No Amazon seller wants to get suspended but, if it does happen, here’s how the Monitor & Protect claims process works in practice.

For Amazon sellers, having their account suspended has become an occupational hazard. But this doesn’t mean that it’s any less damaging when it happens. Sellers have to contend with the fact that they have little or no funds coming in, while expenses like staff costs and rent still have to be paid.

Monitor & Protect is a comprehensive Amazon seller protection service from Thompson & Holt. It includes account health notifications and listing hijack alerts, to help sellers avoid suspension in the first place. If suspension does occur, Monitor & Protect includes an appeals service, and most sellers are reinstated quickly.

But if sellers are out of action for more than five days, there’s cover to fall back on of up to £50,000 (around $70,000), underwritten by insurance market Lloyd’s of London. Here’s how it all works, including a real example of the claims process in action.

This is an updated version of a post originally published in April 2018.

Continue reading...

Web Retailer has the world's leading directory of software tools and service providers for online sellers.

We focus on online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay.

There are also dedicated categories for the leading marketplaces Amazon and eBay, and we cover all online marketplaces worldwide including Etsy, Jet.com, Walmart, Mercado Libre, Tesco, Cdiscount and many more.

Try our Advanced Search to find software compatible with a specific marketplace or shopping cart, or that are integrated with tools you already use.

Browse our Buying Guides for detailed information, in plain English, about all our categories and how to choose the right software or services for your needs.

Browse the Directory

Amazon product variations are often used wrongly, sometimes by mistake and sometimes deliberately. Either way, suspensions can result.

This post is by Leah McHugh, an ecommerce consultant for ecommerceChris.com.

Incorrect variation listings are rife on Amazon. Once you know what to look for, you’ll find them everywhere when you browse the marketplace.

Product listing policies are some of the least understood rules on the Amazon platform, and it’s easy to see why. They’re complicated. They differ for different categories, and the meaning of a policy often relies on how a specific word is defined. Sometimes, that special definition is not even provided to sellers in the available policy information.

In the last few months alone I’ve seen more product variation misuse cases than I have in the previous four years of working with Amazon sellers. Not because more people are abusing the listing variation policies, but because Amazon has taken more action to police these rules.

Continue reading...

Catch up on your reading with our pick of this year’s Web Retailer posts, which demystified topics, expanded horizons and got people talking.

At this time of year, it’s good to take a step back and reflect on the months gone by.

We have selected 12 of the best articles from all those we published in 2018. In this roundup we:

• Demystify Amazon’s Choice, Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central.
• Talk about the changes in the private labelling landscape across Amazon and eBay.
• Provide a step-by-step guide on how to use Facebook Ads to target Amazon customers.
• Delve into the murky underworld of Amazon’s dirty sellers and fake reviews.
• Discuss eBay Promoted Listings and repricing tools for eBay.
• Consider escaping the marketplace rat race completely, by starting a subscription box business.

So sit back, put up your feet and catch up on your festive reading.

Continue reading...