Hey all, I’m in some desperate need of help. I received an email two days ago from Amazon saying my account has been suspended due to engaging in violation of the Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy. It’s for the ASIN: B0072J58MM & B00EJMQP3Q. I had been selling these items for months but recently they both say ‘Currently Unavailable’ on Amazon. They were turning up into my ‘Fix Price Alerts’ tab for me to change the price but every time I did they would end up back there, they’re both selling on the EU Marketplaces so I thought maybe it was a glitch until I received this email two days ago. I’ve been buying this items from a retailer for £27 with a 10% discount taken off that and I’ve been selling them mostly at £36.99 and £39.99 and one at £42.99. I tried automate the pricing of both of these to minimum and maximum of £40.99 to £44.99 which I didn’t think was price gouging at all. I have appealed twice, the first one was to reverse the decision as I thought they made a mistake and then I tried to appeal myself and each time I’ve been rejected. I also appealed both ASIN individually in ‘Account Health’ under ‘Listing Policy Violation’ which I haven’t heard anything back. I spoke to Vlad and he directed me to this site and said someone could potentially help. I’ve been looking online for seller suspension help and most company’s are charging 600/700 dollars per appeal. I will be very grateful if anyone can help me with this or steer me in the right direction. I will add below this, all the correspondence I’ve currently had with Amazon. Response 1 to first email regarding violation fair pricing policy Has your account been deactivated in error? Hello, I received an email earlier regarding the suspension of my account for price gouging. Which I believe is for the ASINS: B0072J58MM and B00EJMQP3Q, as I received listing violations for both of them at the same time as my suspension. I have been selling these two products for the last few months at a competitive price. However last week I was noticing both products were disabled on the UK marketplace showing up as ‘Currently Unavailable’. I went to ‘Fix Price Alerts’ and tried to correct both of these items several times by lowering the minimum and maximum amounts through Amazons Automated Pricing System, but every time I tried they were still showing up as disabled, regardless how low I went with my pricing. I assumed that this problem would fix itself, as the errors were only occurring on the UK Marketplace, it was still selling on the other European Marketplaces and it continues to do so. I have receipts of how much I have bought the units for, which I will attach. I have sold both of these items before at competitive rates and they have never been price gouged. I will supply the order numbers below of the previously sold items on the UK Marketplace which will prove that I haven’t price gouged previously. 026-0769908-5133161 026-6799298-8483559 202-6822925-8905113 026-4622749-1875565 204-8514203-6405130 203-3274961-1941111 202-8654569-7723535 The highest amount being £42.99 for only one item and the majority selling at £39.99 or £36.99 which after my Prep & Shipping Fees of £1.20 and sales tax equates to a return of investment around 16.29% and 6.29% respectively. I have checked through my inventory and all of my prices are competitive. We always price around the Buy Box mark because this equates to the most sales for us and keeps us competitive in the market. My seller account health has always been very good and has never dropped into the red and when I have received an IP Complaint before, I have made sure to close my listing straight away and create a removal order through Amazon for said items. I will much appreciate if you can reverse the deactivation. I will be much more aware of not tampering with an ASIN like this again, I will close any listings like this in the future and I will monitor my prices even more closely than before. I haven’t encountered this problem before, I was overzealous in trying to reactivate the listing and I will make sure to open up a ticket with seller support in the future to avoid this happening. I never intended to price gouge especially at a time of major concern for all of us. Many thanks and I hope to hear from you soon, Lawrence. Amazons 1st and 2nd response to both of my appeals. Hello, Thank you for submitting your plan of action. We reviewed your appeal and determined that it is missing the following information. Please include the missing information listed below in your plan of action: Thank you for submitting your plan of action. We reviewed your appeal and determined that the corrective action items you have listed have not been implemented. Please make sure all corrective actions have been completed to be in compliance with your plan of action: — We observed that the price set on our offer still violates the Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/G5TUVJKZHUVMN77V). Please adjust the offer price in compliance with the Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy. — Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the Pricing Multi-Pack Abuse. — Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve the identified issues. — Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent Pricing Multi-Pack Abuse going forward. Where do I send this information? Please click on the “View Appeal” button on your account health (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard) and submit additional information as requested. What happens if I do not send the requested information? If we do not receive the requested information within 17 days of the original suspension notification, your account will remain deactivated. ASIN: B0072J58MM, B00EJMQP3Q You can view your account performance (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard) or select Account Health on the home screen of the Amazon Seller app on your iOS or Android device. The Account Health dashboard shows how well your account is performing against the performance metrics and policies required to sell on Amazon. — iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-Seller/id794141485 — Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.sellermobile.android&hl… My 2nd appeal <!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–> <!–[endif]–> Additional information What went wrong; • I violated the policy listings of ASIN: B0072J58MM, B00EJMQP3Q because I repeatedly tried to reactivate each ASIN that was labeled ‘Currently Unavailable’. • The inventory status was labeled ‘Inactive (Blocked)’, I tried to reactivate the ASINS when I should have closed the listing straight away. • I accept that my minimum and maximum automated prices weren’t in compliance with Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy Amazon. What we have done to fix the problem; • I have deleted the listings for ASIN: B0072J58MM, B00EJMQP3Q & we will not sell the product again on Amazons Marketplace. Any ASIN that show the status ‘Inactive (Blocked)’ will be closed and deleted. • I have reviewed the rest of my inventory and every product is now advertised at the correct price and they comply with policy pages: Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy Amazon and Minimum and Maximum Price Validation Amazon. • From this learning experience we have implemented a system to monitor prices that Amazon set as acceptable closely and to be aware and up to date with all of Amazons future policies. • To fix this problem we will only buy directly from a manufacturer or authorized distributor so we can comply with Amazons Fair Pricing Policy to greater effect. What we have done to prevent problems from happening again in the future; • Any ASIN that show the status ‘Inactive (Blocked)’ will be closed and deleted. We have implemented a system to check ‘Active’ and ‘Inactive’ inventory daily to stop this happening again. • Our inventory prices will be reviewed daily and a system has been put in place to make sure all prices comply with Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy Amazon and Minimum and Maximum Price Validation Amazon. • We will check daily and implement any future Programme Policies Amazon • By Directly buying through the brand manufacturer or authorized distributor this will allow us to keep our prices more competitive than ever. Thanks, Lawrence. I don’t know why it addresses it as a multi pack as it isn’t a multi pack item. Any help again would be really appreciated.
Hello,
Regarding your question:
I can see that you already prepared a good Plan of Action.
The Amazon policy regarding Price Gouging states that the price of a single unit should be equal to the one in a multipack.
Have you checked if there is a multipack of the product available?
Also, if you are struggling with having your Plan of Action accepted by Amazon’s bots, I would advise you to try submitting a complaint with the BBB where you will explain what happened and provide evidence showing that your items are priced fairly.
I am sure that Amazon will then reactivate your selling account.