Amazon refunded every buyer and contacted them stating I sold them fake items, which were very much so not fake.
All orders revolving around the Ms. Rachel doll were refunded by amazon without any mention to me at all. All buyers received a refund as well as an email from Amazon stating that the item was fake.
I provided real invoices from major retailers to be ungated in this category and yet still without any mention to me at all noticed all the orders were refunded to the buyer and money was taken from me.
I contacted a few other sellers who had the same thing happen to them. Every. Single. Order. Refunded to the buyer and a message sent out stating the item was fake.
This seems highly illegal. And how can they say every single doll was fake without doing any research at all? And on top of that just take all the money and not expect anyone to return the items.
This has stolen a couple thousand dollars from me because of this and I know for a fact that others are hurting worse.
Has this ever happened to other sellers before? And if so, is there a solution to this? Or am I just expected to eat the loss and go through the fun of dealing with useless seller support?
Amazon refunded every buyer and contacted them stating I sold them fake items, which were very much so not fake.
All orders revolving around the Ms. Rachel doll were refunded by amazon without any mention to me at all. All buyers received a refund as well as an email from Amazon stating that the item was fake.
I provided real invoices from major retailers to be ungated in this category and yet still without any mention to me at all noticed all the orders were refunded to the buyer and money was taken from me.
I contacted a few other sellers who had the same thing happen to them. Every. Single. Order. Refunded to the buyer and a message sent out stating the item was fake.
This seems highly illegal. And how can they say every single doll was fake without doing any research at all? And on top of that just take all the money and not expect anyone to return the items.
This has stolen a couple thousand dollars from me because of this and I know for a fact that others are hurting worse.
Has this ever happened to other sellers before? And if so, is there a solution to this? Or am I just expected to eat the loss and go through the fun of dealing with useless seller support?
79 odpowiedzi
Seller_OVaHKNw9M8Ya0
I asked for my remaining inventory to be returned to me, Out of 1,000 in sales this last couple of weeks, over $800 went to fees...Who can make money this way, this is on top of them losing thousands of dollars in the inventory I sent them to FBA. I'm done with these crooks, as soon as I get the rest of my inventory back; I'm shutting down this seller account, I'll stay with ebay...slower to sell but at least ebay does not steal my inventory and they don't keep so much in various fees...
Seller_aUbEyzlSSnsDJ
I am pretty sure If you sold them as used like new this would not have happened. You violated policy section 3 I think. You eat the loss.
Seller_Qbd0RsfZFEZBY
If you paid tax on it you didnt get an invoice.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Not gonna happen. As spelled out in the ToS that you agreed to when you signed up. Besides, absent a court order, now that Amazon no longer has "plausible deniability" to suspect that your items are fake, they are not going to put themselves in the position of Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods.
You need to prove WITH INVOICES that your items are legit before Amazon will release them.
Seller_nBUcRErQhJ4JW
I am not a lawyer but wouldnt the first sale doctrine apply ?
This may not be illegal and may be against Amazon policy.
There was a lawsuit between Cartier and one of the wholsale clubs. The club bought the watches "grey market" and sold them as new, because they were. The warehouse club won the suit. They aquired the products legally, they were authentic and theirs to sell.
Seller_Qbd0RsfZFEZBY
The First Sale Doctrine applies specifically to copywritten work, not trade or design marks or patents
Seller_VCSaH8CTg9r9r
LOL...the reason the First Sale Doctrine is cited is not because it is a law or something that permits resale of something..it is merely to provide clarification of where somebody's control over their intellectual property ends. In other words, you sold me this, you cannot now tell me i cant sell it to my neighbor just because your IP is on it. It has nothing to do with reselling being applicable to copyrights or trademarks specifically. Show me the law that says i cant resell what I just purchased from you. And since no such law exists, the First Sale Doctrine is there in case you try and impose your will on what I can and cant do with the product I own of your intellectual property.
Seller_Qbd0RsfZFEZBY
Yeah kinda...
Please understand that we see this very often. Some of us have even gone through it.
Also have some hope. If Amazon is anything it is definetly inconsistant and ever changing.
The current sate is that the requirements for ungating are very different to the requirements of overcoming an authenticity claim.
You will need commercial invoices directly from the brand or brands authorized representitive to overcome an inauthentic claim.
This is because you have violated multiple Amazon policies and US Laws. You have sourced an item at retail and listed it as "new". Items sourced at retail are sold to the end user and must then be listed as used, collectible or reconditioned which most brands dont allow.
Also you are using a brands IP for your profit without explicit authorization which is theft and protected by USPTO law.
These infractions are managed by Amazon using the Counterfiet policy which will result in the loss of funds, inventory and selling privlidges.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Well? Which is it?
Amazon needs the INVOICE that shows on it your business and tax license info. If you don't have that, there is no way forward. And if you do have a real, authentic invoice, even from an authorized wholesaler, if you do not have permission FROM THE BRAND to sell on Amazon, then you're still out of luck.
Says the one whose account is suspended, but still insists he knows more than the people following the rules....
Without invoices, you'll get nowhere with Amazon. Your only recourse might be to take legal action against whoever convinced you that this was a good move. Oh, wait; the disclaimer spells out 20 different ways that they are not responsible if their advice gets you suspended......
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Okay, you have both. Why? If you can purchase wholesale (invoice) why would you also purchase some retail (receipt)? And forget the receipt; it's worthless; only an actual invoice counts. And it can't be (as you said in your first post) "real invoices from major retailers" since those are receipts.
But if you have legit wholesale invoices from authorized distributors, and have permission to sell these dolls from Ms. Rachel (or whoever holds the IP rights to the dolls), then you should be okay. But nothing at Amazon happens fast.
Since you're so sure of that, perhaps spend some of the time while waiting to read through the forums, especially the people selling Nike. That may give you a better idea of what can actually happen.
Seller_oDXVaydIpi3Hi
An INVOICE is piece of paper (or digital) showing that you need to pay for something when you order something.
A receipt is a piece of paper (or digital) showing you did pay for something after you ordered something.
In society and industry, they are often used interchangeably.
Amazon needs to change their wording from "invoice" to "manufacturer/brand owner/authorized distributor invoice or receipt, with a LOA."
Amazon is taking advantage of the ignorant and playing semantics, and you shouldn't be supporting that with your comments.
Seller_oDXVaydIpi3Hi
This would actually resolve 99% of these cases. Amazon has the ability to block listings until approved - they need to take responsibility and make that happen (without screwing everyone on their current listings like will probably happen).
