Latest news! A group of Amazon sellers are expected to get back their frozen funds

Last month, the news that "a big seller in Shenzhen got back 5.6 million yuan after his 2.5 million yuan in frozen funds" shocked the cross-border circle. Because of this victory, sellers who were banned and had their funds frozen by Amazon in 2021 for manipulating reviews have seen hope again. In the cross-border e-commerce industry, sellers are most afraid of having their account funds frozen, because this is related to their cash flow. In serious cases, bankruptcy is not uncommon. However, doing cross-border e-commerce is like sailing on the sea, with dangers everywhere. Even if you take precautions, it is difficult to ensure that you will not run aground.

Amazon freezes funds in various ways, sellers call it "uncomfortable"

According to foreign media reports, Neil Aneja, a foreign seller, has recently run into trouble on Amazon because of a safety hazard in a glass breaker he sells that can be installed on the steering wheel. The weight of the product makes the vehicle's computer mistakenly think that the driver has his hands on the steering wheel. So after the news media reported two related accidents, Amazon closed Neil's store and froze $21,000 in his account. Fortunately, the product was sold out at this time.

However, what he didn't expect was that Amazon also seized 48,000 units of other products, with a total value of $1.2 million.

What's even more painful is that Neil can't sue Amazon at all because he agreed to the terms of the platform when he registered as an Amazon merchant, that is, all disputes must be submitted to arbitration. He said that since the store was closed, the loss has reached 175,000 US dollars (about 1.28 million yuan). After many unsuccessful appeals, Neil hired a lawyer to handle it on his behalf in July this year.

Amazon has numerous reasons for freezing sellers' account funds, including product safety risks and violations of the "restricted products" policy.

Orders surged. During this year's PD, when many sellers were immersed in the joy of explosive orders, a seller who mainly does business on the Japanese site could not smile no matter what. The reason was that his account was targeted by Amazon due to the surge in orders. Amazon said it would review his account and froze the funds in the account.

Another seller also said that his account was suddenly blocked in 2021, and the $40,000 in the account was frozen. As for the reason, the email he received showed that it was due to a surge in sales. He wanted to get the funds back and said he was willing to pay a high price to find a service provider to help solve the problem.

Failed to pass the video verification. Video verification has been a headache for sellers in recent years, because some questions are difficult to answer, or tricky, and contain traps, and if you are not careful, you may not pass the verification. Recently, a seller said anxiously: "I received the video verification email, but the legal representative cannot cooperate. Although the store can still sell normally, the store funds have been frozen. Is there any way to withdraw the money in the account?"

Of course, what has impressed sellers the most in the past two years is undoubtedly the manipulation of reviews.

In 2021, due to the manipulation of reviews, a massive "Amazon account ban wave" took place in the cross-border circle. A large number of Chinese Amazon sellers' stores were blocked, account funds were frozen, and many companies went bankrupt overnight, and countless more saw their business plummet.

Even some super best-sellers were not spared, such as Zebao, Youkeshu, and Paton.

Not long ago, Youkeshu said in response to investors that there are still large amounts of frozen funds that have not been recovered. In 2021, Youkeshu had about 400 sites blocked on the Amazon platform and about 128 million yuan of frozen store funds. The 2022 financial report shows that Amazon still has 104 million yuan in accounts receivable, but 99.2% of this money (103 million yuan) has been prepared for bad debts, and it seems difficult to get the money back in a short period of time.

Zebao also suffered heavy losses. In 2021, Amazon suspended Zebao's sales at 367 sites, and its funds were frozen at about 32.2492 million yuan. However, Zebao had already initiated arbitration with Amazon earlier.

Now more and more sellers have joined the arbitration team, and just last month a seller successfully got back his frozen funds.

Sellers whose accounts were blocked are joining forces for arbitration, and funds may be returned in six months

Last month, Yien reported a case : a Shenzhen seller was accused of fake orders and blocked during the 2021 account blocking wave , with 2.5 million yuan of funds frozen . After appealing to no avail, he finally entrusted the US JS law firm to successfully unfreeze and get back 5.6 million yuan through arbitration! This case proves that even if the seller admits to violating the rules when appealing after the account is blocked, it is still possible to get back the frozen funds through judicial channels, and even get high interest.

Amazon blocked about 50,000 seller accounts in 2021. Generally, sellers can resolve disputes through class action lawsuits in U.S. courts. However, according to the Amazon Seller Agreement, sellers cannot file class action lawsuits in U.S. courts and must go to the U.S. Arbitration Court for individual cases.

Arbitration is generally more expensive than litigation, and individual arbitration regulations have caused the cost of sellers' arbitration unfreezing to soar, which is difficult for many sellers to afford. In order to help sellers who are unable to pay arbitration fees to get back the funds in their accounts , JS Law Firm in the United States provides attorney fee risk agency for seller unfreezing cases ( i.e., payment is only made if successful ), and has launched a "zero initial fee " batch arbitration model for sellers with funds to advance arbitration fees. Sellers do not need to pay any fees in the early stage to initiate arbitration, and get back the frozen funds after winning the case. In the event of a loss, there is no need to pay any fees.

Many sellers came to the arbitration hearing . At the end of this month, the first batch of sellers' arbitration cases have been notified to the US Arbitration Court. It is expected that the arbitration will be concluded in more than 6 months. After winning the case, the sellers can get back the frozen funds.

In fact, not only sellers affected by the 2021 account suspension wave, but also sellers who meet the following conditions can participate in batch arbitration:

1. Sellers whose accounts have been blocked and funds have been frozen due to violation of Amazon platform regulations. The reasons for blocking include manipulating reviews, manipulating rankings, failing to pass video verification, abnormal account activity leading to a surge in sales, and sellers failing to pass background checks or information verification.

2. Sellers whose accounts were blocked and funds were frozen after 2018, including those blocked due to mask sales in 2020, those blocked due to fake orders in 2021, those blocked due to failure in video authentication in 2022 and 2023 , and those whose funds were frozen due to recent failure in seller information authentication.

3. Sellers whose funds are frozen over USD 1,500 after their accounts are blocked (including the total amount of the seller’s 14 stores worldwide).

4. Sellers whose accounts have been blocked by other platforms such as Walmart, Wish, and PayPal can also sign up.

In addition, since many sellers want to know the registration procedures and progress of bulk arbitration unfreezing funds , Julie Guo, the lead attorney for seller cases at JS Law Firm in the United States , will hold a " Cross-border E-commerce Overseas Dispute Response Lecture " in Zhengzhou at 14:30 on September 1. Interested sellers can scan the QR code in the poster below to register. In addition, Julie Guo will also share how to quickly restore links, brand registration and intellectual property disputes and other challenges faced by sellers .

Amazon freezes funds