Violating Amazon’s Terms of Service & Admitting Fault w/ Plans of Action for Reinstatement
If you’re wondering when, if at all, you should admit to Amazon that you made a mistake, that you violated the ToS, then this video is for you.
Amazon sellers, for years and years, thousands of videos and presentations in front of probably 200,000 sellers combined, I have told you over and over and over again, do not admit to a violation of the ToS, unless you really, really have to. And it still holds true today.
So here’s the bottom line, if your plans of action for reinstatement have failed, you should never, ever, ever admit you did something wrong. If you are totally down, if your POAs have failed. If you were doing something wrong and you are confident that Amazon knows about it, then yes, because your account is down, you really have nothing else to lose.
So admitting to certain violations or admitting to certain mistakes, if you write that plan of action in a positive manner, indicating how you’re going to be a better seller, why Amazon’s consumers aren’t going to have the same problem with you in the future, a change to your business model, additional, or new staff. Then yes. Sometimes you have to fall on the sword. You should do so knowing that it could be a bit risky, because once you admit you did something wrong, then you are putting the decision solely into Amazon’s hands. And these people in India, that I met in person are going to make a decision whether to reinstate your account or not. If they don’t reinstate your account and you have to go the arbitration route, you’re pretty much dead in the water because what their lawyer’s going to use against you is your admission of doing something wrong.
So from time to time, I believe it is the right thing to do. We win cases by making certain admissions to Amazon and it’s got to come in the form of just an incredibly well written, concise, and I think most importantly, a persuasive plan of action, if you want your admission of fault to lead to your reinstatement.
To learn more about how we help sellers who have submitted failed plans of action before they ever called us, contact me. I’m happy to talk with you and figure out whether one, I think we can get you reinstated, even though you failed. Or if I think you’re dead in the water and we got to find another way of skinning the cat.