Amazon is strictly checking UPC, and a large number of products may be removed from the shelves

If you believe that Amazon's judgment is incorrect and the UPC used is indeed provided by GS1, the seller must provide 5 pieces of information for verification.

Amazon strictly checks UPC

A few days ago, an Amazon seller contacted the editor and said that a large number of links under multiple accounts suddenly had problems: "Dozens of accounts, dozens or hundreds of links are all like this, quickly check what's going on."

The seller said that when he edited the old link, a message "the value exceeds the maximum length" appeared at the product code on the page . Amazon reminded that it would check the validity of the product code based on the relevant database. If the product code is not registered in GS1, its associated ASIN will be prohibited from being displayed, and the seller's product creation permission may be revoked.

What this seller said is just the tip of the iceberg. In the past week or two, there has been a surge in feedback from sellers about Amazon starting to strictly check UPCs.

A seller said that when he first started selling on Amazon a few years ago, he uploaded several listings through a UPC code generator purchased on Taobao and has been selling them ever since, accumulating thousands of reviews. However, recently, a notice indicating that the relevant products were removed from the shelves appeared on his backend product repair page. It was a pity that the products that sold well were removed from the shelves, so the seller began to seek solutions from his peers.

In the “Invalid Information” alerts sellers received , Amazon explained its GS1 policy and set a deadline for sellers to respond:

" Expires 2022/*/** - If you do not respond by the deadline, this listing will be removed. The GTIN for this ASIN does not match the brand associated with this ASIN. The GTIN is a reliable piece of data used to limit duplicate listings in catalogs and ensure product authenticity. We verify the authenticity of GTINs by checking against the GS1 database, and GTINs that do not match the information in GS1 will be considered invalid. We recommend that you obtain your GTIN directly from GS1 (and not from other third parties that sell GTIN licenses) to ensure that the appropriate information is reflected in the GS1 database. If you believe that your ASIN has been removed in error , please contact Selling Partner Support. Repeatedly creating ASINs for brands that you do not have an established relationship with will result in the revocation of your ASIN creation privileges."

Many sellers have received reminders. "Many of my products have this problem. They say my UPC is not provided by GS1 and I need to submit a GS1 certificate. However, these UPCs were bought a long time ago and I cannot provide a GS1 certificate. We are currently trying to refurbish them and buy GS1 special codes from Taobao customer service, but none of them have solved the problem. If it is not solved, thousands of my stocks will be removed." said one of the sellers.

Sellers need to provide 5 items of information for verification

Some Amazon sellers have reported that products they previously uploaded using UPC now also need to provide GS1 certification, and some products have been deleted and the pages have been lost.

Amazon informed such sellers that after investigation, the UPC/EAN they used was not provided by GS1. If it was indeed provided by GS1, the sellers need to provide relevant evidence for verification. The details are as follows :

“To ensure a pleasant shopping experience and protect the way your brand is presented on Amazon, we need to have accurate data about the products in our catalog. Therefore, we require proof of authenticity for the GTIN you are using in one of the following ways. Please provide all 5 of the following:

1. If you are the brand owner of the product you are selling, please provide:

*A copy of the certificate issued by GS1 showing your legal entity and the relevant Global Trade Item Number prefix.
*Evidence that the legal entity on this certificate is associated with your brand, such as a trademark registration or a website showing your product or brand and its relationship to the UPC/EAN owner. (We only consider official websites owned by the brand, manufacturer, or UPC/EAN owner - the affiliation should be clearly stated and signed and stamped)

If you are not the brand owner, please provide:

*A letter from the manufacturer or brand or a copy of the legal agreement stating that the GTIN you are using to list the product is valid and owned by the manufacturer or brand, or that you have the right to sell unique products with their brand under your own GTIN. If you are using your own GTIN, the permission letter should indicate that there is an affiliation between the legal entity associated with your prefix and the brand. The email or letter must also include contact information for the brand owner or manufacturer so that Amazon can contact them for verification, either in the footer of the email or stated in the text.
If you sell unique goods with your own brand using your own GTIN, please provide a copy of the certificate issued by GS1 showing your legal entity and the relevant GTIN prefix.

…

2. ASIN Suppressed
3. Brand Name
4. Manufacturer
5. UPC/EAN”

If the seller is unable to provide the above information, the relevant products will not be put back on sale.

Sellers analyzed that Amazon's verification requirements actually have two points: 1. Confirm that the seller's UPC is authentic and valid; 2. Confirm that the UPC used by the seller matches its brand. According to this idea, sellers have made some attempts, such as obtaining UPC exemptions for old products through brand registration, deleting the links created by irregular UPCs and re-uploading listings, etc., but they have not been successful.

" All the methods mentioned have been tried and there is currently no solution. " said one seller. If you have a suggested solution, please leave a message in the comments section.

Looking back, we know that Amazon’s strict inspection of UPC is not a whim. At the end of September, a seller saw Amazon checking UPC and said with emotion: “How many sellers upload listings on Taobao or use software to automatically generate UPC in order to save money? Now they are starting to catch them. I hope this will not be a widespread explosion.”

In the past three months, more and more sellers have encountered this problem. In November, an industry insider issued a warning that Amazon has begun to vigorously review UPCs. As long as the UPC is purchased through informal channels, it may be reviewed in the future. Once it is encountered, the link will basically be removed from the shelves, and sellers are reminded not to be greedy for small profits and suffer big losses.

Now, Amazon has expanded the scope of UPC checks , catching sellers off guard. "It's hard to understand what Amazon is thinking. The new policy also kills old links?" a seller questioned.

Previously, a seller asked his peers “through what channels did you obtain the UPC/EAN of the products on the shelves?” Among the 7 sellers who responded, 4 generated them in batches through Taobao, 2 obtained them from a barcode supplier , and 1 used a UPC exemption.

What is certain is that most sellers’ UPCs are not obtained from GS1. Now that Amazon requires sellers to provide relevant information for verification, many people find it difficult to do so. Sellers who have not yet encountered this situation can also prepare for the rainy day and adapt to the situation.

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