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Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

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Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#83
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On numerous occasions companies have shipped me "fuck you" instead of what I paid for and Amazon won't deal with that. What? I've never once had a problem with an Amazon return. You click "return this item", choose the return method (their newer "Locker" thing around the corner is pretty convenient) and that's all that needs to happen. I mean... there's lots to complain about with Amazon, as there is for any big co…

their automated systems are fine, but their actual service is terrible. anytime you need to do something outside of their "system", it is a complete mess and most of the time a complete dead end. as an example, in the past year, i have had to return/replace greater than 50% of the books i received from them since the books have ranged from being damaged, torn, or just plain dirty. it may be less than 50%, but there h…

calling them in always a fiasco, both times i've had to call, the operator agreed with me that it was completely stupid how they run things and how complex certain things were. When your own employees agree, there might be a problem.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#85
post #63

You need professional help. It's unfortunate, but there's a very specific format you need to be responding in that's not intuitive unless you've written a bunch of these. Check out any of the following (I've met both of them and can recommend them): Ed Rosenberg, ASGTG Chris McCabe, ecommerceChris You'll pay somewhere in the $1-2k range for a listing reinstatement, they'll write a professional letter to Amazon in the…

Or just figure it out on your own and then turn around and charge a few grand to all the folks amazon will do it to next week.

apparently helping sellers get reinstated might be more profitable than actually being a seller.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#86

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…

> How do you get people to come to your website, to trust your service and give you their credit card details?

There are several ecommerce website aggregators and search engines, where you can hook up your website (export product list via XML) and promote your products.

You don't need to handle ccard info at all. You can use direct bank-bank money transfer, or use post office to get you the money from the customer on delivery. Post office is regulated and can't refuse you service.

> You have to use something like PayPal or Stripe

No you don't. There are many other options, individual banks and other third parties offer payment gateways (where you can accept credit cards). I know about at least 6 common ones, and I'm sure there are more.

Not US.

Economics of this clearly work well enough.

It's so weird. I live in a country that's 30x smaller population than US, and we seemingly have more ways (that are workable and widely used), to help sellers sell their stuff in an independent way, deliver it, and accept payments for it, without being dependent on semi-monopolistic unregulated third parties like PayPal or Amazon.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#87
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On numerous occasions companies have shipped me "fuck you" instead of what I paid for and Amazon won't deal with that. What? I've never once had a problem with an Amazon return. You click "return this item", choose the return method (their newer "Locker" thing around the corner is pretty convenient) and that's all that needs to happen. I mean... there's lots to complain about with Amazon, as there is for any big co…

their automated systems are fine, but their actual service is terrible. anytime you need to do something outside of their "system", it is a complete mess and most of the time a complete dead end. as an example, in the past year, i have had to return/replace greater than 50% of the books i received from them since the books have ranged from being damaged, torn, or just plain dirty. it may be less than 50%, but there h…

I canceled Prime when my renewal came up this year. Never looked back.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#89

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…

I prefer buying from individual websites. I've never had a problem doing that. Buying on Amazon, I've gotten misrepresented items several times.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#90
post #13

There's going to be a massive rise in this sort of stuff over the next few years. Firstly consolidation, then organisations too large to care about their clients, then semi-automated punishment. Always remember that Amazon is in the same business as everyone and they can burn you down in a second if they decide they don't care. It's a pond full of bureaucratic crocodiles and the biggest one is boss. On numerous occas…

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