50,000 pieces of goods were confiscated, and the seller successfully claimed $775,000

According to foreign media reports, a seller was kicked off the shopping platform because Amazon suspected him of selling counterfeit products. Not only was his account frozen, but his inventory and funds were also confiscated. The merchant took Amazon to court in anger, spent 18 months and $200,000 to fight the lawsuit, and finally won $775,000 in compensation.

Arbitration documents show that Amazon suspected that the seller was selling counterfeit electronic products on the platform, so it froze the seller's account, confiscated $80,000 in the seller's account , and also seized 50,000 products stored in the warehouse. The seller asked Amazon to return his funds and products, but the platform ignored him, so the seller had to file a lawsuit in court, claiming 1.4 million.

After reviewing contracts, interviewing witnesses and reading legal arguments, the mediator awarded the seller $775,000 in November, half of the amount the seller was seeking. The mediator said that while Amazon had good reason to suspect the merchant and had the right to freeze his account, it was too much to kick the seller off the platform and withhold all products and funds.

In fact, the arbitration process is very beneficial to Amazon, because the arbitration process is very cumbersome and requires a lot of money, time and energy. Few sellers can stick to it. In addition, Amazon requires sellers not to sue as a condition for selling on the platform. Therefore, most sellers will eventually accept a confidential settlement and leave.

A report released by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee last year showed that only 163 of the millions of merchants selling on the Amazon platform filed arbitration proceedings against Amazon between 2014 and 2019. Today, the seller who won the case has given many sellers who are dissatisfied with Amazon a vent and set an example for other sellers.

However, most sellers still have concerns about this. One seller said: "It feels like I just won justice, but the price is still quite high, including goods, lawyer fees, 18 months and 80,000 balance..." Another seller said with emotion: "Most people will not initiate arbitration. They don't have the time and financial resources. If they encounter such a thing, they can only consider themselves unlucky. After all, not many cross-border people can stay away from Amazon. They should cherish what they earn." But some buyers also said: "Although the price is high, it is worth it. Merchants like these in China can only swallow their anger..."

In addition to sighing, some sellers also joked: "If you want to win, you have to pay $200,000 in arbitration fees first." Another seller had a wild idea: "This seller can transform into an agent in the lawsuit between sellers and Amazon. Business will definitely be booming. We can't always let sellers suffer losses. We have to unite and fight against it!"

Amazon's approach in this case was indeed too radical. Simply because it suspected that the seller was selling counterfeit products, it suspended the seller's account and confiscated the seller's inventory and account funds. Even the sellers who heard about this were surprised and said, "Confiscating inventory? Robbery?" There were also sellers who said speechlessly that they had encountered similar things: more than one million pieces of inventory were removed due to infringement, and the platform did not say anything about the infringement, so there was no way to resolve the issue.

In the sellers' view, Amazon's current judgment on infringement is too "violent", and they hope that Amazon can improve its mechanism as soon as possible, strike accurately, and stop hurting innocent people. At the same time, we also want to remind all sellers that Amazon has been increasing its crackdown on counterfeiting, infringement and other illegal activities in recent times. Sellers must also abandon the mentality of luck and sell legally and in compliance with regulations to minimize risks.

E-commerce platform

Amazon Platform

Cross-border e-commerce companies