what do you think is the most important thing to be careful about
when developing an Amazon export business Cash flow and feedback are of course important, but the most important thing is maintaining your account .
This time, I would like to explain about account review,
which often comes up when you increase the number of listings without inventory
Not only are you anxious because your account is being reviewed right now, but
is
likely to occur with new accounts so if you are planning to start an export business, please read this carefully.
1.What is account review?
First of all, what exactly is an account review
Amazon is always on the lookout for sellers who are selling.
a new account suddenly increases the number of sales , or has an abnormally high return rate ,
or if Amazon thinks, ``Oh, there's something wrong with this seller?'', the account will go into review mode.
It can be canceled for up to 30 days, but usually takes about 2-3 weeks.
What happens when my account is under review?
1-1. Sales possible, but proceeds will be withheld
Even if your account is under review, you can still sell .
This is different from suspending your account.
You can sell it, but the proceeds will be held .
Please be careful as if a large amount of sales proceeds are withheld, it will be difficult to raise funds afterwards,
delays in purchasing, and account health decreases,
resulting a negative spiral
1-2. Account suspension/even deletion
Of course, being reviewed
may your account being suspended or even permanently suspended
If the account you worked so hard to develop is deleted, you will be left with nothing.
So what causes your account to be subject to review?
Let's take proper measures by knowing the cause.
2. Reasons for account review
Amazon seems to be getting stricter year by year, but
at this stage (as of May 2019),
has not provided clear criteria for account review .
For this reason, this is completely based on my experience, but
I will take a look at the causes that are said to be the case in the export business industry
2-1. Registering too many products
you create a new account and immediately list many products, you will be asked to review your account .
I have a harsh impression of new sellers who sell their products for about
90 days (Please note that the regulations are becoming stricter each year.) Additionally, Amazon is monitoring
sellers who self-ship rather than FBA items more strongly Please be especially careful if you are starting with a no-stock listing.
It is best to keep it to around 1000 items per month .
2-2.Sales increase rapidly
This is almost the same as the number of products mentioned above, but
a sudden increase in sales will also be subject to authentication.
I think it's quite difficult to control sales, so
try to limit the number of listings in the beginning
2-3. Decrease in seller performance
As anyone who uses Amazon as a buyer knows,
Amazon provides extremely generous customer service.
Because Amazon is a customer-first company, sellers with low customer reviews are subject to account review.
There are no clear criteria for review or suspension, but
Amazon has provided some indicators, so use them as a reference.
Seller Performance Goals
All sellers are required to meet and maintain the following Seller Performance Goals no matter what products they sell.
- Order defect rate: less than 1%
- Pre-shipment cancellation rate: less than 2.5%
- Shipping delay rate: less than 4%
Failure to meet performance goals may result in temporary suspension or revocation of your selling privileges.
Source: Amazon seller central
In this way, sellers who are unable to maintain seller performance related to the health of their accounts will find it difficult to maintain their accounts.
your seller performance from Amazon Seller Central, so keep an eye on it
.
order defect rate
is something wrong with the shipped product and a low rating is given,
a credit card refund is processed, the order will be considered
defective The order defect rate is a number that shows the number of defects that occur in orders over a 60-day period.
Amazon has set a very strict standard that says , if there is even one defective item out of 100 items sold, you need to be careful
Recently, I've heard that Chinese sellers are intentionally giving low ratings and canceling orders in order to crush other sellers.
Some kind of countermeasures will probably be taken in the future, but we must be careful because there are people close to us who have actually been affected.
Pre-shipment cancellation rate
The pre-shipment cancellation rate the cancellation rate when an order is canceled due to the seller's circumstances .
The specified 7-day value will be applied.
Please rest assured that this will not apply if the purchase is canceled due to the purchaser's convenience
・I have run out of the product I was planning to purchase.
・I have raised the price and am no longer making a profit, so I am canceling the order.
Let's handle products that will never run out of stock so that nothing happens.
Also, even if there is no profit or a slight loss, the performance of the account is more important .
Unless there is a compelling reason, it is best to avoid canceling orders before shipping.
Shipping delay rate
The shipping delay rate is the percentage of products shipped after the scheduled shipping date.
Personally, I have the impression that when the shipping delay rate increases, it is more likely that the product will be reviewed or suspended.
We are conducting stricter monitoring on self-shipping sellers because if shipping is delayed, it may be considered out of stock.
the calculation is based on American time than the displayed number of days
, but please be careful not to miss your order.
Also, in order to avoid shipping delays, be sure to set handling times well.
(Handling time is the number of days from receiving an order to shipping.)
*The default setting is 2 days, so be sure to review it.
3. About the importance of account health
All of these images are displayed in green because they have a high level of health, but
if they fall below a value set by Amazon, they turn yellow, indicating a warning state, and if they fall even further, they turn red.
In addition to the three indicators above, factors
the product's traceability rate and response speed are also involved, so
it goes without saying that you should try to respond as quickly as possible.
Your account will not be immediately suspended if your account falls below the target value.
If there is no improvement in the red status, your account will be suspended, so you will need to review your settings and sales posture immediately.
Of course, I think it is almost impossible to maintain all items at 0%.
However, if you don't slack off and face things seriously, it is not difficult to stay below your target numbers.
4. What to do when your account is reviewed
When your account is reviewed, you
may be asked to provide invoices for your products.
Presentation of a delivery note is mostly required for intellectual property-related reasons, but
may be requested due to an increase in the number of inventories of a new seller.
It seems that the target people are picked up by AI.
In addition to a delivery note, you may be asked for
a credit card statement with your address or a business license You don't need a business license, but
be sure to have your credit card statements ready.
The key point is that it has an address, and
I've seen people who were turned away because the address was different from what they had previously registered.
It is a good idea to attach a utility bill payment statement that completely matches the information you have registered.
If you are asked to provide something, be sure to respond promptly.
If nothing in particular is requested, as
long as you avoid making any conspicuous listings during the screening process,
most of the time things will pass without incident.
Your sales proceeds will be withheld during the review process, so
be sure to pay close attention to your cash flow.
5. Account linked
This is a little less relevant to account review, but
Amazon generally does not approve of having multiple accounts.
If a link is found to exist with an account that was sold in the past,
may be deleted at once without any warning .
If you have any idea,
please be careful about your work environment and consider using remote desktop, etc.
6. Summary of Amazon export account review
There is no need to panic just because you are under review.
Respond quickly to requests from Amazon
As with any business, especially when you're just starting out, it's easy to be highly motivated and want to do a lot of things.
When it comes to Amazon export business, it can be tempting to list a lot of products.
I completely understand how you feel, but the most important thing is to continue the business .
It is not uncommon for businesses to end up in the black due to having their sales suspended from account review and unable to maintain their cash flow.
The key to success is to diligently maintain a low-altitude flight, rather than jumping to immediate profits.
