Amazon cracks down on variant violations, some sellers have had their entire site blocked

Starting in April, Amazon has stepped up its crackdown on variant violations.

After Amazon's crackdown, sellers in the industry are no longer interested in illegal variant operations, but informed sellers revealed that according to reliable information, this round of variant sweeps is still ongoing, and serious violations and repeated violations are likely to lead to death, and the chance of rescue is slim. At the same time, sellers have noticed that the impact of sweeps caused by variant violations is still expanding. After a seller's Canadian site was swept, the remaining sites in North America, Europe, etc. were also all deactivated, which aroused concern.

Some sellers have begun to check their own links in the hope of reducing account risks. Some sellers have provided several areas of inspection that can be focused on for reference.

The seller's variant was scanned and the entire site was affected

Recently, Amazon has been cracking down on variant violations. Since the Qingming Festival, sellers have been banned. Amazon informed in an email that according to Article 3 of the agreement , the seller’s account will be suspended, the listing will be deleted, and the funds will be withheld. The reason for the ban is that one or more ASIN variants created by the seller violated the platform’s ASIN creation policy. Sellers are not allowed to:

- Changing a product’s detail page ( parent or child ) so that it is completely different from the original product listed .

- Changed the detail page of the parent product so that it does not match the child product .

Adding incorrect child variations that are not true variations of the parent product .

--Adding non-manufacturer created multi-pack variants to an existing parent.

If the seller believes that they have been wrongly targeted, they can file an appeal, explaining how they did not abuse ASIN variations and submit evidence that their account complies with Amazon's change policy. But in fact, almost all of the accounts that were swept have violated the variation rules, making it difficult for them to prove their innocence.

To cope with the crisis, some sellers choose to spend thousands of dollars to find a service provider, but because it is difficult to file a complaint for a single box, some sellers have already laid down and are prepared to wait and see.

What’s worse is that if one site is scanned due to variants, it may affect the entire site. A seller posted a message asking for help. On April 3, his account on the Canadian site was illegally scanned by variants, causing all North American sites to be suspended. The next day, all other accounts in Europe and other places were also linked and deactivated.

The seller was filled with regrets, not expecting that a variation violation would be so serious. He received a variation violation warning in October last year, and at that time he simply checked the box to acknowledge that he had created a variation repeatedly. "In fact, the other variation was never sold, but the ASIN that was synchronized from the US site could not be sold normally at that time, so he created a new Canadian ASIN, and then received a variation violation warning."

Amazon's drastic measures are frightening : now they are so ruthless in catching illegal variants! Sellers lamented: "In the past, there were three chances, but now they are all caught. I submitted this POD twice in January, and I won't dare to do it again." "Now it is really strict. If you have your own brand, you will be at risk for the same category and different main picture styles." Some operators are also thankful, "My former employer was crazy about illegal mergers, and I didn't participate in any of them, but I was still disliked. I don't know how their account is now."

At present, it is difficult for sellers whose stores have been shut down due to the scanning of their accounts to appeal, but Amazon does not launch attacks without warning . A seller successfully appealed through Zhiwubuyan. His account received a warning for merging variants in violation of regulations in September last year , and he has not received similar warnings since then. He also had merge operations during this period. Although all the color variants of the same product were merged in compliance with regulations this year, he still could not escape the disaster .

The sellers who were caught in this wave complained bitterly, and everyone in the industry was worried. Some sellers complained about who could operate so properly, while some sellers approved of the platform's rectification. "I think it's a good thing, otherwise many people would illegally merge variants, which would only lead to vicious competition." " To be honest, every time I see a new product with hundreds or thousands of good reviews, I can only gloat over Amazon's punishment and hate that the punishment is too light. " said the seller.

The current fierce and strict inspection momentum makes sellers nervous . Someone bluntly said: "Amazon's system has been really crazy about catching variants recently. I can see the variant relationship in inventory management and listing editing, but it shows that there is no variant relationship in the variant relationship. The normal compliance variant table does not report any errors, but the front end does not show the variant. "

Next, we must strictly abide by the rules when operating variants . Some sellers are unsure: "Now when we are selling new products, can we still post a small product link specifically for vine, and then merge it into the main link? Will it be scanned?" Experienced sellers said that non-violation variants of the same product but different colors can still be merged. So can the variant titles be inconsistent? The account manager told me that no, except for the color, all other information must be consistent.

Strict investigation is underway , but some sellers are still violating the law. A seller asked, the backend shows that the merge has been completed, but the frontend shows that some variants are not included in the merged link, what's going on? A colleague couldn't help but wipe his sweat: "We are strictly investigating and cracking down on merged variants, how dare you do this?" He really won't turn back until he hits the wall.

Amazon continues to crack down on this, sellers can check themselves from these points

Merging variants used to be a common practice for sellers, but in fact, such operations greatly affect the shopping experience of buyers. For example, when a user sees a vacuum cleaner priced at $9.99 and opens it to find that it is just a product accessory, it is inevitable that he will be upset. In recent months, Amazon has frequently taken strong measures to rectify the chaos of variant violations.

Senior cross-border seller Xiao Wangge revealed that according to reliable information, this round of variant scanning is still ongoing. Severe and repeated violations are likely to lead to death, and the chance of rescue is slim. Sellers can first conduct self-inspection and focus on the following situations:

1. ASINs that have been caught. Even if Amazon automatically separated them by email, do not merge them again if you are not sure. Be more cautious if you have suffered performance loss.

2. Severely illegal variants: This mainly refers to the situation where different categories are forcibly merged. There are also mergers of completely different products, such as the merger of data cables and power banks, and the merger of zombie links. The former two are prone to being blocked with a single box, or even a single box without any performance notification, and there is basically no way to appeal.

3. Illegal attribute variant: This category does not exist but a variant attribute is forcibly added.

4. Violation name variants: This type of violation is not as serious as the previous points, but it is recommended not to occur.

5. Violation variants due to misunderstanding of policies: Violations with similar products in the same category are not as serious, but it is recommended not to make mistakes during this period.

As Amazon continues to conduct strict inspections, sellers stay away from variant violations and almost no longer operate such operations. So should the previously merged links be adjusted now? According to seller feedback, many leading sellers in the industry have not yet started to make changes, and sellers can also judge for themselves whether to make changes.