Amazon Appeal - How to Write an Effective Amazon Appeal to Reinstate Product Listing

The purpose of this blog post is to share how to write an effective Amazon appeal to reinstate a product listing or account suspension. As an Amazon seller, it can be devastating for your business for a product listing to be removed from the Amazon marketplace or you receive an account suspension, as you cannot generate any sales. It is important to understand the reason that a listing goes down, the actions you should take to reinstate the listing and ensuring you are compliant with Amazon policies. Amazon has been being more aggressive in assigning policy violations in order to build a more trusted marketplace for Amazon sellers. So yes, it may be frustrating when your listing goes down and you need to write an appeal; but know that the actions taken by Amazon are increasing the level of trust with Amazon customers so that they can make a purchase knowing that the product they receive is safe, and complies with regulations and policies designed to protect customers.

At Goat Consulting, we help brands and manufactures understand and navigate Amazon policies to proactively address any potential issues. If a listing is removed, we understand the appropriate actions to reinstate an Amazon listing or account suspension that satisfies Amazon’s requirements for selling, inform clients of the requirements, and ultimately create a better shopping experience for Amazon customers. As each product and category is different, we recommend you take some time to review Amazon’s policies to understand the exact use and application that fits your situation.

Amazon Policy Violations and Situations that Require Amazon Appeal

It is important to know when it is required to address a violation in an Amazon policy. Violations can occur on both a product listing level, and an Amazon account level. All Amazon Appeals or plan of actions are due to not creating a marketplace that is in the best interest of the end Amazon customer. In a previous post, we outline how you as a seller get notified that there has been an Amazon policy violation. The three most common reasons why an Amazon Appeal would be required include:

• Customer Service Performance - Not adhering to Amazon performance standards as it relates to customer service performance can result in a suspension of your account. The main metric driving this is the order defect rate metric, or a percentage of bad customer experiences. Order defect rate consists of issues from negative feedback, A-to-z Guarantee claims, and chargeback claims

• Policy Compliance - failing to follow Amazon policies can result in a removal of your product listing or an account suspension. Here are several policy violations that can occur: Suspected Intellectual Property Violations, Received Intellectual Property Complaints, Product Authenticity Customer Complaints, Product Condition Customer Complaints, Food and Product Safety Issues, Listing Policy Violations, Restricted Product Policy Violations, Customer Product Reviews Policy Violations. 

• Shipping Performance - Shipping products in a timely manner that aligns with Amazon customer expectations is vital for a successful selling experience. Issues related to shipping include: late shipments, pre-fulfillment cancel rate, and not having valid tracking.

Complying with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies will prevent the need for an Amazon Appeal. Failure to do so can require an Amazon Appeal and plan of action.

How to Write an Effective Amazon Appeal and Plan of Action

The first thing to do when you receive a notification of restricted products removal is to ensure that your product complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies. If it does not, then you must close, delete, or archive your listing. If you feel that your product is compliant and the restriction should be lifted, you can submit evidence and documentation with an Amazon appeal or plan of action. For each specific case, refer to the instructions provided in the Performance Notification section and Account Health section for specific steps. Generally speaking, here are the main aspects of writing an Amazon Appeal and Plan of Action:

• Identify the root cause or problem that led to account deactivation or product listing removal

• Explain the actions you have taken to resolve the issue

• Provide a solution so the issue will not happen again moving forward

Here are some general best practices for writing an effective amazon appeal and plan of action:

• Be clear and concise in a direct and factual manner. Put yourself in the shoes of the Amazon safety team

• Provide an explanation of all the issues, as there may be more than one reason why the issue has occurred

• Include supporting evidence and highlight the specific policies that were not followed products under review, and ensure that they are relevant and timely to the provided issue

• Do not follow a template, instead consider each situation and violation

• Provide both short term action that has been taken and long term solutions to prevent issues like this happening again

• Be flexible and compliant to Amazon’s requests for information and action during their review of your Appeal. 

Here is a video from Amazon outlining tips for createing an effective plan of action

Conclusion

We hope that after reading this post you have a better understanding of how to write an effective Amazon Appeal. Again, review Amazon’s policies to understand the exact use and application that fits your situation. By complying with Amazon policies and all applicable laws and regulations, you help maintain a marketplace that is safe for buyers. Raising the bar on the marketplace will drive more shoppers and repeat purchases to Amazon and your products. Though we can’t write the appeal for you, if you need help understanding a policy violation or a recommendation on how to address selling concerns, please reach out to us.

Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal

This post is about what to do when you as an Amazon seller receive an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal. You could be selling on Amazon with no issues for months and years when all of a sudden you receive an email with the subject line “Notification of Restricted Products Removal”, where Amazon is telling you that your product has been removed from Amazon’s site and is no longer available for sale. This can be devastating because if your listing is down, then you can’t generate any sales. At Goat Consulting, we help clients mitigate these restricted product risks and help resolve account health issues when they arise. This post calls out certain items from Amazon’s policies, but you should thoroughly review each Restricted Product Policy Notification yourself to understand the exact issue and policy that is in violation. Here we outline what an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal is, how to know you have received a restricted products removal, and steps to reinstate your product listing.

What is an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal

An Amazon notification of restricted products removal is a notification that your selling account has violated an Amazon policy for selling or listing a product on Amazon. Amazon has policies in place so they can create a marketplace that customers can trust and buy with confidence. They consistently monitor the listings to ensure that listings contain products or information that complies with all laws and regulations. It is your responsibility as a seller to list and merchandise products that are compliant with Amazon policies, or you will receive an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal. 

How to Know you Have Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal 

There are several ways to know that your product has received an Amazon notification of restricted products removal.

Email From Amazon Regarding Restricted Product Removal

Amazon will send an email of a notification that the detail page has been removed. This email will contain important information about what product is in violation (ASIN, SKU, title identification), why the product is in violation, actions required by the seller, links to applicable Amazon policies, and steps to take to resolve the issue. This email is sent to the email addresses that are added to Settings > Notification Preferences > Brand Health Notification Preferences and selected Brand Health Notification. This can be sent via email or SMS. In our experience, you will receive this email almost immediately after the listing is removed from the catalog. 

Seller Central Performance Notifications

Hovering over Performance and selecting Performance Notifications, within your Amazon Seller Central Account, will bring you to a page that lists all of the alerts regarding account health. This includes notifications around restricted products removal and contains the same information provided in the email notification. In our experience, the performance notification will display in your account almost immediately after the listing is removed from the catalog.

Policy Compliance in Account Health

In Seller Central, selecting Performance > Account Health, there is a module titled “Policy Compliance”. This contains a list of policy compliance issues, with one of them being Restricted Product Policy Violations. Selecting that shows a list of the history of restricted policy violations. This page shows the date the issue was identified, ASINs that were impacted, the action that has been taken, and next steps for resolving the issue. This is the page that is used to take action to reinstate your listing after you have received an Amazon notification of restricted products removal. In our experience, the Account Health Dashboard will be updated with the violation, approximately 24 hours after the listing is removed from the Catalog.

Amazon Product Listing Page Not Found

The most obvious alert that there is an issue with your listing, is that it no longer exists on Amazon. When you visit the product listing page, you are shown a picture of a dog with a title stating “Sorry, we couldn’t find that page. Try searching or go to Amazon’s homepage.” and the Status column for that product on your Manage Inventory page may say “Detail Page Removed”. This is an indication that Amazon has removed your product listing and could be an indication that you have violated an Amazon policy.

Steps to Reinstate Listing After Receiving an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal

First and foremost, you need to ensure that your product complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies. if it does not, then you must close, delete, or archive your listing. If your product is compliant, and you feel that your product is permitted for sale then you can provide evidence and documentation to reinstate the listing in the form of an appeal or plan of action. The goal with a plan of action is to provide Amazon with the confidence that you will and have addressed the issue to help Amazon make a reinstatement decision based on your listing by considering a holistic perspective of your specific situation.

Here are the steps to take to reinstate your listing after receiving an Amazon notification of restricted products removal:

1. Close your listing

2. Understand the Issue - Review the original Performance Notification to confirm which changes need to be made on your listing

3. Read the Restricted Products Policy - Ensure that your product complies with all laws and regulations and Amazon policies

4. Review all ASINs that were removed for Restricted Product Policy Violations - you are able to provide an appeal for multiple ASINs at one time

5. Provide reason for appeal and documentation to request reinstatement

This appeal should outline the cause of the performance notification and what was done to resolve any issues to be compliant with Amazon’s policies. You can add additional documentation including images and PDFs to support your case. Once submitted, it may take Amazon up to 7 days to review and reinstate your product listing.

Conclusion of Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal

When your product listing goes down due to an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal policy violation, it can be a stressful event as your sales are completely cut off until resolved. Amazon is striving to create a trusted marketplace that customers can feel confident shopping. Luckily, Amazon provides sellers with an appeal process to reinstate product listings if the listing complies with all laws and policies. Amazon taking these steps helps build a trusted marketplace for customers in the long run, which will help your business grow by providing a safe and trusted shopping experience. If you have any questions or need assistance with resolving any account health or Amazon notification of restricted products removal appeals, please reach out to Goat Consulting for assistance.