An account with annual sales of 800 million was blocked! A Shenzhen seller rushed into Amazon headquarters...

In June this year , Tian Wei had more than 200 accounts blocked and his store had funds deducted as much as 200 million yuan. In order to rescue the accounts, he rushed to Seattle and even sold his house to keep the company alive.

Like Tian Wei, there are many Chinese sellers whose accounts have been blocked. After experiencing major changes in the platform, their businesses have been affected to varying degrees, but actively saving themselves and not giving up cross-border business is almost the consensus of everyone.

More than 200 stores were closed and sellers’ funds of 200 million were deducted

Tian Wei was born after 1995 and is considered a young boss in the cross-border seller circle. He does e-commerce business in Shenzhen, where the industry atmosphere is the most active. When he entered Amazon in 2017, he was already one of the top three sellers in the sex toys category on Tmall. With his own advantages, Tian Wei also sells products in this category on Amazon, and his cross-border journey is relatively smooth.

Tian Wei introduced that the company developed well in 2018 and 2019. At the best time, one independent site could place 13,000 orders a night, and the daily order volume of all stores in five Amazon sites (the United States, Japan, Germany, Singapore, and Brazil) reached 15,000 orders. Six factories worked overtime to supply them. In 2019, sales reached a maximum of 800 million yuan, and the company's e-commerce operations and supply chain employees totaled more than 700 people.

Just as the company was moving forward, Tian Wei encountered its biggest change: overnight, all of the company’s 200-plus Amazon accounts were blocked, and the brand was also affected.

According to Tian Wei's recollection, on June 7, he received a call from an employee saying that he could not log into his Amazon account and that he received an email in his mailbox indicating that his store had been closed due to fake orders. Later, he learned more about the situation and found that all the company's accounts had been closed.

(Tian Wei’s company store received an email that banned the account)

After learning that all his accounts were blocked, Tian Wei had mixed feelings. He had experienced account blocking before, but not on such a large scale. This time, the consequences were a bit serious. Looking back today, Tian Wei still said: "I really didn't expect it to be so serious at the time. The platform didn't even give me any chances."

Tian Wei was not the first seller to be rectified by Amazon after his account was blocked on June 7. As early as the end of April this year, there were reports that top sellers such as Patonson were blocked. At that time, the account cleanup started from the 3C category. In May and June, the number of sellers and brands involved in the account blocking suddenly increased. The sellers involved also quickly sank from the top sellers in the first echelon to the middle sellers in the second echelon, and the categories involved were also more extensive.

Tian Wei was caught in the crackdown by Amazon. "In May this year, a seller friend in Guangzhou sent me a message saying that several of his stores were blocked due to fake orders, and asked me if I had received an email from Amazon to block the account. I said, what's the matter, we also do fake orders, and our account is fine, it has not been blocked. At that time, I was still lucky, thinking that everyone's operation methods are different, and Amazon's related illegal rectification is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Because there were fake orders before, Amazon would send email warnings, and in serious cases, the links to fake orders would be deleted.

Later in June, more and more sellers were blocked for fake orders. I realized that something was wrong. This time, more than one or two stores should be blocked. Later, I was really caught, and then I felt that the matter was serious. Amazon may uproot the fake order sellers this time. From my own situation, this blocking also involves brands. As long as the brand is under your company's name, the platform will also block it. " Tian Wei said.

Tian Wei's more than 200 blocked accounts were all Amazon accounts owned by his company. None of them survived and all of them were shut down. The total amount of funds held in the more than 200 stores involved was as high as more than 200 million yuan. The accounts were shut down, the funds were deducted, and the company was plunged into an unprecedented crisis.

Running around Seattle, trying to unblock the account

When the account was first blocked, Tian Wei tried to find a way to unblock it. He asked many of his peers if there was a good way and whether the blocked account had been unblocked. His peers told him that it was a negative answer and that everyone was confused. Later, he consulted industry service providers about unblocking accounts, but was still told that there was no way to deal with it.

Under the blow of account blocking, Tian Wei also saw the current situation of his peers. Like him, everyone's situation is very bad, and there is no sign of unblocking their accounts. It is understood that there is no new progress in the blocking of top sellers such as Youkeshu, Patonson, and Zebao. After the account is blocked, the sellers have no way to solve the problem. The only thing they can do is wait.

"Before, we received a lot of orders every day, and each department had its own responsibilities. I also had a lot of things to do and was busy all day long. After all the accounts were blocked, everyone suddenly became idle and didn't know what to do. When we came to the office, we just played with our mobile phones and sometimes watched TV series. My whole mental state is different now." Tian Wei introduced.

Because the company's Amazon store could not be logged in, employees had nothing to do. Tian Wei's Shenzhen Amazon operations team could not afford the time consumption, and many employees chose to resign. The number of employees in the operations team was reduced to more than 30 people. Together with the employees on the supply chain, the company's current employees have dropped sharply from more than 700 at its peak to about 100.

Seeing the current situation of the company, Tian Wei was extremely worried. He tried every possible way to unblock his account, but he could not see a glimmer of hope. In order to save his Amazon account, he made a bold decision: go to the office of Amazon headquarters to ask for an explanation.

In October this year , Tian Wei contacted his friends in the United States and boarded a flight to Seattle. He and his friends met with staff from Amazon headquarters in Seattle, USA.

According to Tian Wei, when discussing the issue of blocking his account, Amazon staff took out a thick booklet, which was equivalent to a detailed list of his company, and clearly recorded the company's fake order information. Almost every piece of information about his fake orders could be found in the booklet.

When Tian Wei saw the record book of fake orders, he felt a little desperate.

“Regarding fake orders, no matter how well you disguise yourself, fake is fake, and Amazon will definitely be able to track you down. For example, you ask a friend to fake an order, thinking that you will not be caught, but in fact the platform will know and your transfer records may be exposed. It is difficult for sellers to fake orders and avoid Amazon’s system. So it’s not that Amazon can’t catch sellers faking orders, but it’s a question of whether and when it will take action against you,” said Tian Wei.

Coming out of the Seattle office, Tian Wei was in a heavy mood. He had already vaguely anticipated an outcome: Amazon was catching him for violating regulations by placing fake orders, and he was caught red-handed, with evidence still left. The more than 200 accounts that the company had blocked might never be recovered.

When talking about the issue of fake orders, Tian Wei admitted that he did fake orders, and the activity was quite loud. He said that when the company was doing the most fake orders, it bought more than 500 mobile phones and rented a server to do the fake orders. The payment for these operations was completed through more than 10 bank cards. More than 10 bank cards completed the payment of millions of orders, which should be easy for Amazon to check.

Why is the volume of fake orders so large? Tian Wei said frankly that this is related to the category he operates. Sex toys cannot be directly advertised on Amazon, and can only be implanted through third parties. This type of advertising is relatively expensive and the effect is not good. Many sellers in the category are looking for a breakthrough point and see that fake orders are more effective.

To attract consumers to buy, the most basic thing is to show them data. It is impossible for anyone to choose your product among billions of products. They must read the reviews of the product and buy it only after seeing that someone likes it. If you don't fake orders, it will be difficult for your product to attract consumers' attention, and the product itself will be relatively small. Therefore, fake orders may be one of the most effective methods.

Many sellers of sex toys have engaged in fake orders. Newbies may have fewer fake orders, while sellers who have been in the industry for a longer time may have more fake orders. For this category, not being able to fake orders may be equivalent to losing the source of life. Now that fake orders are no longer allowed, many merchants in this category are looking for other ways out.

Previously, Tian Wei always believed that there was nothing wrong with fake orders. It was not until this year when Amazon shut down stores on a large scale and all his accounts were blocked, hundreds of millions of funds were deducted, and he went to Seattle to no avail to get the accounts unblocked that he gained a deeper understanding of his cross-border business.

Selling 3 houses in Shenzhen to keep the company alive

The collected funds were withheld, but the company still needed funds to maintain its operations. Tian Wei sold his last house in Shenzhen for more than 6 million yuan, and also sold a car.

Tian Wei said that the company had been going downhill since last year, and the account blocking incident was the last straw.

In 2020, the global outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic became a booster for the takeoff of online shopping. Sales of categories such as home kitchens and sports equipment soared. Many cross-border sellers, relying on the domestic supply chain, made unexpected fortunes with the help of this fortune , and then became full of confidence in this year's operations, but Tian Wei did not enjoy this wave of dividends.

"The raw materials for our products are purchased from the United States and then processed. After the outbreak, the price of raw materials has risen sharply, changing every day. It used to be about 40,000 yuan per ton, but now it has doubled, and there may not be any goods, so some people stock up on this raw material."

Tian Wei admitted that the company's success in Amazon also depends on this kind of raw materials. The raw materials from South Korea, Japan and other places are not as good as those in the United States. During the epidemic, the price of raw materials in the United States skyrocketed, and they were often out of stock. Factories were unable to produce and supply normally, which directly led to the embarrassing situation of having orders but no goods.

High freight is also a disadvantage. "What's the point of having many orders? The freight is too expensive, it has increased several times, and there is no price for the cabinet." Tian Wei said. Due to stagnation or interruption of logistics, many countries are unable to ship goods; in addition, the increase in tax points for electronic products in Europe has also affected the company's profits.

Tian Wei roughly estimated that the company's profit last year should be more than 200 million yuan. However, the store operation requires working capital, and the supplier payments and loans must also be paid. The company also has a series of expenses to pay for normal operation, and all the funds flow through Amazon's business chain, so the actual funds in hand are not much. The snowball rolled bigger and bigger, and the company's investment began to exceed its output.

In order to make ends meet, Tian Wei sold two houses in Shenzhen last year for a total of more than 15 million yuan.

In terms of domestic e-commerce, Pinduoduo is attracting a large number of users. Tian Wei closed his two stores on Tmall and focused on the former.

Although the performance has declined, Tian Wei's company can still maintain its business in China and abroad. However, this year, the account blocking wave came. "You have a straw in your heart, and Amazon is a pair of scissors. You can still survive, but if you are hit again, you will be completely finished," he said.

After the account was blocked, Tian Wei sold his last house in Shenzhen. So far, all three houses he bought in 2018 have been sold, with a total of more than 20 million yuan, and he has never lived in any of them.

Press the pause button on Amazon and wait for the right time

Tian Wei was hit hard by Amazon, but he did not lie down. He has adjusted his state and is waiting for new opportunities. Having experienced the waters of domestic and foreign e-commerce, in his words, "Amazon cannot be given up."

In 2012, Tian Wei started to open a store on Taobao, catching up with the platform's bonus period. Initially, he was engaged in the live category. Later, because some merchants violated the regulations and sold parrots that were expressly prohibited by the state, the platform was reformed. Tian Wei gave up this category and switched to sex toys. "In 2013, an acquaintance came into contact with this industry and thought it had great potential. At that time, I worked on the first potential project product, and developed it myself from product selection to all aspects."

From Taobao to Tmall, and then to AliExpress, Tian Wei entered the cross-border e-commerce industry. In 2017, he started selling on Amazon and is now considered an experienced seller.

How does cross-border e-commerce compare to domestic e-commerce? He said: "Relatively speaking, the profits of each platform during the bonus period are quite considerable, but if you compare domestic e-commerce with Amazon, if you make 1 cent in China, you can make 4 cents on Amazon, which is 4 times the profit."

Tian Wei said that he did not have much money when he started selling on Amazon. He chose sex toys because he had supply chain resources and he had just entered a new platform. He did not have much advantage in the early stage, so he could only choose less popular or more promising categories. For example, categories such as clothing or daily necessities are more expensive, and most products such as maternal and child products or electronic technology also require a lot of money or have a high entry threshold. The category he chose has a lower threshold, relatively higher profits, and greater potential.

After five years of working on Amazon , many factories around Tian Wei that make the same products as him are also planning their way out after this year's account ban. "Those who should change their careers have changed their careers. Many have closed down. Some have gone to Douyin, many have changed categories, and some have gone to work."

Tian Wei did not leave. He prepared five accounts to continue selling on Amazon, still choosing the same categories as before, but there were only a dozen orders a day, which was far from the peak period. "I can't give up. I hope there will be more after this storm."

Having been engaged in e-commerce for many years, Tian Wei believes that if you act boldly when the wind blows, you can seize the opportunity, and there is no shortage of bold people now. He understands that many sellers are rushing to Amazon: "Those who want to do business on Amazon this year must be bold. Amazon is a normal wind outlet, and more and more people will come in. When one group of people falls, another group will take up the place. There will never be a shortage. If you fail, there will be more people who will follow."

In the cross-border e-commerce field, in addition to Amazon, Tian Wei also started Tik Tok in November to attract traffic. If some users are interested after watching the video, the merchant can list the Amazon store or personal contact information.

In order to enhance risk resistance, many sellers started to set up independent websites, but Tian Wei was not interested in this because not every product was suitable. Previously, one of his independent websites in Malaysia could receive more than 10,000 orders a day, but due to the epidemic, live broadcasts could no longer be done there, so the independent website business did not continue.

However, the cross-border e-commerce business can no longer support the company's operations. At present, Tian Wei's company mainly relies on the domestic Pinduoduo business to survive.

This young post-95s generation calmly accepts the many experiences this year . "People keep working, and as time goes by, they will experience what they should experience. Everyone will grow up, and it is impossible to stay in one place forever." However, his mentality has also changed a little: "In the past, my mentality was to make more money while I was young, but now I think it is hard to make money."

Conclusion

In the first half of this year, the news of Amazon's strong money-making ability spread all over the streets and alleys, and many people were eager to get close to this money-making beast.

Let’s say “Good wind helps me soar to the sky”.

On April 23, an offline cross-border e-commerce forum in Shenzhen was packed with people. Due to the large number of participants, the situation got out of control, the speeches were forced to be suspended, and the crowd was evacuated. Just one week later, the booming Amazon industry suddenly changed. The main account of the big seller Paton was blocked, and the account blocking wave began.

The ban lasted for several months, causing an industry earthquake, a major reshuffle of 3C and other categories, and the banned companies reduced their staff or even went bankrupt, which attracted constant attention from both inside and outside the industry. Overnight, Amazon seemed to have turned from a "fortune-bringing boy" to a nightmare, with investors standing by and sellers struggling to survive.

Cross-border e-commerce is booming, and Amazon's thunderous rectification has shaken off the industry's gorgeous robes, revealing the lice inside.

The trigger for the account suspension was the manipulation of reviews by small cards, but it was more than that. Amazon responded that the sellers whose accounts were suspended had repeatedly and seriously abused reviews, as well as other violations, such as forging identities, bribery (cooperating with some gray industry parties), and selling illegal products.

Amazon is undergoing a major recovery, and the companies of sellers affected have almost lost half their lives. They are carefully dividing their remaining eggs into different baskets. Tongtuo, a company with billions of dollars in sales, has started training, and other sellers are also diversifying risks and increasing profit points by deploying multiple platforms, increasing investment in independent sites, and supporting potential sellers.

For bystanders, apart from the palpitations when the account ban wave broke out, more people agreed with the platform's Qingfeng Action. The compliance trend on Amazon was very popular. Some sellers regarded fake orders as a "suicide label", and the industry's evaluation operations were significantly reduced. Long-term sellers believe that everyone is standing on the same starting line.

In the categories where the accounts were banned and the sellers were banned, many people have set their sights on the vacant market and hope to take over. After this vigorous rectification, as Amazon said, the sales volume of Chinese sellers has not changed, only the middlemen in the sales chain have changed.

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Shenzhen Sellers