Accounts with annual sales of 200 million yuan were closed! A batch of 10-year-old stores disappeared

Many old Amazon accounts are being shut down, including stores that have been selling for more than 10 years and stores with annual sales of more than 200 million. Some of the old accounts that are still available are no longer as glorious as they used to be. Sales of many old accounts have fallen sharply this year, with some falling as much as 70%. As the platform continues to move forward, some old accounts that were once glorious have become a thing of the past.

Multiple old accounts were shut down

Recently, many old Amazon accounts have encountered unexpected events, such as expired invoices, tampered categories, etc. These old accounts have been closed by the platform. In the eyes of some old sellers, they are currently experiencing a large-scale exodus of sellers, some of whom can no longer adapt to the current competition mechanism, and the platform no longer needs them.

An old seller who has been selling for 15 years said that he had a product that was purchased in 2021 and put on the shelves a few days after the purchase. It was never sold on Amazon and ended up as inventory. However, the platform informed the seller that the invoice for the product had expired some time ago, and the system did not allow for explanations. It just repeatedly reminded the seller that the invoice had expired, and he did not know how to deal with it.

Later, the account of this 15-year-old seller was shut down. According to the email he received, the problem was the expired invoice. The seller also said that his inventory level had dropped sharply over a period of time, reducing the inventory level from 1,500 to 200.

There is more than one seller whose account was blocked due to invoice issues. Many sellers who have been selling for many years have reported this problem. A seller of used cars said frankly: "It is very strange that Amazon requires invoices for used books, and it is unimaginable that I have been selling on Amazon for 25 years, but my account was blocked due to invoice issues."

Obviously, invoices have trapped some old sellers. They cannot provide valid invoices for previous inventory, which puts their accounts at risk. Some sellers are forced to give up sales due to invoice issues.

"Some of my inventory has not been sold for years, and half of it has no new invoices. The current sales volume is also very small. I think the platform's multiple fees are very high. It is no longer worth listing products. I don't have much time to sell on Amazon." A seller who has been in business for more than 10 years sighed helplessly.

Not only the invoice problem, other problems are also causing crisis for old accounts.

There was a seller who had been running an Amazon business for eight years. His account was recently shut down. Prior to this, the seller’s annual sales were approximately US$30 million (equivalent to over RMB 200 million).

An 11-year-old seller said that Amazon has been trying to change my categories for years. My products have been placed in the baby and adult categories. Now I have given up resisting.

There is also a 12-year-old seller who said, "My sales have come to an end. I paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and postage to the platform, and they are still holding my money because my account funds were frozen because I sent an email to the buyer. To my surprise, several senior TOP sellers have encountered the same problem, and these problems are all the platform's problems, not the sellers' problems. So I warn my peers, before putting all your eggs in one basket, think about how to deal with it.

Many old Amazon accounts are being shut down. Some old sellers think that they are no longer able to adapt to the fierce competition rules of the platform, and the platform has also raised the axe and is chopping off these old stores . They call on Amazon to give some advantages to old sellers. If there were no small mom-and-pop stores at the beginning, there would be no Amazon today.

Sales of 16-year-old sellers dropped by 70%

In addition to the old accounts that have experienced extinction, some old accounts currently on sale have also encountered an unprecedented blow this year, mainly manifested in a sharp decline in sales.

A 16-year-old seller shared his sadness: “ I’m not sure what happened to Amazon, but my sales are down 70% from last year , and my sales are not high, and my account health rating is declining. This is the most difficult year in my 16-year sales career.

I know it’s summer (off season), but a 70% drop is a lot and it seems like my products are no longer seeing any exposure. There are so many changes on Amazon that it’s hard to say what caused this.”

Another long-time seller’s sales volume dropped by about 50% . He said that his total revenue last year was $1 million, but he would not have that this year because the brand he had been selling for seven years suddenly could not be sold. The seller believed that Amazon no longer needed his commissions and fees.

“ We have been selling on Amazon for more than ten years and have never seen such low sales. Sales on other platforms are also declining, but not as fast as Amazon . Sales on Amazon may be due to problems with advertising, and now we don’t know whether we should try to find out what has changed on Amazon or get sales in other markets. ” said an old seller.

Many veteran sellers have also reported declining sales. The decline in each store is different, but what they have in common is that it has become increasingly difficult to operate on Amazon this year, with various expenses becoming increasingly high and little profit left.

According to an industry insider, the current situation is related to the change in Amazon's search algorithm. For example, if you enter the desired product in the search bar now , you will not see related products, but other different product pages. The key to search now is who pays for the ads and clicks . If you , as a seller, do not pay for exposure, then customers may never see your products.

“ It seems like there was an algorithm change , if you search for a product one day they’ll appear at the top of the search , the next day they might appear on page 7 , the Amazon algorithm is affecting sales, ” said one veteran seller.

In addition to the algorithm, everyone believes that this is also related to the current sluggish consumption in the United States.

In July, the U.S. consumer confidence index fell to an eight-month low, with the University of Michigan's July consumer confidence index falling to 66.4 from 68.2 in June and an initial reading of 66. Consumer confidence has fallen since the first quarter, with high living costs and rising borrowing costs leading to pessimistic current views and expectations about personal finances. Although the pace of inflation has begun to cool, wage growth has been relatively slow, and many Americans have exhausted their savings during the epidemic.

The survey shows that it has become a general trend for American consumers to cut spending. In the first quarter of 2024, 52% of consumers spent roughly the same as in the fourth quarter of last year. Consumers carefully controlled holiday spending by shopping in advance and using other money-saving strategies, and their purchasing power was significantly reduced. Consumer spending in the first quarter of 2024 increased by only 16%, reaching the lowest level in three years.

With the continuous changes in factors such as platform rules and US consumption structure, some old accounts are gradually losing their competitiveness even after years of sales on Amazon. Some sellers’ stores have been closed, sales have dropped sharply, and they have eventually been eliminated. Market rules stipulate that only the fittest survive.

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