Targeting Chinese sellers? Amazon is recruiting product compliance specialists

The recent quiet down of the big selling account suspension incident was stirred up again because of the suspension of big selling brands such as Zebao. So, while sellers are paying attention to their news, they are also anxiously asking such questions: Can cards be placed in product packaging? Will you be arrested if you fill in the after-sales email address on the packaging?

But in any case, these things all come back to one issue, that is, compliance operations. As for the issue of compliance operations, the editor has also recently noticed new changes in Amazon's recruitment information.

Amazon is recruiting product compliance operations specialists in Shenzhen

“I stand with Amazon this time. If you operate in compliance with regulations, Amazon will not bother you.” A seller commented on the account suspension incident.

In fact, judging from the series of actions Amazon has taken this year, whether it is the formulation of policies or the intensity of control over sellers, it can be clearly felt that it is paying more and more attention to compliance issues.

Recently, the editor found a new recruitment information released by Amazon on a recruitment website. The position being recruited was clearly written as "Product Compliance Operations Specialist".

From the recruitment information, we can know that the job location is in Shenzhen. The most important thing is the job overview. The editor noticed that as a member of the China Compliance Team, they need to be responsible for the monitoring, search, recovery and recall of illegal products on the Amazon e-commerce platform according to the requirements of national authorities.

As can be seen from the above figure, the job profile of the product compliance operations specialist recruited by Amazon this time mainly includes the following four aspects:

1. Responsible for classifying the merchandise in the catalog, ensuring that the products are safely stored in the warehouse and delivered to customers while complying with all local laws and regulations.

2. Review and control the qualification documents and test reports of relevant import and export products to ensure that the products comply with regional and global laws and regulations.

3. Responsible for monitoring, searching, tracking and recalling illegal products on the Amazon e-commerce platform in accordance with the requirements of national authoritative agencies.

4. In terms of international trade and direct imports, it is responsible for import tariff classification and ensures that imported products have been tested to ensure safety and operability.

In response to this, many sellers said that this was a position set up by Amazon to ensure the compliance operations of Chinese sellers.

The seller put a small card on two stores and lost more than 1 million yuan

The recent wave of account blocking incidents has affected a wide range of people. In addition to ZEBO and Wan *KeChuang, even a power bank seller in Shenzhen that was highly praised by sellers in the industry was implicated, resulting in the temporary blocking of the links to the European and Mexican sites.

As for why the Zebao brand was banned, an article in the Wall Street Journal also hinted at the answer: gift cards. In fact, in many industry groups, you can see such a message:

Those who have placed review request cards should move to new warehouses as soon as possible. Amazon has probably already asked warehouses to use infrared scanning to check whether there are review request cards in your product packaging boxes and whether there is contact information on them. If you are caught, they will be directly rejected for the second time. If you are not nervous yet, you should be prepared to run away.

In addition, some sellers also called on other sellers to remove products with cards as soon as possible, " Because of the small cards, two stores of my neighboring company were shut down, and the loss was more than 1 million yuan ." "Those who manipulate reviews may be able to get their products back, but the chances of getting products with small cards back are almost zero."

At the same time, the seller circle also sparked a discussion on whether cards can be placed in products.

Seller A: You can’t do that. Customer service said it’s a violation of regulations.

Seller B: We always put the warranty card in there, so there is no problem.

Seller C: It’s better not to post it. We received the performance email even though we didn’t post it.

Seller D: My previous company let me go. It offered a $19.99 product and offered a $10 rebate for positive reviews. As a result, three stores were closed and 5 million worth of goods were left unsold.

…

Regarding the question of whether to put cards, the editor believes that if sellers want to avoid related risks, the best way is not to put them. If the product must put an after-sales card, then put the content about how to use the product honestly, and do not put in the email, phone, FB account and other contact information. In this way, even if it is wrongly killed, it is easy to appeal. And those cards that clearly indicate that they can provide financial rewards, or cash back cards for good reviews should be avoided.

Chain reaction: Can the after-sales email address be filled in on the outer packaging?

From the above discussion among sellers on whether or not to put cards in product packaging, we can see that the continuous blocking of big-selling accounts has caused a series of chain reactions.

Some sellers said that if the after-sales card in the package cannot contain the contact information, the safe approach is to print the after-sales contact information on the package.

But things are far from that simple. Recently, a seller posted a message on an industry forum, pointing out that the after-sales email address cannot be filled in on the product packaging and instructions.

For a time, whether the after-sales email address could be printed on the product packaging caused widespread discussion and attention.

“——You can keep it. Amazon doesn’t have clear regulations. I feel like it’s neither encouraged nor prohibited.

——You can leave a message on the packaging or instructions, which is also a product service.

——It is best to leave it only in the operating instructions. For questions about use and troubleshooting, use the email for after-sales service.

——It is best to fill it out carefully, unless the customs requires an email address on the product packaging. "

In response to this question, a seller contacted Amazon customer service. From the customer service's answer, it can be seen that Amazon has no clear requirements on whether it is okay to print the after-sales email address on the product packaging. Sellers only need to follow local product packaging regulations.

In addition, some sellers have opened cases in US/UK/DE/FR/IT/ES, asking whether they can add a after-sales email address on the product packaging. The replies they received were: Amazon does not have a clear requirement and does not allow it.

From the above, we can see that Amazon’s meaning is very clear. Amazon has no rules prohibiting the filling of after-sales email addresses on the packaging. Whether to fill it in, the seller only needs to act in accordance with local packaging laws.

In other words, if Chinese customs requires that the packaging of exported products must contain manufacturer information such as manufacturer name, address, contact information, etc., the seller only needs to follow this rule on the product packaging.

In conclusion: Many sellers say that Amazon has become more and more resolute this year, and has become more and more strict and ruthless towards Chinese sellers. However, I think that rather than being ruthless and having stricter rules, it is better to say that Amazon is acting more and more in accordance with the rules and becoming more and more compliant. In this process, sellers may be more painful, but it may not be a bad thing in the long run. After all, this is no longer an era of wild growth. Only when the platform continues to improve its rules and act in accordance with the rules can sellers do business in a good business environment.

Amazon

Compliance Operations Specialist