You been selling on Amazon.com for some time and have a good business going…all of a sudden you receive a notice from Amazon that your selling privileges have been suspended.

How could they do that to you?

Can’t they see you have been working really hard to do everything right?

Don’t they realize what this means to your business?

The number of hours you have put into Amazon is crazy, don’t they care?

Sorry to say, Amazon’s primary focus is not on making you the Seller happy or to empathize with how much pain (and money) this is costing you. The reason that Amazon has grown to the size it has, is because they concentrate on making their customers happy. You heard me right; they see buyers as their customers, not yours. They have done this in an attempt to make sure every buyer has a good experience shopping on Amazon. If you look at the numbers, it is obviously working.

So, you have kicked the desk, punched a pillow and screamed at the ceiling. Now what?

Now it is time to take the emotion out of the situation. Sit back and evaluate why this happened. Did you receive policy violation notices? Did you respond or take proper action when you did? Did you pay attention to the notices? Or just too busy trying to fulfill orders? Does it appear unauthorized individuals were in your account? There are a large number of reasons for why your selling privileges were suspended.

First thing you need to do is read the notification you received carefully. Many times because the notifications are a standardized  document, not specifically tailored to you, it may seem like what they are saying doesn’t even make sense. You may have to do a little reading between the lines.

Second, we all dislike to admit we did something that didn’t comply with Amazon’s policies (and many times we did comply with Amazon’s policies and still are dealing with this), but looking to Amazon for further explanation  will not help your cause. Do your own investigating, come up with a plan and processes to support that plan, to give Amazon the confidence that this error will not happen again.

Thirdly, go into your Performance notices, click on the appeal button and provide Amazon with your apology, along with letting them know exactly what actions you are taking to correct this issue(s). Provide them specific details of your new strategy. If your process includes a way for Amazon to have more control over the situation, such as using FBA to fulfill orders, this will help your case.

Lastly as a part of your appeal, you will want to ask them to reinstate your selling privileges.

Make certain to provide them with the best phone number where you are sure to be reached. Confirm all the information you provide is sincere, accurate and achievable. Follow these steps to ensure you have the best chance of successfully getting your selling privileges reinstated.