Recently my account went under review in accordance with section 3 of the Amazon Business Solutions Agreement

Hello,

My account recently underwent a review per section 3 of the Amazon Business Solutions Agreement. Amazon has requested supply chain documentation and invoices for 45 units of a specific ASIN.

Here’s the issue: I originally purchased 40 units from the supplier. The remaining 5 units were returned to our 3PL address as unsellable after a refund. Upon inspecting these units, we found them to be in good condition, so we repacked and sent them back to the Amazon warehouse.

The problem is that I only have an invoice for the initial 40 units and not for the additional 5 units. How can I address this situation? Any advice on how to prove the legitimacy of these 5 units without an invoice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Full Amazon Notification is mentioned below:
Hello,
Your account is currently under review in accordance with section 3 of the Amazon Business Solutions Agreement. During the review, FBA shipment creation ability will be disabled and your funds will be withheld in accordance with our “Funds Withholding Policy”:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/.../external/help.html
Why did this happen?
We have taken this measure because we believe that your account or a related account may have been used to engage in deceptive or illegal activities that harm customers and our store, such as the sale of counterfeit inventory, thereby infringing intellectual property rights. For more information, see section 3 of the “Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement”:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/.../refer.../external/G1791
What happens now?
To demonstrate the authenticity of your account and inventory, you are required to show up for a video interview verification.
How do I verify my identity and inventory supply chain?
You must complete virtual identity verification via video interview by following the next instructions:

  1. Access the following link:
    https://sellercentral.amazon.com/.../verificationR.../render
  2. Follow the on-screen instructions to upload the required documents and connect with an associate.
    Note: After your verification interview is complete, we will review the results and reply with the outcome within 5 business days.
    Who should attend the video interview?
    The owner and operator of this account should attend this verification interview. Depending on your business model, we understand there may be additional business partners who are integral to your business operations. These additional parties may also attend the verification interview, as long as they have substantiating documentation showing their relationship to the business.
    What documents are required?
    To complete your instant identity verification, make sure you have the original physical and digital copies of the following documents with you:
    – A valid government-issued photo identity document. The document must include full name, date of birth, ID number, expiry date, signature of the bearer if applicable, and country of issuance or country of citizenship.
    – Bank or credit card statement. The document must include the full name of the individual or of the business, residential or business address, issuing bank information and the records related to the purchase of the ASIN under review.
    – In case of having a registered business, the registration document must be uploaded. The document must contain name of the business owner or legal representative, business-operating name, business license number or registration number, official seal or stamp of the issuing authority, business address, date of incorporation, status of the business and signature of the legal representative (electronic signature is acceptable).
    – Supply chain documents such as invoices and receipts that include the item’s description, quantities, supplier’s name, supplier phone number, supplier address, and website. You may remove pricing information, but the rest of the document must be visible.
    – Proof of delivery, bill of lading, import and export documents, customs clearance documents and authorization letters from brands and licensed brand distributors are other examples of documents that may be requested.
    – Order confirmation, order shipping or fulfillment update documents for all the orders placed for the below requested ASINs and quantities.
    Note: The mentioned documents must be authentic, unaltered and sent only in PDF, JPG, PNG or GIF format.
    ASIN: XYZ, Quantity: 45 ;
    What happens if I do not sign up for my interview or my verification is not successful?
    If you do not complete your virtual video verification interview using the link provided within 14 days, or if your verification is not successful, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.

We are here to help
If you have questions about the content of this message, contact us at [email protected].

To view your account performance and how well it is performing against the performance metrics and policies required to sell on Amazon, go to “Account Health”:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard

You can also access this information from your mobile device by selecting “Account Health” on the home screen of the Amazon Seller app.

If you got a refund then you would have been invoiced for the additional 5 units in the first place?

Perhaps provide them with the invoice for 40 units and attach the refund request for the 5 units along with your bank statements etc showing that you were in indeed refunded for it?

You should also have the initial order or some sort of confirmation when you placed the order for 45 units?

2 Likes

Don’t worry just provide them 40 units invoice.

1 Like

Is it FBM or you created removal order for the returned items? If you created removal order, show the evidence along with tracking id’s and images when the inventory was received in 3pl.

Amazon might still suspect that you sent back unsellable inventory. Have you received any negative review or complaint from a customer? Check voice of the customer.

1 Like

Where had you purchased the original 5 units? Where’s that invoice?

1 Like

I purchased 40 units from supplier, these 5 units are also in these 40, just got refund from buyer so sent these 5 units to 3pl and again 3pl to Amazon FBA, so now how to justify these 5 units.

No, we are doing FBA totally, these 5 units are basically refunds with reason customer damaged, we returned these units back to 3pl just to verify whether they are ok or not, they were all ok, so we sent back to Amazon as FBA.

Originally in the 1st place we just ordered 40 units from supplier, Amazon is asking to verify documentation of 45 units, now these 5 units (which are actually among these 40 units) are those which we got refund from buyer with the reason customer damaged product, we returned these 5 units to 3pl from where we repack and ship to amazon and all 5 were in new condition. Now, for these 5 units I need to show some invoice, that why am stuck here what to do, how to convince amazon that these 5 units are not directly from supplier.

You need a video to explain this, just issue 40 invoices and bring proof of your removal of the 3PL address, there should be logistical information, or removal information, and then you’ll be able to go through it by organizing all sorts of information from the new shelves

1 Like

I’m currently in this same vetting, and I’m wondering what they will ask, since the legal entity isn’t me, so if you validate it, please let me know what are some of the questions that are asked

1 Like

Send invoice of 40 as well.

1 Like

I’m confused. You ordered 40 units from the supplier and 5 units were customer damaged and returned. You checked and sent them back in as new? Right?

So what’s the issue with 40 units invoice? You should be able to attach Amazon reports showing customer damaged were returned and another report of shipment showing they were sent back. Maybe attach you prep invoice too.

Seller support isn’t the easiest to deal with I know but maybe you need to explain things to them a little bit better.

1 Like

Thank you for the tips, I will try.

We ordered basically 40 units from supplier, all these units were sold out on amazon. After that, we got refund of 5 units among these 40 sold units. All 5 units were unsellable according to amazon with the reason of customer damaged, we returned these 5 units to 3pl and repacked and shipped again to Amazon FBA. In general these are actually 40 units but Amazon is demanding for supply chain of 45 units. Now how to justify to amazon about these 5 units?

Yes, roughly when will you start the review, and can you tell me what the other side is inquiring about, for the record.

Aside from questions about identity, bank statements, and the supply chain process, are there any other questions or topics we should be prepared for? Are there any unrelated questions that might come up during the verification process?"

@Lona Hi! I saw that you’ve been through Amazon’s seller verification process, and I was wondering if you’d be open to chatting about your experience. We’re about to go through it ourselves and would love any tips or advice you might have.

We’d be happy to compensate you for your time. Let me know if you’d be up for a quick chat!

Thanks so much.