As some Europe-based Amazon sellers know all too well, expanding your selling dominance to Amazon UK is not as simple as listing your product and waiting for sales to ring up. Even a few innocent mistakes can get your Amazon Seller Account suspended and sideline your sales.
If you’re selling on Amazon UK or plan to, let’s look at the top 7 reasons sellers get suspended on that platform so that you can avoid these pitfalls and keep your business goals on track.
1) Not Following Amazon’s Shipping Requirements
There are two key hangups with shipping products in the UK. One, most people don’t use tracking with the Royal Mail. Two, an item can get stuck in customs, causing buyers to have to go pick up the item and pay for each day it sat in customs. Amazon wants sellers using tracking for every shipment and does not want to be associated with customer dissatisfaction from items held up in customs. The best way for sellers to eliminate both issues to participate in Amazon’s FBA Program. Amazon handles all of the shipping logistics, freeing you to focus on other parts of your business.
2) Forbidden Products
Each country has its own laws. If you’re a seller who isn’t up-to-date on regulations for certain products, your shipments could get held up at customs, anger buyers, and cause your sales to dwindle. Different products have different restrictions, so do your research! Make sure you can sell your product on Amazon UK by familiarizing with the regulatory nuances. Or, simply open an Amazon FBA Account so that Amazon makes sure your product gets to the customer.
3) Inauthentic Products
A suspension due to inauthentic products may be from “fake” products, or that the country from which you purchased your product is incompatible with the market in which you want to sell. In other words, the product may be legitimate, but country of origin is not authorized. For example, if you buy a product in Spain or China and want to resell it in the UK, it would be considered inauthentic because the product was designated for sale in Spain or China. Just a little bit of legwork to confirm compatibility can prevent you from sourcing the wrong product for sale in the wrong country.
4) Not Honoring Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents
Each country not only has its own tailored laws, they also adhere to specific guidelines for trademarks, copyrights, and patents. Make this part of your initial research so that you’re not investing money only to be shut down. Look into registering your brand on Amazon Europe, and consider getting a European trademark and patent.
5) Different Standards of Customer Service
People love Amazon Customer Service. Make Amazon happy and your potential customers happy by getting the customer service language for your designated country right. School yourself in the language and culture. Be aware of the types of buyers in the country or market, the products they will and won’t shop for, and plan accordingly.
6) Manipulation of the Platform
It’s always important to stay compliant with Amazon’s Terms of Service. One of the quickest ways to violate TOS is using review programs to artificially benefit your bottom line, essentially painting a target on your business. If you’re going to use a review service, use one that is first compliant with Amazon USA.
7) Poor Product Quality
If your product is imperfect, dented, dirty, dusty, ugly or not as described, European buyers are likely to report it, return it, or both. Also don’t attempt to sell products that are defective, damaged, counterfeit, or used as new. Packaging should also be pristine, free even of seemingly imperceptible flaws like fingerprints. Also pay attention to negative comments from buyers. Those comments tell you what you need to fix immediately.
Use the FBA Calculator inside the Market Intelligence tool as your one-stop hub for fast, informative selling preparation.
