I can’t sell on Amazon anymore because my late shipment rate went above 4% – help!

Q&A ProCategory: Amazon SellersI can’t sell on Amazon anymore because my late shipment rate went above 4% – help!
Jonathan Alvares asked 5 years ago
1 Answers
Dani Avitz Staff answered 5 years ago
I’m so sorry to hear about your issue. But it’s not over just yet. You’ve likely received an email from Amazon saying something like “we have decided that you may not sell on amazon.com”. This means that your Amazon seller account has been suspended. But you have the right to appeal. And appeals often work. So here’s how to submit an appeal with the best chance of success. You’ll need to send an email containing a POA (plan of action) to Amazon. And here’s how to structure that email: Start with a simple greeting, for example: “Hi, Thank you for giving us the chance to appeal. Hereby we set forth a plan of action that will see our late shipment rate drop back below 4% - and stay there.” Next you’ll want to create bulleted lists for three sections. “What went wrong”; “What we’ve done to fix the issue”; and “How we’ll prevent recurrence”. For the “What went wrong” section, set out, clearly, why you went above the 4% late shipment rate. Whether it was a supply chain problem, vacation days, etc. Be honest and straightforward. In the “what we’ve done to fix the issue” section, include tangible steps that you will follow through on. For example…
  • We’ve sent out a communication to all customers, informing them that the fault lay on our side (not Amazon’s), and we will do everything in our power to prevent more incidents.
  • We are in the process of hiring a new employee to help us manage the workload and prevent future late shipments.
  • Etc…
And in the final section, more tangible steps. For example...
  • We will hire an employee to exclusively monitor and manage the Amazon account, and ensure all vacation days are planned for well in advance.
  • We have secured outsourcing options in the case of increased orders, to ensure zero backlogs on order processing.
  • Etc…
Close that off with a "best regards" and know that you’ve done all that you can. The best way to avoid getting your Amazon seller account suspended is, of course, to stay below that 4% shipment rate. And to stay within the Terms and Conditions set forth for sellers by Amazon. So make sure you know the T’s and C’s. Make sure that you set your account on vacation mode to account for holidays. Maybe look for outsourcing options in the case that things get too busy. Do everything you can to prevent late shipments.