I have been a UK seller for about 18 months. I started as a retail arbitrage seller sourcing from Costco during my first few months, and after that I moved into wholesale. In the beginning, I bought a few pallets of razor blades from Costco and sold them on Amazon without any issues until now. I should mention that I sold all of that stock a few months ago. I have just received a customer complaint regarding an order from 1 December, claiming that the product is counterfeit, and I am not entirely sure how to proceed.
My Account Health Rating is currently 268, I am part of the Account Health Assurance programme, and the violation states “no health impact.” I have learned from others that buying and reselling items from Costco may not be considered an ideal sourcing method, as Amazon expects invoices from authorised distributors.
Should I accept it, or should I appeal and submit the receipt, which I still have from Costco?
You should appeal the violation and submit your Costco receipts as proof the products were legitimate, rather than accepting it, to protect your account health and show Amazon the items weren’t counterfeit.
Dealing with counterfeit claims on Retail Arbitrage items is tricky because Amazon rarely accepts retail receipts as valid invoices.
Here is what you should do:
Do NOT just accept the violation. This stays on your record and can hurt you later if you get another claim.
Appeal with Transparency: Submit your Costco receipts anyway. Explain clearly that at the time of purchase, you were following the RA model. Even if they reject the receipt, your honesty and the fact that you have ‘Account Health Assurance’ will help.
Delete the Listing: Since you are no longer selling this, make sure the SKU is completely deleted from your inventory.
By the way, while you sort this out, have you audited your old RA and Wholesale shipments for Reimbursements? Often when shifting models, sellers miss out on a lot of money Amazon owes them for lost or damaged units. Happy to help you with a free audit if you need!