on of the warnings to amend a listing/listings. You think you do these things and you're off Seller Performance's radar? WRONG! Once you commit the smallest violation, they will be watching your every move, permanently. In my experience, here's some of the cr*p they will do:

1. Read your feedback: Seller Performance will pore over every word of every feedback. Whether the feedback is positive, neutral, or negative, they will act on any info as if it's evidence before a court. Example: a buyer buys a DVD, gives you a positive but says something like "Great service, works OK, not sure if it's real or not". At the very least, Amazon will send you a warning based on this feedback. They may also suspend you based on this.

2. Pore over item conditions: Say you are selling a piece of software as NEW. In the description, in the interests of utter honesty, you add "Brand new in sealed box, box has some creases/marks". Amazon will close this listing and send you a warning. New product is supposed to be absolutely pristine. Coincidentally, it seems to be OK to list a new product as used or to downgrade the actual condition of your item below its real condition.

3. Read into your item descriptions: This happened to me too. I was selling a Nikon lens (just part of my hobby collection; I don't sell electronics professionally). Optically, this was a nearly perfect copy of the lens. So I said in the listing "This is a SHARP copy of the lens". Well, Amazon closed the listing and sent me a warning. Needless to say, there is no lens manufacturer called SHARP or even any other version of this particular lens. Too bad. Seller Performance shoots first and asks questions later. Be very careful how you word your listings.

4. Read your buyer/seller emails?
There is no real proof they actually do this, although, as we all know, they store copies for two years. If they really do use this, a program is likely used to look for keywords that get flagged and call over a seller performance thug. I have never been involved in anything to suggest that they normally read emails between buyer & seller.

5. I'll add more as I think of (or remember them). Feel free to add your experiences here. This is written from the perspective of almost exclusively selling software.

If your account still lives on after one violation notification, I would consider my account lucky in this day and age of Amazon. Well, while it's true it depends what you are selling, they are quick to just block - and I am not even in the media category.

I probably had at least a dozen violations (most very minor) over the years. I guess I was very lucky! Software's probably a little more lenient than the other categories, though.

I just wanted to point out that - as someone not terribly familiar with photography - I can see how an Amazon rep may have thought that you were listing a counterfeit version of a Nikon lens by your wording.

I can also understand the item condition problem. The thing is, sellers expect buyers to read 100% of their listing. But buyers expect New to be New, they don't want to have to read the listing. Yours was a minor violation, but I have also seen books listed as "Brand New" and then when you read the description, it says something like "Only read this twice, coffee stains on the last 2 pages but other than that, it is GOOD AS NEW!".

There are probably thousands of buyer/seller communications taking place every hour, so I doubt they read those or the feedback unless the account is under review. But if you get reviewed because they suspect you are selling counterfeits, then any communications to you about bad discs, covers, etc would be deadly.

Amazon cancels accounts for many reasons, but I think that the biggies are:

1) Selling counterfeits.
2) Slow shipping / drop-shipping using an unreliable supplier.
3) Bad communication skills and/or being argumentative with customers.
4) Shoddy merchandise.
5) Overstating the condition of used items.

Numbers 2 and 3 are real go-togethers. I once bought something and waited 3 weeks before I sent a VERY POLITE inquiry to the seller asking if it had been shipped. I received a response that was borderline nasty and racist saying it was the USPS fault, and what could I expect since minorities are known for abusing drugs. There were spelling errors, grammatical errors and I got the distinct impression that I was dealing with a high-school student. And not exactly one of the smarter ones. This was the one and only time I ever reported a seller to Amazon.

Success with online selling is really a very simple formula. Ship fast, use tracking, be professional at all times and be knowledgeable about what you sell.

I know for a fact they don't check all emails. It is though kept for 2 years. I still have one account were a lady accused me off selling her a counterfeit. We exchanged several emails through amazon. Eventually, I had her send back package for refund also through amazon ($499). It was my first sell. She never left feedback (thankfully).

This happened last March. Since then I have made over $1100 in sales with no feedback still. I have long since given up on this account but still sell my err....more risky items on it. I just recently managed to successfully disperse $350 to my bank account. The day it does go into review though that would be the end of it.

They couldn't possible check every email. So they do other stuff like read feedback.