Shenzhen sales win! Unblocking of 5 million frozen funds

It’s been two years since Amazon started blocking accounts on a large scale. What’s happening to the blocked sellers now?

A large number of Chinese sellers were affected by the account suspension, and their account funds were frozen, ranging from several thousand to hundreds of millions of yuan. Due to the limited funds, many people in this group suffered a serious loss and their business plummeted; some people's capital chain was broken and they had to go bankrupt and liquidate in the end. The trauma caused by the account suspension wave is lingering, and some top sellers have suffered losses for years and have not yet recovered.

Every seller who was hit by the scam hopes to get back the frozen funds, but after trying, many sellers found that it was not easy and they gradually lost confidence. Now a big seller in Shenzhen has successfully unblocked 5 million frozen funds, which undoubtedly brings new hope to the same industry.

Shenzhen seller unblocks frozen funds of 5 million

When Amazon banned accounts in 2021, the top 20 sellers in Shenzhen were not spared and had multiple accounts banned by Amazon, with more than US$600,000 (approximately RMB 5 million) in funds frozen.

After the account was blocked, there was a 90-day waiting period. The seller filed a complaint with Amazon in October of that year. Amazon asked him to go through relevant certification. He tried to unblock the account in November and December. Finally, Amazon clearly informed him that he had violated the rules. The seller was helpless and believed that the probability of getting back the frozen funds was almost zero.

Due to the large amount of money involved, the Shenzhen seller tried to unfreeze the account funds by initiating an arbitration request through a law firm in early 2022. In March, JS Law filed an arbitration complaint for it . After a year of efforts, the Shenzhen seller finally won the case, and all the frozen funds of the account at all global sites were unfrozen, and 5 million yuan was recovered.

The good news that the large amount of frozen funds was successfully unfrozen is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the industry. You know, many domestic sellers have hit rock bottom due to the wave of account closures. Amazon seller Tian Wei is one of them.

In 2017, Tian Wei entered Amazon with his supply chain advantage. In 2019, his company's sales reached 800 million yuan, and the number of employees in e-commerce operations and supply chain combined was more than 700. In the June 2021 account closure wave, Tian Wei had more than 200 accounts blocked, and his store had funds deducted as much as 200 million yuan, which was almost all his assets.

When his account was first blocked, Tian Wei tried to find a way to unblock it. After his efforts failed, he rushed into Amazon's Seattle headquarters office with the last glimmer of hope, but ultimately failed to recover his funds. Disheartened, he was ready to "lose all his money", sold his house and car in Shenzhen, and started a second business on Amazon. After being severely damaged, it was difficult to recover his former glory.

Tian Wei's experience is a microcosm of the thousands of sellers whose accounts have been blocked. After a long period of attempts, they found it extremely difficult to unblock their accounts and funds, and finally had no choice but to start an endless wait. Many people were devastated and even went bankrupt. Even some of the top sellers suffered huge losses.

Youkeshu is one of the big sellers that has been greatly affected by the Amazon account ban wave. Public information shows that Youkeshu has about 340 new blocked or frozen sites in 2021, and the funds suspected of being frozen by the Amazon platform are about 130 million yuan. Affected by the account ban, the company laid off 1,400 employees. This year, Youkeshu's revenue was 1.575 billion yuan, and its net profit loss was as high as 1.673 billion yuan; the following year, the company's revenue was 774 million yuan, and its net profit loss was 366 million yuan.

In 2021, a total of 367 Zebao sites were closed on the Amazon platform, and about 32.2301 million yuan of funds were frozen. Its revenue on the Amazon platform fell by 55.76% year-on-year. Zebao suffered losses for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022.

In the account blocking wave, 606 Best Sellers of Patosun, which has annual sales of billions, suffered; 54 stores of Tongtuo were blocked, and tens of millions of funds were frozen...

After the account ban wave, many top sellers suffered heavy losses, their annual revenues took a big hit, they suffered losses year after year, and suffered consecutive setbacks in the next two years.

Whether they are big sellers or small and medium-sized sellers, many people are not as lucky as the big seller in Shenzhen mentioned above. Their accounts and funds have not been unblocked yet, and they are suffering.

0 fee to unfreeze funds in the early stage , zero risk for sellers

Shenzhen Dama’s fund unblocking was not a stroke of luck, but had a certain basis. Guo Zhihui of JS Law said that many sellers were unable to successfully appeal because they did not have a professional team. Generally speaking, sellers can successfully appeal against account blockage. Even if the seller admits to violating Amazon platform rules during the appeal, the platform only has the right to block the account, but does not have the right to freeze and confiscate all funds.

There are two specific categories of account appeals:

First: Large accounts with more than 50,000 US dollars. The amount of frozen funds in this type of account is relatively large. According to the arbitration clause in the seller's agreement, if the amount exceeds 50,000 US dollars, the "ordinary arbitration procedure" of the US Arbitration Commission must be followed. The ordinary procedure takes about 12 months to settle the case, and the arbitration fee is about 30,000 to 50,000 US dollars.

Second: Small accounts below 50,000 USD . If the claim amount is below 50,000 USD, you can go through the “fast track procedure” of the US Arbitration Commission. The arbitration fee is relatively cheap, generally not exceeding 5,000 USD, and the case can be closed in about 6 months. Around September last year, some small accounts below 50,000 USD had won the case in 6 months through the fast track procedure.

The Shenzhen seller whose funds were unblocked mentioned above was a large account, and the arbitration fee was approximately US$40,000 (approximately RMB 300,000). Relatively speaking, it is still worthwhile to spend RMB 300,000 to unblock RMB 5 million in funds.

However, for some sellers who suffered heavy losses from account suspension, paying 300,000 yuan in arbitration fees in the early stage is a bit difficult. In response, JS Law proposed a plan to advance the funds in the early stage and allow sellers to arbitrate at no cost.

JS Law law firm, together with the investor, will advance the arbitration funds for the seller in advance. Whether it is a large account with more than 50,000 US dollars or a small account with less than 50,000 US dollars, all can enjoy the advance payment. After the arbitration is initiated, after the funds in the seller's winning account are unfrozen, the seller, the law firm, and the investor will distribute the funds in proportion.

In addition to the accounts that were blocked due to the account blocking wave, you can also cooperate with JS Law to file an account appeal to unblock the frozen funds. Regardless of the amount, basically all accounts frozen after 2018 can file a cooperative appeal.

It is worth noting that accounts blocked in Europe, Japan and other sites can also file for arbitration in the United States, and if they win, they can unfreeze all the funds in the blocked sites. Even if the seller does not have a North American site, they can still file for arbitration in the United States and unfreeze all the funds in the blocked sites.

Nowadays, sellers who are suffering from blocked accounts and frozen funds may try to initiate arbitration with JS Law. After all, they don’t have to pay money in the early stage, and they can pay the relevant fees after the funds are unfrozen. When there is no other way, it is a good idea to try it out. Sellers who need to initiate arbitration, unblock accounts and unfreeze funds can scan the QR code below for details.

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