41–50 of 112 posts
As a customer, not a seller, I'm now activelly avoiding Amazon as much as I can. Even if it is inconvenient. Especially since I read this article about commingling (you need to register (free) to read): https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/03/20/1553085361000/Amazon-... They are now dangerously close to be a monopoly AND a monopsony in way too many markets. They just don't need to care anymore and it shows.
Though it may not help your position, I wouldn't dismiss the idea that petty / bureaucratic staff are giving you the runaround. I had exactly that happen with the Apple App Review squad. I managed to somehow offend a mid-level manager type and she purposefully kept moving the bar to get our app through review. "Did I say you need one of those? I meant one or two. You need two." I had an old contact there that was way…
Feel free to go work as a reviewer at amazon/apple if you feel like you can improve the process. I'm sure you'll enjoy getting 20% of your current salary + being treated like an animal by basically everyone.
A family member had the same problem recently. Amazon "deleted" all seller accounts in Europe, because they allegedly didn't sell anything. There was only an US seller account left to contact support. We send support requests over the request platform (forgot the name), to one of the email addresses we got from another support request and to a local post address of Amazon. We got answers from all sources, from differ…
In the US, I used to use Amazon to re-sell things I no longer wanted / needed. Old books, especially technical ones, usually got a great price. Electronics I'd replaced would also do really well, especially since I kept the original packaging. And before I'd move to a new city, I'd sell as much as I could. Back then it was essentially encouraged, with a button showing "You purchased this item on , click here to sell it!". I'd had excellent reviews from all buyers and as far as I was concerned it was the best way to get rid of quality goods because the sale was already made - I just needed to package and ship.
About a year later, I tried to go on to sell some things I'd replaced and it turned out they killed my seller account. Worse, I couldn't contact customer service because authentication on their Seller site was required, and my account was closed.
I called a few numbers and finally got hold of someone and was told my account was closed because I hadn't sold anything in a while. Seemed odd. I asked if they could re-open my account, which had been left in excellent standing, and that was denied. The support person suggested I just start a new account with a new email address. That seemed ridiculous to me. I don't want a new email address.
All that good will I'd built with the hundred or so things I'd sold: Gone, with no chance of return. Since I'm not trying to make a living on the platform, I was tossed. I'm surely not a blip on their radar, but I easily would have sold at least another $10k worth of stuff through them over the next few years.
It was a pretty great thing. Unfortunate how they've ruined it so.
The only way to protect against commercial deplatforming is to promote and sell through your own website, with a choice of payment processors. It's hard work but there's really nothing else to say. Every other presence should be considered as a disposable inbound funnel. Instagram or Twitter deleted you? Start a new account and link back to your website again.
Whenever I read this advice, I can't help but feel it's futile. Do you realize how hard it is to gain people's attention without being on one of the major platforms? How do you get people to come to your website, to trust your service and give you their credit card details? How do you accept payments? You have to use something like PayPal or Stripe, also platforms which can ban you for any (or no) reason. The economi…
As a customer, not a seller, I'm now activelly avoiding Amazon as much as I can. Even if it is inconvenient. Especially since I read this article about commingling (you need to register (free) to read): https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/03/20/1553085361000/Amazon-... They are now dangerously close to be a monopoly AND a monopsony in way too many markets. They just don't need to care anymore and it shows.
Amazon is really bad for the US economy. More so than Walmart
I would echo the statement to put up your own store, hosted on your own domain, and to stop relying on third party suppliers that are not interested in your well being. (but i have no personal experience)
i have seen YouTubers echo this statement in regards to ads disappearing, and i have seen amazon wipe companies out with these idiotic issues.
i wish you the best, and i love your product design/idea!
A family member had the same problem recently. Amazon "deleted" all seller accounts in Europe, because they allegedly didn't sell anything. There was only an US seller account left to contact support. We send support requests over the request platform (forgot the name), to one of the email addresses we got from another support request and to a local post address of Amazon. We got answers from all sources, from differ…
> Amazon "deleted" all seller accounts in Europe, because they allegedly didn't sell anything. In the US, I used to use Amazon to re-sell things I no longer wanted / needed. Old books, especially technical ones, usually got a great price. Electronics I'd replaced would also do really well, especially since I kept the original packaging. And before I'd move to a new city, I'd sell as much as I could. Back then it was…
One of the replies told us exactly the same. Just reopen with a new email address. Ridiculous on it's own, but we had inventory in Amazons warehouses left, worth thousands of euros. What would have happened with that? Destroyed without compensation is my best guess.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Amazon "deleted" all seller accounts in Europe, because they allegedly didn't sell anything. In the US, I used to use Amazon to re-sell things I no longer wanted / needed. Old books, especially technical ones, usually got a great price. Electronics I'd replaced would also do really well, especially since I kept the original packaging. And before I'd move to a new city, I'd sell as much as I could. Back then it was…
> The support person suggested I just start a new account with a new email address. That seemed ridiculous to me. I don't want a new email address. One of the replies told us exactly the same. Just reopen with a new email address. Ridiculous on it's own, but we had inventory in Amazons warehouses left, worth thousands of euros. What would have happened with that? Destroyed without compensation is my best guess.