Account deactivation due to a major brand company having a good faith belief that our products are counterfeit. Is that fair?
As a small, women-owned, family-operated business, we take great pride in conducting our operations in full compliance with Amazon's ethical and business standards. However, we were recently notified of a counterfeit violation, which has led to the deactivation of our seller account.
We fully understand that counterfeit products are strictly prohibited on Amazon. For this reason, we source all of our products directly from reputable and trusted suppliers. We are confident that we have never sold counterfeit products in our Amazon store. We hardly understand why we received this notification. There seems to be a mistake, so we emailed the brand owner to resolve this misunderstanding. We informed them where we purchased the products and provided all the documents to prove that we did not sell counterfeit items.
The company's Senior Director of E-Commerce replied to us, stating in the email, “You are absolutely not a small, women-owned, family-operated business. You have over 40 Amazon Seller accounts, some of which have been found carrying counterfeit products of ours. Due to the severity of the situation, we have a good faith belief that your products are counterfeit, and we will not be retracting the violation.” It is totally unacceptable for such a major brand to unjustly blame other sellers like this. We are a small company and we have only one Amazon account.
We upload all documents, including the brand's reply email to Amazon, to demonstrate that we did not do anything wrong, but unfortunately, our account remains inactive.
We just want to ask: is this fair?
Thank you.
Account deactivation due to a major brand company having a good faith belief that our products are counterfeit. Is that fair?
As a small, women-owned, family-operated business, we take great pride in conducting our operations in full compliance with Amazon's ethical and business standards. However, we were recently notified of a counterfeit violation, which has led to the deactivation of our seller account.
We fully understand that counterfeit products are strictly prohibited on Amazon. For this reason, we source all of our products directly from reputable and trusted suppliers. We are confident that we have never sold counterfeit products in our Amazon store. We hardly understand why we received this notification. There seems to be a mistake, so we emailed the brand owner to resolve this misunderstanding. We informed them where we purchased the products and provided all the documents to prove that we did not sell counterfeit items.
The company's Senior Director of E-Commerce replied to us, stating in the email, “You are absolutely not a small, women-owned, family-operated business. You have over 40 Amazon Seller accounts, some of which have been found carrying counterfeit products of ours. Due to the severity of the situation, we have a good faith belief that your products are counterfeit, and we will not be retracting the violation.” It is totally unacceptable for such a major brand to unjustly blame other sellers like this. We are a small company and we have only one Amazon account.
We upload all documents, including the brand's reply email to Amazon, to demonstrate that we did not do anything wrong, but unfortunately, our account remains inactive.
We just want to ask: is this fair?
Thank you.
34 replies
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
Doesn't really matter if the authenticity is real or not, you cannot prove it with valid invoices from the brand or an LOA. The suppliers do not have authorization for you to sell as a 3rd party seller on a marketplace.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Most certainly untrue. Walmart and CVS are NOT "trusted suppliers"; they are retail stores.
You need INVOICES. In fact, the document requirements for counterfeit claims are MORE strict, not less, than what is required for ungating.
No, saying that they can't PROVE that their items are authentic. Until they are questioned, no problem. But you may notice that many of the RA proponents who always jumped in to criticize anyone saying that it wasn't a good idea are no longer here; maybe you can figure out why.
Perhaps you should spend some time reading the forums; you'll see that you're not the first person claiming that RA is fine, but not getting away with it. You might even run across some of the many posts by mods stating that your claims are incorrect.
Seller_YG238RoAdStGa
@Danny_Amazon @Emet_Amazon @Atlas_Amazon @Michelle_Amazon @Jim_Amazon
As a small, women-owned, family-operated business, we take great pride in conducting our operations in full compliance with Amazon's ethical and business standards. However, we were recently notified of a counterfeit violation, which has led to the deactivation of our seller account.
We fully understand that counterfeit products are strictly prohibited on Amazon. For this reason, we source all of our products directly from reputable and trusted suppliers. We are confident that we have never sold counterfeit products in our Amazon store. We hardly understand why we received this notification. There seems to be a mistake, so we emailed the brand owner to resolve this misunderstanding. We informed them where we purchased the products and provided all the documents to prove that we did not sell counterfeit items.
The company's Senior Director of E-Commerce replied to us, stating in the email, “You are absolutely not a small, women-owned, family-operated business. You have over 40 Amazon Seller accounts, some of which have been found carrying counterfeit products of ours. Due to the severity of the situation, we have a good faith belief that your products are counterfeit, and we will not be retracting the violation.” It is totally unacceptable for such a major brand to unjustly blame other sellers like this. We are a small company and we have only one Amazon account.
We upload all documents, including the brand's reply email to Amazon, to demonstrate that we did not do anything wrong, but unfortunately, our account remains inactive.
Case ID: 16629508481
I wanted to highlight the issue in the email that I shared here, which clearly aims to prove that my account does not sell counterfeit products. The email from the company representative states that my firm has 40 Amazon accounts, and such claims amount to an unjust execution without any evidence against the person involved. This is not just any individual doing this; it is a company that makes millions of dollars in sales on Amazon. My question is, why does Amazon not request any documentation from these companies that put us in this situation, while they demand invoices for all purchases from small sellers like us for the past 365 days? In cases where they accuse us based solely on the representative's statement, why do they not ask these companies to provide proof of their claims? Because if they had such a request, it would be impossible for the company mentioned in the email to substantiate what they are claiming.
Thank you
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Yet of the two of us, only one is facing suspension.
I guess you don't bother reading the forums. Happens all the time. In fact, requiring proper INVOICES and often written authorization is the norm. Yes, there may be times where Amazon accepts a receipt, but I for one would not be willing to bet my business on it.
You're once again confusing "ungating" with "proving authenticity". I will agree with you 100% that it's wrong for Amazon to allow you to sell a product with less documentation than will be required if there are any problems, but the fact is that it's been like this for a long time.
To prove authenticity, more times than not, you need an actual INVOICE from an authorized WHOLESALE supplier; and in many of those cases, you also need LoA from the brand.
Seller_r9wMm8LrE5iKj
Fair has precious little to do with anything having to do with Amazon. If you are FBA, I'd ask for your product back ASAP, and if you ever want to sell on Amazon again, I'd take down every product not sourced to Amazon's standards (why do you say you follow their standards when you are not following their standards?). Consider yourself lucky to have even gotten a response from the company that took you down, don't expect them to change their minds, and don't expect Amazon to cut you a break if you continue to protest.
Seller_xAm5FmS5ctvcr
The burden of proof is on the brand to show your products are counterfeit. What this brand has done to you is illegal as they made a claim without a test buy or without articulating why they believe the product you are selling is counterfeit. Best course of action is to sue them in court for damages and ask for an injunction to retract their complaint. I would advise posting the brand name here so if other sellers have the same issue with this brand they will possibly join you to file a joint lawsuit.
Amazon has made this venue for legitimate complaints, not for brands who in bad faith are trying to control distribution.
It would be an interesting idea to have a petition for Amazon to reimburse the sellers for their legal fee's for the cases won or for Amazon to sue brands abusing this system directly in order to get rid of all the bad actors and brands that use this system in bad faith
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Nope, not true. If there is any question, it is on YOU to show the proper documentation that it is authentic.
And a brand making a complaint is almost certainly going to know that you are not an authorized seller of their products; if they make a mistake, then you will already have all of the paperwork needed to straighten it out (or simply call your account rep at the brand).
But anyone sourcing from CVS/Walmart or any other retail source is not going to be an authorized seller.
Note that if they wished to pursue criminal claims, then they would indeed need to prove the items fake. But this is not a criminal case, so burden of proof is on the seller.
