Ask any respected seller to give you the recipe for success, and they are likely to lecture on forming positive relationships. Yep, that’s right. You will find this a common answer among many successful sellers and business owners. Relationships are the key to success, and if they turn sour, they become the perfect recipe for disaster. But how exactly are they effective?
You’re probably thinking that your job as a seller on Amazon (or any other e-commerce marketplace) is simply to, well, sell things. You buy it from a supply chain, put in on Amazon, and start selling. We at Got Suspended Clients have seen many sellers have their Amazon seller accounts suspended just because they thought it would be a cakewalk. Unfortunately, it’s not.
Sometimes you will get hit with suspensions that could have been easily avoided had you formed the right relationships. How? Like so:
Asking for Authorization
Many brands these days are going insane because sellers are selling their products online without asking for permission beforehand. As you can imagine, this is quite a big issue in the e-commerce marketplace, and it makes brands and supply chains distrustful toward sellers, one of which could be potentially you.
Imagine how nice and refreshing it must be for a brand when they see an email or receive a phone call from a seller who is actually asking for permission to sell their products online. Doing this as a seller will not only save you from the headache of having to reinstate your seller account, it will create the spark of a new, positive relationship.
Requesting MAPs
Nope, not the ones which pirates use. MAP is the Minimum Advertisement Price which is sent out by brands and manufacturers. It dictates the lowest price a seller can sell a product at. Do you know why request MAPs from brands form a good relationship? That’s right because regrettably many sellers violate this policy and engage in what is known as price gouging, especially during critical times.
Requesting MAP policies as a seller will show the brand or the supply chain that you are a legitimate seller who actually cares about the supply chain and its policies. What will you gain in return? Trust. The foundation of any sort of successful relationship.
Scouting Authorized Distributors, Reporting Unauthorized Ones
Unauthorized distributors are dime a dozen. You can even tell some of them from the authorized ones just by looking at the websites. The more elusive ones will successfully manage to fool you into working with them, which will lead to Amazon finding out, which will lead to you having your seller account suspended. This is exactly why brands are relieved when a seller contacts them to acquire their list of authorized distributors. Every brand has one, and if you prove that you are a legitimate seller, they will disclose the list with no further issues.
Let’s say you were unlucky enough to be duped by an unauthorized distributor, got yourself suspended, and had to reinstate your Amazon seller account. While it’s true that it’s a nerve-wracking process, you can still use it to your benefit. Once the dust has settled and you’re back on Amazon, contact each brand which the unauthorized distributor was distributing, and expose them to those brands. No, no one will call you a tattle-tale. Instead, the brands will be appreciative of your efforts and this will pave the way to a strong relationship.
In general, the more of these healthy relationships you form, the more you will grow as a seller. Brands will trust you, and offer perks in the form of discounts and special access to limited material. They will also act as a reference in cases where you need a reference to work with other brands. Your attention to working correctly with brands will create ripple effects that will be nothing but beneficial for your business.
If you managed to get yourself suspended by working with unauthorized distributors or violating MAP agreements, just send us a message at Got Suspended Clients and we will make sure you leave the rabbit hole very soon!
