Help Please: Accused of Selling Drugs
Can anyone advise me please, I have been selling on Amazon for just over a year with no problems, I sell incense and all sorts of Witchy related products, I received a performance notification from Amazon on the 10th Jan telling me a product had been removed due to it containing drug-related substances, eventually, with lots of messaging back & forth, I was told it was due to the word ‘Resin’ which they deemed as an illegal cannabinoid. The listing was for Incense cones, Incense sticks, Frankincense Tree Resin, charcoal, and an incense burner Bundle. I have now spent the past 2 days messaging them, forwarding pictures, giving them an ingredients list as they requested, and until an hour ago there was an open case, but then I got another email saying that it was not the correct department and my case was automatically closed and transferred to the performance team and to email them. Which makes me feel I am now getting the runaround.
I am extremely upset by this and had no idea that frankincense resin could possibly be thought to be a cannabis product, even my image used quite clearly states that it is an incense, I am now desperately trying to clear my name as quite frankly I do not wish to be regarded as a drug dealer. I have no idea where to go now, I thought of writing a letter to them, but where do I send it? Has this happened to anyone else? if so can they offer me advice on what to do? This was the message I initially got from them:
This product has been identified as a synthetic cannabinoid. Amazon policy prohibits the listing or sale on Amazon of products that simulate the effects of any illegal drug.
Please if anyone can tell me how I clear my name for this totally ridiculous alleged criminal offence that I am in some way has deemed me a drug dealer I would be very grateful.
Thanks in advance.
Elaine
Help Please: Accused of Selling Drugs
Can anyone advise me please, I have been selling on Amazon for just over a year with no problems, I sell incense and all sorts of Witchy related products, I received a performance notification from Amazon on the 10th Jan telling me a product had been removed due to it containing drug-related substances, eventually, with lots of messaging back & forth, I was told it was due to the word ‘Resin’ which they deemed as an illegal cannabinoid. The listing was for Incense cones, Incense sticks, Frankincense Tree Resin, charcoal, and an incense burner Bundle. I have now spent the past 2 days messaging them, forwarding pictures, giving them an ingredients list as they requested, and until an hour ago there was an open case, but then I got another email saying that it was not the correct department and my case was automatically closed and transferred to the performance team and to email them. Which makes me feel I am now getting the runaround.
I am extremely upset by this and had no idea that frankincense resin could possibly be thought to be a cannabis product, even my image used quite clearly states that it is an incense, I am now desperately trying to clear my name as quite frankly I do not wish to be regarded as a drug dealer. I have no idea where to go now, I thought of writing a letter to them, but where do I send it? Has this happened to anyone else? if so can they offer me advice on what to do? This was the message I initially got from them:
This product has been identified as a synthetic cannabinoid. Amazon policy prohibits the listing or sale on Amazon of products that simulate the effects of any illegal drug.
Please if anyone can tell me how I clear my name for this totally ridiculous alleged criminal offence that I am in some way has deemed me a drug dealer I would be very grateful.
Thanks in advance.
Elaine
0 replies
Seller_hC0hNVDuILaKO
If the issue is in the word “resin” then remove that word from your listing…
Seller_f4OR2L76HUXNp
I have deleted the listing, it hasn’t been active for months and was out of stock, I had never sold any of them hence why is was not active, the deleting the item wasn’t my concern, I am more concerned that I have been deemed as a drug dealer and although I have sent everything to confirm that I was not selling drugs this is still on my account. I am also worried that I may list in the future an item that they claim is drugs, if they decide that Resin only relates to cannabis products, and can’t relate to anything else. I have no idea why this word suddenly became a problem, this item spent 9 months or more on my account until I decided to put it as out of stock. I need advise as to how to get this removed from my selling account and the procedure for appealing this alleged crime.
Seller_MaCn7NvTI3GGw
I had a listing Amazon mistook for something, when it was actually a Raspberry Flavour Concentrate for baking.
Amazon Support told me to prove it was a Raspberry 
Seller_hMBZxXLE8ZIqI
I had cat treats banned for supposedly being THC… no testing proof that they do not contain THC or cannabinoid changed their mind!
Seller_f4OR2L76HUXNp
Many thanks for all your support, and now that I’ve managed to calm down a bit your right Adrian it is fairly trivial, reading the other replies I can see it is probably quite common. Yep I sell lots of pagan related stuff, and it also surprised me just how much I do sell, I practically have the entire market on Amazon although I do have to put in at least 12 hour per day to keep on top, thought I would slow down a bit this month, but it hasn’t shown any signs of being any quieter, so it would be crazy to close, I have a lot of regulars that would struggle to get their items, so I suppose closing would be cutting of my nose to spite my face as the say. Thanks again I appreciate the time everyone took to make me feel better.
Elaine
Seller_8DiUGwVuRuAtn
Years ago I had a wolf dreamcatcher declared a HZMAT problem when trying to send to FBA 
I had to relist and call it a big wild dog until it was onsale and then edited the listing.
This is the joy of selling on Amazon.
Seller_o0RBl0LsGZzsq
Hello witchellie1,
After reviewing the information provided I understood that there are few listings in your account which are being reviewed as they fall under the restricted content. To get more information about the restricted content please review the help pages provided:
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/201743940
In case the ASIN’s do not fall under restricted category provide required documents as a proof that it does not contain any restricted product but in case they fall the restricted category then delete the products from the listings and proceed with the plan of action.
Plan of action must contain 3 steps:
-
Root cause: Reason about why have you listed these products on the account.
-
Corrective Steps: What immediate steps you have taken to resolve the issues.
-
Preventive Steps: How will you make sure that any of the current or future listings does not fall under the restricted category?
You can drop an email to following email alias:
seller-performance@amazon.co.uk.
Provide the required details to the above mentioned email address so that the team can review and help you with the account.
Thanks,
Preet
Seller_hC0hNVDuILaKO
This sounds like a simple misunderstanding on both Preet’s and the OP’s part.
Preet was reading the info provided in the thread whereby several items have been mentioned, and @witchellie1 misunderstood the reply to say that their account had been looked at by Preet, which is not the way I see this.
Seller_f4OR2L76HUXNp
Yes I did post the problem on this forum, as I wasn’t getting any answers to resolve this, however I was only told I had one item that was suspected as being a restricted product, when I read the post by Preet, I rightly or wrongly assumed he had further information when he said that “a few of my products are under review”, as I had never been made aware of this and only found this information by seeing it on here, I could not understand why if Preet was looking at my information provided which he suggested he was “After reviewing the information provided” that he obviously knew more about this than I did, and I asked that he contact me direct to discuss it and work with me to resolve. I can accept he was only trying to help, however I have received 3 messages from Amazon staff all of which contradict each other, and again I read an answer on the forum that also contradicts the rest. So yes I am very frustrated trying to get some kind of support.
This “restricted contents” issue is perhaps seen as a silly matter to get my knickers in a twist about, but to me it has a real big impact, although I have not mentioned this in any correspondence sent to Amazon as I certainly don’t want to appear like I am giving them some sob story, however I received the original notice on 10th Jan, the 2nd anniversary of my young 17 yr old nephews death, from taking some form of a drug. Since then I have been arranging fund raisers and devoting my time to try and educate youngsters on the dangers of using any type of substances, I work closely with the police and our local council, to try and help other families not to experience what my family did through drug related deaths. Then to find that I am accused of actually selling the products that I have been fighting against was really upsetting to me, and yes I know that none of this is relevant and was a coincidence that the day I received the notification was a really bad day for me, and I agree that Preet has probably thought he was advising me, but I am really just jumping on any advise hoping that one of the review staff are eventually going to give me more information as to what is going on. I assumed that Preet had more information that I have so far been unable to get, so if I have misunderstood I apologise, but getting nowhere with Amazon has me very frustrated and yes angry that they are ignoring me or sending me conflicting information, and leaving me completely in the dark. I did not know that Preet was not the person dealing with this as I assumed that he was accessing my account and this is what he discovered and I was anxious that he share this information directly with me. I hope this explains my actions in some way.
