A strategy for dealing with counterfeiters and other illegal sellers of your products on Amazon is essential if your brand sells there. Unfortunately, many unauthorized sellers on Amazon will steal your listing, lower your pricing, and not even pay you any commission from the sales.
Therefore, we’ve dedicated this blog to guide authorized sellers on Amazon about ways to deal with unauthorized counterfeiting products.
What is an Unauthorized Seller on Amazon?
Any third party who resells or distributes a brand’s products without taking permission from the rightful owner of the products. This is considered unauthorized selling. Both possible scenarios are a legitimate distributor selling straight to you or a counterfeiter peddling knockoffs on your Amazon page.
How Do Unauthorized Sellers On Amazon Harm Your Business?
When your products are sold in the marketplace by unauthorized sellers, it can harm your business in two ways:
- Your products are being sold without your permission by unauthorized merchants undercutting the official retail price. Suppose an unauthorized seller on Amazon offers a lower price than your MAP. In that case, they may be able to secure the Buy Box, and customers looking for a bargain on Amazon are more likely to purchase from the unauthorized seller.
- Unauthenticated vendors don’t care about satisfying their customers. Therefore, they might send broken or otherwise flawed products. Improper resale tactics can damage a company’s image and deter potential customers from purchasing. Find out how to improve your Amazon seller and product reviews here.
How Can I Protect My Brand From Unauthorized Sellers On Amazon
Brands must follow the rules and regulations outlined by Amazon, but unlicensed merchants still need help finding their way into the marketplace despite these safeguards.
When you find people illegally selling your products, you must take some action, but be aware that this can be a lengthy process that can sometimes feel like a game of whack-a-mole. If you eliminate one seller, another may appear to take their place.
1. Report Unauthorized Sellers On Amazon as Soon as You Spot One
Amazon stays neutral in the conflicts between manufacturers and wholesalers when brand or price policy infractions may be at issue.
If Amazon discovers that a seller infringes on an authentic seller’s intellectual property rights, this is not a concern for the seller. They will then remove the fraudulent listing and prevent the seller from reusing the platform.
Amazon wants to avoid getting into trouble with the law. Thus, the company will not host or approve of anything it does.
Luckily, luck is on your side. If an unlawful Amazon seller peddles your wares, they violate your right to exclusive use of creative works.
For instance, they use your trademarked slogan, emblem, or description in their posts without your permission. You can sue them for violating your intellectual property rights in that situation.
But if their prices are undercutting yours, that’s a different story. Or if they aren’t part of your certified dealer network, Amazon isn’t going to do anything.
2. Simply Overlook Other Sellers On Amazon
Some sellers or manufacturers might ignore the unauthorized sellers on Amazon completely. It’s either because the manufacturer must have tried to approach the seller about the unauthorized selling of the manufacturer’s product, and the seller ignored it, or the manufacturer has not come across the unauthorized seller’s account.
While companies may have tried to report it to Amazon, they may be unable to do anything because it doesn’t infringe upon your intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst choices as it only further encourages these sellers to continue to violate your products. It could hurt your brand or authorized resale network.
3. Become a Registered Brand On Amazon
As soon as you join Seller Central, you must get your brand’s trademark through the Amazon Brand Registry to identify as an Amazon-verified brand. Once you become a registered brand, you can access all the fantastic tools and methods to capitalize on your brand and protect your business.
Once you’re on Amazon’s Brand Registry, you have 24-hour immediate Amazon support, which means you can very conveniently report unauthorized sellers on Amazon, violations, IP infringements, and inaccurate information. Furthermore, you can even monitor the trading of your products in the marketplace to spot counterfeiters using the Brand Dashboard and the Brand Catalog Manager tool.
Brand Dashboard even allows you to monitor who else is selling your branded products within the platform.
Amazon usually prefers to show the registered brand’s products over third-party products; this gives the registered brands an edge over the unauthorized sellers on Amazon selling cheaper versions of their products and even copying their product listings.
4. Employ Amazon’s Transparency Program
Once you successfully become a registered brand on Amazon, you can use the Amazon Transparency program to ensure your brand authorizes and authenticates the products shipped to your consumers. This transparency program allows you to serialize your number, giving each one a unique code to distinguish your original products from the counterfeits.
Brands can protect their credibility by limiting the damage caused by unauthorized sellers who manufacture counterfeit products or make cheaper versions and sell them at a lower price.
5. Get the Brand Listed As Restricted on Amazon
Almost every brand with a robust online presence is restricted on Amazon.
Some vast brands with global customer bases have several counterfeiters selling cheap copies of their products, and Amazon allows them to restrict their product’s trading. Such restriction allows the brands to monitor that only authorized and registered sellers sell their original products in the marketplace. For this, the sellers must seek permission from the restricted brands before selling their products. If you’re a medium-sized business, don’t worry. As your brand grows, Amazon may allow your brand to become restricted. Document all counterfeits and copies you find to support your application for the restricted brand.
6. We Can Help You Protect Your Amazon Business
Hiring a professional Amazon seller consultant is the best way to save on significant resources. AMZDudes is a team of Amazon experts dedicated to building and protecting your brand on Amazon. We watch for unlicensed sellers who might hurt your brand, file tickets with Amazon, and contact them when we notice anything fishy. Our specialists will even assist you in registering your brand on Amazon to maximize your brand protection and promotion. We enhance foot traffic to your store with promotion methods developed specifically for your company’s brand.
Call us right away if you’re having issues with counterfeiting, too. Our expert Amazon Seller Consultant assist you in reporting and removing the illegitimate vendors harming your business.
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