“Amazon Account Locked” – is a very painful and heart felt experience for both sellers and customers. If you are a customer then you will not be able to buy any product on Amazon. On the other hand, if you are a seller, your Amazon business will remain closed until the issue gets resolved. If you are using Amazon platform as the main supplier for your dropshipping business, then getting your Amazon Account Locked can hugely affect your business.
Some people think that Amazon doesn’t permit dropshipping business, and that’s why Amazon is restricting them. But, it’s a wrong thinking. In fact, the actual scenario is completely opposite. Actually, Amazon love dropshipping. Because dropshippers generate millions of sales every year on Amazon. So, there is no reason Amazon would not love dropshippers. Since Amazon is the biggest online retailer in the world, they invest a lot of money in fraud detection and technologies.
Why are Amazon Accounts locked?
Suspicious Activities
As Amazon is the biggest online retailer in the world, it spends a lot of money detecting frauds and illegal activists. Also, Amazon is the most trusted online store. So, they highly care about the security of the sellers and the customers. That’s why when Amazon finds any suspicious activity on its website, immediately it locks that account. This is one of the major causes why Amazon accounts get locked.
Entering Fake Information
This is undoubtedly the biggest reason for getting your Amazon account locked. Many a time people think that dropshipping is not allowed on Amazon which is a wrong thought. That’s why they give fake information on their Amazon account.
Such as:
- Fake Name
- Wrong billing address
- Fake shipping address
After placing an order on Amazon, it matches your billing address associated with your credit or debit card. Amazon matches your default Amazon address also. If they do not match perfectly, most of the times your account will be locked.
In the case of sellers, there are many sellers who sell hundreds of their items with fake information. They do not get any problem. But once Amazon detects that, the account will be locked definitely.
High Volume of Returns
As an Amazon customer you know that returns on Amazon are free. Amazon pays for the shipping. That’s why they do not want to do that. So they always pay attention to those accounts which have a higher percentage of returns.
Amazon tracks every information regarding selling and buying a product on its website. Amazon knows how often a buyer returns his products. If you have many returns then there is a high chance that your account will be locked. So, try to make your returns as low as possible. Because it really becomes a cause of your account suspension.
High Volume of Orders Placed from a New Account
If you have a new account on Amazon and your order percentage is very high, your account will be locked. For example, you have a new account and you started ordering 50/100 items from the very beginning. Then there are high chances that your account will be locked. So the suggestion will be – not to make more than 20 orders at the beginning.
Firstly, you should purchase less than or equal to 20 orders. After that, when your account gets a few months older, increase it to 30. Then increase it to 40-50. In the same way, keep on increasing your orders on your Amazon account. Always keep in mind that, the more orders you make on Amazon, the higher the chances that your account will be locked. Moreover, around 30-40 orders daily is a healthy operational volume.
Overusing Gift Cards
An Amazon gift card is a card pre-loaded with a set amount of cash which is despatched out through email, post, or any other approach to a set recipient. The recipient can redeem their gift card on Amazon for something on Amazon. You can buy gift cards for up to $10,000 in a single day.
People like dropshippers always love Gift Cards, specially if they give them discounts on the money they are spending. Thats the reason Amazon has many hard and fast rules about using gift cards.
Since Amazon try to prevent resellers from reselling the Gift Cards, so overusing them can lock your account. Similarly, if your account is new and you are overusing Gift Cards, then your account will definitely be locked.
As Amazon wants to prevent their system from fraud or money laundering they lock the new accounts overusing gift- cards. They do not want to ruin the business of the dropshippers. But, the fact is, the prime account doesn’t have much history and reputation. That’s the reason, at the first step Amazon considers the account buying the gift cards as Scam.
Amazon Account Operating with Multiple IP and MAC Addresses
Amazon accounts operating with multiple IP and Mac addresses can lead to account suspension. When someone creates an Amazon Account from a computer, it captures its Mac Address. That’s why when you log in to your Amazon account from another computer, then there is a high chance that Amazon will lock your account. The chances of account suspension are higher if the computer you logged in is a shared computer.
For example, a cybercafe. Because multiple accounts can be signed in to a computer in a cyber-cafe. So, in that case Amazon considers that you are using multiple accounts, which eventually leads to an account suspension.
Similarly, it is not recommended to log in to your account on a public Wi- Fi. Since multiple Amazon users can use the same IP address which also can lead to account suspension.
Sellers Providing Poor Services to the Customers
Maintaining a healthy account is a must for every seller on Amazon. How do you know whether your Amazon account is healthy or not? Mainly, the performance measure depends on three factors –
- Order defect rate
- Order cancellation rate
- Late shipment rate
If you fail to maintain the following performance criteria, your seller account may be suspended:
- Your order defect should be under 1 % of all purchased orders.
- Total order cancellation should be below 2.5 % of all purchased orders.
- The late shipment orders should be less than 4 % off total purchased orders.
If you cross the percentage line given above, then you will need to send a plan of action to Amazon. In that plan of action include details like ASINs, Order ID, Brands etc. Highlight the root cause of the issue and steps you are gonna take to avoid that kind of mistake in the future.
Selling Fake Products to the Buyers
Product authenticity problems are one of the vital reasons behind an account being locked. Your Amazon account will definitely be blocked if you sell any fake products to the customers. If any trademark, quality and copyright issues occur in your Amazon account, be sure that your account will get a red flag. First of all, you will get a notice regarding that. After that, your product listings will be removed automatically. On the other hand, if you think the complaint against you is not true, then you can contact Amazon regarding that.
Safety and Quality Issues
Many a times Amazon gets complaints from the customers regarding the different materials, safety and quality issues. For example, customers may complain that they have received a fake product. Or they can also complain that they have received a damaged product. They can also complain that the product they have got doesn’t match the product description that was given. Further, they can also complain that the product date has expired or some other health related issues. So, sellers must be very careful about those sensitive cases.
Other Issues Related to Amazon Account Lock
There are some other issues also for which an Amazon account gets locked. For example, misuse of the product page, abusing customer reviews, Selling prohibited items on Amazon and many more such cases are there.
In short, you have to be very careful about all the things that relate to your account suspension.
Step by Step process to unlock your account
Before you know how to unlock your Amazon account, you should know the ways of contacting Amazon. There are 4 ways you can contact Amazon. These are:
- Chat
- Phone
- Fax
The fastest way to contact Amazon is by chat or by phone.
Email is an option, but you need to keep in mind that this communication is a bit slower. Because you never know where support is located. So if there are long time differences then getting a reply can take one day or two, even more.
Fax is another way of communicating with Amazon, but we do not recommend that. Because it is a very slow way and we don’t know whether the message will reach the right person or not.
If your account is locked, in 99.9 % of cases you would not be notified officially by Amazon. In very few cases you might be notified by email, but in most of the cases, you will not be notified. If you see this message “ There was a problem, Your Password is Incorrect” after giving the accurate password, then your account is probably LOCKED.
Here is the step by step process of how you can unlock your Amazon account:
Prepare All These Documents for Verification
Firstly, you have to prepare this document before unlocking your account:
- Serial number of your Amazon account
- Your default shipping address. You must have clear evidence of your default Amazon shipping address.
Bank statement with the credit/ debit card used for payment.
- Gift- Card receipt (If you have been locked for overusing the gift- card)
Contact Amazon Supervisor or Account Specialist by Phone
When you contact Amazon by email, live chat or phone you get a response from an Amazon customer service representative. But the fact is, Amazon customer service representatives are not authorised to unlock your Amazon account.
Therefore, you need to find someone who has the authority to unlock your Amazon account. In general cases, it is an Account Specialist or a Supervisor. You have to request a contact with the supervisor or account specialist. Sometimes it is very hard to reach them, but you will need to have patience and persistence for that.
After you find someone like them, the next step for you is to contact them by phone call. When you get your targetted person your work will be to try to convince them. Supervisor contact with the account specialist team. In 95 % of the cases they unlock your account.
Customer support representatives always tell you that they are busy, but you need to have patience in those kinds of situations. They will review your Amazon account and they will report their supervisor and allow you to contact him.
Eventually you will have a phone call with the supervisor and you will explain that that was a mistake. You will also ensure that you will not do the same mistake again in the future.
Within 24 – 48 Hours Your Account Will be Reviewed by the Team Lead
Your account will be reviewed and your case will be placed on hold. In 90 % of cases, the default address doesn’t match the billing info and overuses of the gift- cards.
After giving you the accurate documents, they will tell you that they will review your information. They will also tell you that they will give you feedback within 24 – 48 hours. In that case, you will need to be very persistent.
Call Them Again After 2 Days
If you do not get any response from them within 2 days, then you will need to find another way. In that particular case you can send them an email if it gets a lot of time to get a response from them. You can send them a fax also. The aim is to try to reach them by applying all the media you have available to contact Amazon.
Finally You Have Got Your Account Unlocked
As we said before, you need to be very persistent for unlocking your account on Amazon. After reviewing all your submitted documents, if all the information is fine, Amazon will unlock your account. But keep in mind that you will need to give the accurate information (shipping address, billing address, default address, company information etc.)
If everything is perfectly fine, then your account will be unlocked. Although it can be a lengthy process, you will just need to have patience and be persistent.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that Amazon Accounts Locked is a very common case on Amazon. But if you are persistent and can follow the steps described above, then hopefully your Amazon account will be unlocked after some days.
So, if your Amazon Account is locked, you don’t need to worry about that. If you follow the right process, then you will get the results and get your problem solved.
If you really think this guide helped you have a better experience with your Account on Amazon, then feel free to “Leave a Reply” at the end of this guide. Also, you can share your experience with your Amazon account being locked or unlocked so that other readers can also benefit from this.