3C sub-category was cleaned up! Almost all TOP100 products were removed from the shelves

To do business on Amazon, you need a strong heart that can withstand all kinds of pressure! Recently, some European sellers have felt this deeply. On the one hand, the charger category of the UK site has been cleaned up, and almost all TOP100 products have been removed from the shelves. On the other hand, sellers on the French and German sites will need to register an EPR number from 2022 , otherwise there will be a risk of not being able to upload products.

UK station charger category has been cleaned up

Recently, seller M revealed to the editor that the charger category on Amazon UK was cleaned up. By the end of August, almost all of the TOP100 products in the entire category were removed from the shelves due to complaints.

At present, some of these product links have been restored, but some are still off the shelves.

Chargers are a subcategory of the 3C category and are a hot-selling category for many Chinese sellers. According to M, the complainant was targeted. First, it targeted high-power chargers above 45W; second, it targeted the TOP100 sellers.

Seller M introduced that the complaints started in June this year, when the links with top ranking chargers on the UK site began to be complained about one after another. After the complaints, the links were removed from the shelves, and the reason for the complaints was patent infringement.

Seller M identified this complaint as a malicious one. His link was also complained about in June. After the link was removed from the shelves due to the complaint, he appealed and submitted various materials to Amazon to prove his "innocence". As a result, the appeal was finally approved, and the link was taken down again after being complained about again not long after it was put on the shelves.

From June to now, the links of M store have been complained about many times. A few days ago, one of the links was approved, but it was taken down again the next day.

(Seller M received a notification that the link was removed)

The link was taken down after repeated complaints. After being put back on the shelves through appeals, it was taken down again after repeated complaints ... In the inflator category on the UK site, M is not the only seller who has had this experience.

"Because I have been working in this category for several years, I have also been paying attention to the links that rank high in the category. I found that many links are taken down every now and then. After communicating with other sellers, I found that everyone has been repeatedly complained about." Seller M introduced.

At present, complaints about the charger category on the UK site are still ongoing. During the period of waiting for the link to be restored, it will definitely affect the normal ordering of the product, which is a headache for sellers.

After receiving many complaints, the seller discovered the "black hand" behind the scenes

After being complained about many times, seller M found that the patent number was the same each time he was complained about, but sometimes the email address and other information were different. M followed the clues and found Guangzhou **Dun, the patent company that complained about his link.

M communicated with the company that owned the patent, and the company said that the complaint was not made by them, and that the chargers they sold were also complained about. Previously, the company had authorized the patent to other companies for use.

According to the speculation of seller M, **Dun Company and other sellers in the inflator category, this complaint was made by the company that obtained the **Dun patent authorization, because among the links of the TOP100 in the entire category, only their products have not been removed from the shelves, and are currently ranked in the top position.

Why are the TOP100 sellers so easily complained about? Because most of them do not have patents.

It is understood that there are three types of chargers currently on the market , namely magsafe 1 L-type, magsafe 2 T-type and type c. Taking type c as an example, the patent of this charger belongs to Apple, and most of the chargers sold by sellers are improved on this basis. In everyone's cognition, this is a public model, and many sellers have not registered the patent.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, seller M is also in the process of patent registration. But can you rest easy with a patent? Will there be complaints next time? According to M, "Patents can also be complained about, but patents will make it easier to appeal, but malicious complaints from others are unavoidable. Malicious complaints like this are basically handled by specialized foreign law firms, which specialize in malicious complaints."

Today, the problem of links being repeatedly complained about still exists. Seller M is very distressed and is always worried that his links will be removed. He said frankly that everyone used to compete fairly in the same category, but now it has become a mess because of a malicious complaint!

In terms of business operations, sellers should not cross the line and spoof their peers, but also abide by the platform rules. This week, some sellers on the European site received emails from Amazon, informing them that they need to comply with the EPR requirements of the place where the product is sold. The direct result is that sellers have an additional expense.

Costs are rising, and the European EPR requirement is coming

Since the beginning of this year, Amazon has issued a dazzling array of new regulations.

This week, some European sellers received another email from Amazon, informing them that if they sell in France or Germany, they will need to comply with local EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) standards starting in 2022. In the upcoming fourth quarter, Amazon will publish a link to upload the EPR registration number, and sellers who do not meet the requirements will be suspended from publishing non-compliant products in relevant categories.

(Email received by the seller)

Amazon provides a detailed explanation on the EPR registration number help page.

What is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)?

This is an environmental policy that requires producers to be responsible for the entire life cycle of the products they put on the market, from product design to the end of their life cycle (including waste collection and treatment), in order to reduce the impact of their products on the environment.

By definition, anyone who sells goods subject to EPR requirements in a country is also considered a “producer” if they are not established in that country.

What impact does this have on sellers?

Starting from 2022, if sellers want to sell products in France and/or Germany, Amazon is obliged to confirm whether they meet the EPR requirements in the sales location. Therefore, Amazon will share a link for uploading EPR registration numbers in the fourth quarter of 2021 to collect and verify sellers' EPR registration numbers.

If the seller cannot prove to Amazon that they meet the EPR requirements, Amazon will take the following actions:

In Germany, Amazon will be obliged to suspend the non-compliant products you list under the EPR product category, including all products in the packaging category from July 1, 2022, and all products in the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) category from January 1, 2023.

In France, Amazon is still waiting for more information from French regulators.

What should sellers do?

Producers of goods covered by the EPR requirements are obliged to provide Amazon with the EPR registration number. For details, please refer to the product categories applicable to the French and German EPR requirements below. For these products, sellers need to provide Amazon with the extended producer responsibility registration number.

(Applicable to product categories within the scope of French and German EPR requirements)

If the seller is a producer but does not have an EPR registration number, he or she needs to contact the relevant Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) for each EPR commodity category to register and obtain an EPR registration number.

If you are not a producer but want to sell products that need to comply with EPR requirements, you need to obtain the applicable EPR registration number from the upstream supplier and provide it to Amazon as proof of compliance. If you are not a producer and cannot obtain the applicable EPR registration number from the upstream supplier, the seller needs to register and provide Amazon with his or her own EPR registration number.

Currently, both FBA sellers and self-delivery sellers must comply with EPR requirements and register different countries/regions and different EPR product categories. Depending on the EPR product category/producer responsibility organization in each country/region, environmental protection fees related to EPR should be declared and paid on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis.

The issue of fees is of particular concern. When registering with the EPR, sellers must pay registration fees to different producer responsibility organizations. Fees range from €0 to more than €250; in addition, environmental protection fees are calculated based on sales volume and EPR product classification, which varies from place to place.

The European site has always had many compliance requirements, and when this policy came out, sellers couldn't help but sigh again.