Amazon Seller News: The Biggest Mistakes Sellers Are Making Today
We recently spoke to our team at Amazon Sellers Lawyer to discuss what mistakes sellers are making every day without knowing it. In this blog, we discuss their recommendations and how our team can help you navigate the challenges that arise from being in e-commerce.
AI Creates Poor Performing Amazon Plan of Action Templates
With the rise of AI, there have been many productive uses for sellers that allow further automation within the business and save money. One area of worry is the use of AI in creating Amazon’s Plan of Action (POA) appeals. This is because using AI in these documents frequently leads to “hallucinated” evidence and incoherent argumentative strategies.
Though AI can help in my ways along the process of reinstating your account, attorney Brian Malkin strongly recommends against using it for your Plans of Action (POAs) or especially for the formulation of your legal defense. The number one problem he identified was that if a seller submits a POA with evidence created by AI, Amazon’s enforcement team will then be taking that into account for future appeals.
Additionally, as AI is trained on generic legal strategies, its generated appeals do not know the language and evidence that Amazon is looking for to reinstate an account. If you are interested in completing a POA on your own, it is µuch better to create it by hand using the free resources that the Amazon Sellers Lawyer team has put out on our website and YouTube channel. We have been able to cover strategies, potholes to avoid, and even types of evidence that are seen as compelling to the enforcement team at Amazon because we learned directly from former Amazon employees who know the insides of these systems.
Rushed First Plan of Action Submission
Another important factor for all suspended sellers is not rushing your first submission of a POA appeal. Although it can be tempting to get an appeal on Amazon’s desk as soon as possible, the consequences of supplying incorrect information, or generally being underprepared for your appeal review can negatively impact future appeal submissions.
What many sellers do not know is that Amazon’s team looks at all submitted POAs when reviewing a case for reinstatement, not just the most recent one. It can be important to view POA submissions as a series of escalating documents, rather than subsequent submissions attempting to individually argue for account reinstatement.
This insight comes from Amazon Sellers Lawyer’s Vincent Famularo, who recommends viewing account restoration in three steps: resolve, appeal, and escalate. Highlighted here is the necessity to resolve any outstanding issues that led to your account suspension in the first place, before writing your POA. This allows your “immediate corrective actions” section to be enhanced by proof that you have done work to fix suspension related issues.
If this does not resolve your issues, you can then move to escalation appeals and legal escalations. Both move your case from the desk of Amazon’s enforcement team, to their legal team – upping the pressure to resolve the issue. This is often done with the assistance of your own legal counsel, who can provide guidance on your positioning and the strengths of your case.
The Amazon Sellers Lawyer Difference
In both of these common mistakes, we see the importance of properly handling the creation and submission of your Plan of Action to restoring your account. At Amazon Sellers Lawyer, we help our clients do exactly that. We have been focused exclusively on helping sellers navigate the challenges that they face since 2016 and provide free content on our website for sellers looking to do it themselves.
Whether you are facing suspension, threat of legal action against you, or any other legal issue on Amazon, Amazon Sellers Lawyer is here to get you back to business as usual. Give us a call today at 212-256-1109 or fill out our online contact form linked here.
About the Author
CJ Rosenbaum, Esq.
CJ Rosenbaum is the founding partner of Amazon Sellers Lawyer. He’s been practicing law since 1995, and since 2016 his firm has focused exclusively on helping Amazon sellers deal with issues like suspensions, intellectual property disputes, and withheld funds.
CJ has written six books on Amazon seller legal issues including the Amazon Sellers’ Guide to Copyright Law. He has spoken at major industry events like the Prosper Show, Global Sources Summit, Retail Global. CJ also works with the Amazon Sellers Lawyer team to provide free content for Amazon sellers. This is available through their online blog and YouTube channel, frequently covering major Amazon updates and important topics relevant to the seller space.
Through BrandProtectionAmazon.com, the firm also supports brands in protecting their products. This gives the team the unique opportunity to learn from case wins on both sides of the fence, strengthening protection for both the sellers and brands that Rosenbaum & Segall P.C. represents.
Amazon repeatedly rejecting your Plan of Action? Amazon Sellers Lawyer handles suspension appeals and account reinstatement cases – including arbitration against Amazon when they’re withholding seller money. Contact us to discuss your situation and figure out the best path forward.