Unless I'm launching a complicated product, I won't pay additional money to have orders inspected.
As such, sometimes unfortunately there will be products that come with the occasional defect.
In my experience, entire orders with thousands of units will always have a few that include some sort of problems... such as:
- Product broken completely (chipped, cracked, or dysfunctional)
- Wrong quantity packed
- Wrong color/variation mixed in
If enough customers complain/return orders of a specific SKU over a short period of time, you may receive an email from Amazon notifying you that your listing was suspended.
Here's what to do if you find yourself in that predicament.
Why Is My Amazon FBA Listing Suspended?
I've been selling a specific product over the last year or so that is inherently difficult to source a consistently high quality product for.
Without giving away the niche, lets just say that there are 24 pieces per poly bag and 2 pieces pair together to form a whole. That's 24 chances to mess something up.
I've faced issues related to too many of 1 piece without enough of the matching pieces, or cracks and breaks in the products during the shipping process (they're plastic - it happens).
I also launched 4 different SKUs in this niche, so I've got quite a bit invested in it. I worked with 2 different suppliers and did quite a bit of due diligence before pursuing this niche, because I knew the importance of finding as high-quality of a product as possible (See my biggest success of 2018 article where I show the importance of sourcing quality products --> getting positive feedback --> gaining organic rank).
Of the 4 SKUs, 3 are sourced from the better supplier, and 1 is from the 2nd supplier whom I only worked with because of their competitive pricing & the fact that the sales agent at the other place was not a very nice person (that's my attempt at a euphemism).
Yesterday, I received an email from Amazon that my listing (sourced from the inferior supplier) was temporarily suspended:
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I followed the link in the email underneath "View Details", and was able to successfully have my listing reinstated that day.
How To Fix Suspended Amazon FBA Listings
Follow the hyperlink underneath "View Details" from the email they send you, it should take you to a seller central screen labeled "Fix Suspended Listing", where it displays some details about why they suspended it, including:
- Merchant SKU
- ASIN
- Units Shipped
- Defective Orders
- Defect Rate
You'll need to provide an answer to some questions before you can submit your case to Amazon for review (if your answers are satisfactory, the automated system will reinstate your listing).
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Why did customers return this product?
Defective product
Action:
Relist
Please describe how you fixed the issues:
We've taken steps to remedy this situation:
- contacted our manufacturer and required and additional inspection before packaging
- paid a third party inspection company to assist in ensuring accurate product specifications & quality standards are met
I'd like to personally apologize, we take customer satisfaction very seriously - this will not happen again.
Now, whether or not you choose to hire an inspection company is up to you.
Personally, I'm just going to let this listing sell out & close it, as this product ended up being more of a "flash in the pan", and sales have slowed down over time.
After hitting the "next" button, you'll arrive at the edit product screen.
No need to make any changes - click the "Save and finish" button, and you should be good to go within the hour!
