Amazon's new round of account sweeps! A large number of sellers suffer

Amazon has been cracking down on accounts more and more recently, with new accounts and European and American accounts becoming the focus of its attacks. This weekend, another batch of accounts were targeted, and sellers shook their heads when they saw the appeal documents required. It is very difficult to save the accounts.

The constant scanning of accounts and policy adjustments have increased people's sense of crisis, and sellers have begun to prepare accounts in a hurry. After all, no matter how careful you are, it is difficult for an account to be safe for a long time, so the industry has begun to consider cultivating more accounts to spread the risk and limit the size of a single store.

So how can accounts that have been scanned recently pass the enhanced video verification? Experienced sellers have summarized a set of methods for reference.

Amazon launches a new round of account scanning, sellers should prepare accounts as soon as possible

Yesterday, Amazon launched a new round of sweeping operations, with new accounts and local stores being the hardest hit. Some affected sellers shut down multiple stores at once, and some new accounts have already shipped. Sellers complained bitterly. "More than ten of our stores were swept." "All the local accounts of my former company were swept." "Mine was also swept this morning, and I just registered but haven't shipped yet."

A seller was hit by eight local stores in a row yesterday morning. He had just bought an account for 20,000 yuan, but when he woke up, more than 100,000 yuan was gone. The service provider who sold the account did not respond to his calls and he could not claim compensation. This kind of account buying and selling is very unstable, and it will be the first landmine to explode when the platform is rectified.

New accounts are more vulnerable to account scanning. "I registered a new account at the end of December and did brand registration. I started shipping goods in the past two weeks. One batch was shipped by air first, followed by another by sea. Last night, I also shipped the last batch of goods before the New Year. As a result, I woke up this morning to see the email for the second review of the account scanning. After learning about the difficulty of appealing, I felt mixed emotions." said a seller. Other sellers are in similar situations. The goods shipped by air have just been put on the shelves, and the goods shipped by sea are still floating on the sea. They also encountered the second review of the account scanning yesterday. They are currently preparing materials for appeal.

Experienced sellers pointed out that if the seller only has the bill, even if the information is submitted truthfully, the problem cannot be solved, and the second review of the number scanning can only be successful by transferring the video. After the information is fully prepared, the seller also needs to mention in the appeal that he is ready for video verification to trigger the video verification.

In this ongoing account crackdown, a large number of European and American local accounts that sellers had invested heavily in collapsed.

In mid-January, multiple local US accounts received fraudulent video verification emails. The platform determined that the accounts were used for deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activities and required a video interview to verify the seller's identity. At the same time, the seller was informed that the relevant accounts would be deactivated on January 27.

The European site's domestic accounts were swept earlier and more thoroughly. In early January this year , a seller received news that in the first and second quarters of 2024, the platform will carry out a large-scale elimination of European domestic stores that are not EU legal entities.

"I also received a reminder from the investment manager, asking me to make corresponding preparations. It feels like the crackdown on violations such as fake orders in 2021. From June last year to now, the frequency of crackdowns has become higher and higher." In the past few days alone, the French local account suffered a heavy blow. Some sellers have locked more than 60 accounts and suffered losses of over 100 million yuan.

It is not without reason that sellers prefer local accounts. As cross-border e-commerce becomes more compliant with taxation and other aspects, the advantages of local accounts are more obvious, especially in Europe. If these sellers can avoid VAT taxes by using local stores, they can gain a great price advantage. Even if domestic sellers reduce procurement and logistics costs to the extreme, it is difficult to win. In the context of widespread consumption downgrade, the effect of low prices is faster than any advertising and promotion techniques.

Amazon's frequent scanning and verification have made sellers uneasy. Even if they are careful in operation, it is difficult to ensure that a store is always safe. Therefore, the industry has begun to tend to increase accounts to spread risks.

"In the current environment, we need to cultivate several accounts, each with a limited scale. The ultimate goal is that the profit of each store is far greater than the inventory cost of the store, so the impact of closing a single store will not be significant. Amazon's way to protect its capital should be to control the scale of each store and prevent association. As long as the entire store is not wiped out, it is a small matter. "

In the past year , Temu, Shein, TikTok and other platforms have been aggressively attacking and grabbing traffic and market share at an astonishing speed, and seller resources are constantly being diverted. However, compared with other platforms that are desperately recruiting sellers, Amazon has gone the other way and strictly screened merchants from registration, audit verification to compliance.

Some sellers couldn't help but say: "Temu and other platforms are all competing for traffic. What good has Amazon gained from trying so hard to get sellers in the past two years? I really don't understand."

How to pass the enhanced video verification when your account is scanned

Most of these scanned accounts face enhanced video verification, which is very difficult to pass. What information is needed for video verification? What preparations can sellers make? Seller @敏哥跨跨记 shared a set of methods for passing the verification:

Materials needed:

1. ID card of the legal person ;

2. The company's business license (note: the business license must have the name of the legal person and be consistent with the name on the ID card) ;

3. Company supply chain and product information (including product purchase invoices, brand certificates, credit card bills, water, electricity and gas bills, etc. ) .

Video verification process:

1. After receiving the email, read the content of the email carefully and make an appointment for the video verification ;

2. After confirming the time, the seller will receive an email within 24 hours before the video verification , informing the seller of the video verification website and meeting number ;

3. Prepare the above - mentioned materials and verify the authenticity of the materials after the video connection .

Problems you may encounter during video verification:

1. Legal person identity verification: legal person's name, ID card, date of birth, zodiac sign, etc.;

2. Account authenticity verification: company name, business license, registration date, email address, source of funds, etc.;

3. Authenticity verification of credit card payment account: the last four digits of the credit card, bank, registered mobile phone number, bank statement, etc.;

4. Authenticity verification of brand companies and suppliers: such as supplier name, contact information, etc.;

5. Account sales and sales data: time of first order, product launch time and sales volume, etc.;

6. Amazon knowledge test: such as how to deal with negative reviews of the store;

7. Check current account issues .

Video verification notes:

1. The video verification will take about 30-60 minutes. It is best for the legal person to participate in person, as the probability of passing will be higher ;

2. Prepare business training for legal persons in advance, be confident and generous when answering, and answer truthfully ;

3. There is only one chance for video verification. If you fail, it will be difficult to apply for the second time.

Amazon's increasingly stringent audits are already very difficult to bear, and more regulations have been introduced in the European and American main battlefields, including the US Corporate Transparency Act, which impacts local accounts, and the EU's new cross-border payment regulations to combat VAT fraud. Obviously, sellers will face more challenges in 2024 .