Has anyone here experienced this type of temporary deactivation? The listing is FBM, and zero units have been sold for the ASIN, yet Amazon is assuming that we may be selling an inauthentic product. How is that possible when we haven’t sold any units?
As for the invoice: this was just a test listing, so we didn’t purchase anything in advance.
Ні,
Your Amazon Seller account has been temporarily deactivated and your listings have been removed.
Funds will not be transferred to you but will be held in your account while we work with you to address the following concern (s).
Why is this happening?
In accordance with Section 3 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement, your account has been deactivated because you are offering items that may be inauthentic. A list of these items is provided at the end of this email.
In order to ensure that customers can shop with confidence on Amazon, we routinely request additional documentation from sellers to verify their account information and confirm authenticity of certain items.
The sale of counterfeit products on Amazon is strictly prohibited.
It is important to understand that the violation stems not from whether the product was sold or not, but from the fact that you have it listed in your catalog. Amazon requires proof of authenticity for all listed items, even if no units were sold. This is a standard practice to ensure that items sold on Amazon meet authenticity standards and do not mislead customers.
Since you mentioned that this was a test listing, meaning you did not purchase any inventory in advance, the issue arises from the lack of proper documentation to back up the listing. Amazon needs proof that the product you are listing is authentic and not counterfeit. Without invoices or other evidence of authenticity, this becomes a problem.
To address this, you should select the second option in the Amazon appeal process: “I understand the policy and have evidence and/or documentation to submit to prove that my items are authentic.” Since this listing has no inventory and you haven’t made a purchase yet, it might be best to provide a clear explanation in your appeal, stating that the listing was a test without actual stock, and you were unable to source or provide proof of authenticity due to the lack of purchase. In some cases, submitting a Plan of Action that includes the steps you’ll take to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future (like only listing products you can provide documentation for) could help Amazon see that you’re taking compliance seriously.
It sounds like a frustrating situation. Even though no units have been sold, Amazon might have flagged the listing due to certain factors, such as the lack of a purchase history or missing documentation. They may be more cautious with FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) listings, especially if there’s no prior sales data or if the product description doesn’t match what’s typically expected for that category.
The “inauthentic product” flag can sometimes occur automatically when certain criteria aren’t met, even for test listings. To resolve this, I recommend submitting the requested invoices and any relevant documentation proving the authenticity of the product, even if you didn’t purchase it in advance. If you’re unsure about the specific documentation needed, it may help to contact Amazon Seller Support for clarification on what they require to reinstate the listing.
There are currently two options. You admit that you cannot produce the invoice for the product sold and the brand authorization, write a POA and try it.
You have the authorization for this brand, etc., then you can directly appeal to refute that this is your brand. And there is evidence of authorized use.
