When Amazon blocks your Seller Account

Amazon is the biggest e-commerce player in the West (in the East, on the other hand, we find the Alibaba colossus, ed.) and many entrepreneurs have already discovered the potential of this online channel: conversion ratesabove the sector average, exponential growth in turnover in a short time and ease of sale also in other foreign countries.

With just a few clicks and a few pieces of information (EAN/UPC code, product condition, quantity available in stock and selling price), it is possible to publish an offer in just a few minutes for a product already present in the Amazon inventory; if, on the other hand, you wish to insert a new item – exploiting the private label business model – the procedure is a little longer but the results are guaranteed.

Account Health Dashboard

All Amazon Sellers know how crucial their sales performance is for the growth of their online business. Within Seller Central there is a dedicated section called ‘Account Health’ in which the most important metrics for a seller are collected, grouped into three macro-areas: ‘Customer Service Performance‘, ‘Policy Compliance‘ and ‘Delivery Performance‘.

Those who exceed these values risk immediate loss of selling privileges. In other words, Amazon may temporarily block a seller’s account and withhold funds until the problem is resolved. This adverse event, often underestimated by many entrepreneurs, represents a real threat as orders stop arriving and one’s receipts remain in Amazon’s coffers for an undefined period (often funds remain blocked for longer than the 90 days declared by Amazon). It is precisely in these cases that a ‘Plan of Action’ needs to be drawn up.

What is a POA on Amazon

The Plan of Action, abbreviated as POA, is a document required by Amazon Seller Performance Team. It is needed to re-open your seller account following a removal of selling privileges. The Plan of action is a letter addressed to Amazon that has to comply with precise patterns in order to be read and accepted by Amazon Seller Performance Team. The Plan of Action should basically answer three questions: What is the root cause of the issue? What measures have already been taken to solve the problem? What measures have already been taken to prevent the problem from recurring in the future?

Why a plan of action got rejected

Many plans of action are discarded by Amazon‘s performance department due to:

• inappropriate language
• lack of detail, legal documents or precise information provided by the seller.

As Amazon experts we have read many incorrect POAs: too short, too superficial or containing untrue statements. However, we know that by writing a good plan of action you can get an Amazon account reopened even after an hour.

Check the “Account Health” page daily

Therefore, our advice to all sellers is to check “Account Health” dashboard in Amazon Seller Central on a daily basis and resolve any reports as soon as possible. If your account loses its selling privileges, we recommend that you carefully and thoroughly draw up a Plan of Action.