How a book business can die in an instant

Posted by Adam on July 13th, 2010

Tags

Category selling-more-books

…no, not mine!  I’m still going to be chugging along for some time.  I think I scared a few people from my last post. icon smile How a book business can die in an instant

I wanted to take the time this week to talk about an email I just received today from a loyal reader and successful online book-selling business owner.  Let’s call her Sue.  Sue had occasionally emailed me in the past to get some tips on how to get started, some of her successes and just general comments about how she was growing her business.  I always enjoyed our email conversations until she dropped a huge bomb on me today…Amazon had killed her.

Like most successful online booksellers Amazon was the most important stream of income for her.  She was working hard to reap the rewards that a highly-trafficked site like Amazon was giving her until today.

Here is her email to me:

Adam~ thank you for being a mentor…. Amazon is great so is bookselling. I screwed up by hiring and not checking an employees work. This is a DIY business. Just as I was going FBA. Now I have 4000 books to get rid of. Not bitter,just sad.

thanks for your help.
Mary Sherman
Begin forwarded message:
From: “Amazon.com Seller Performance Team” <seller-performance@amazon.com>
Date: July 13, 2010 1:54:29 AM CDT
To: “sharymerman@aol.com” <sharymerman@aol.com>
Subject: Notice: Your Amazon.com Account
Hello from Amazon.com.
We are writing to let you know that we have blocked your selling account. Your open listings have been canceled and you may no longer sell on our site. Any subsequent selling accounts that are opened will be closed as well.
We took this action because it has come to our attention that this account is related to an account which has been previously blocked for violations of our policies. While we do not provide detailed information on how we link related accounts, we have significant evidence that this account is related to a previously blocked account.
Your seller account will remain accessible to you. Please take steps to resolve your pending sales.
Any remaining funds are being reserved in your Amazon.com account for 90 days from the date your account was blocked. After 90 days, the funds will be disbursed minus any A-to-z Guarantee claims or charge-backs. If you have further questions about your funds please write to payments-funds@amazon.com.
While we appreciate your interest, please understand that the closure of an account is a permanent action. Thank you for your understanding with our decision.
Regards,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com

thanks for your help

Here is the crushing blow she just received from Amazon:

Subject: Notice: Your Amazon.com Account

Hello from Amazon.com.

We are writing to let you know that we have blocked your selling account. Your open listings have been canceled and you may no longer sell on our site. Any subsequent selling accounts that are opened will be closed as well.

We took this action because it has come to our attention that this account is related to an account which has been previously blocked for violations of our policies. While we do not provide detailed information on how we link related accounts, we have significant evidence that this account is related to a previously blocked account.

Your seller account will remain accessible to you. Please take steps to resolve your pending sales.

Any remaining funds are being reserved in your Amazon.com account for 90 days from the date your account was blocked. After 90 days, the funds will be disbursed minus any A-to-z Guarantee claims or charge-backs. If you have further questions about your funds please write to payments-funds@amazon.com.

While we appreciate your interest, please understand that the closure of an account is a permanent action. Thank you for your understanding with our decision.

————————————————————————————————————-

This was devastating news to say the least.  I couldn’t help but think what this would mean for me if Amazon had completely shut down my account.  I also couldn’t help but notice how blunt and to the point this email was.  This kind of email could seriously jeopardize a person’s life if they’ve  grown to depend on the income for living expenses as I have.  I’ve heard of other situations like this to where they give no reason and do not return emails or phone calls.  With Amazon, it seems there is a one strike you’re out rule.  I agree with the seller performance team’s responsibility to keep the site clear of scams and malicious activity but to give no warning contact prior to dropping the ax is completely unnecessary.

What are your thoughts?

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  • Thebookaddict Customersupport

    For Amazon to not even give her a chance to defend he self is just wrong? From reading the blogs on Amazon I have heard of this happening before. Frankly I'm surprised they haven't been sued for denying someones lively hood. Although Amazon is by far the best site (in my opinion) to sell books you can't make it your only selling option if you want to make a living at this (as you have stated). In addition to Amazon, Half & Ebay I am starting my own website so hopefully one day my life won't be in the hands of someone else.

  • adbertram

    I agree completely. I have diversified on other sites but Amazon is nearly
    3/4 of my business whether I like it or not.

  • 6yearseller

    It makes you wonder what would have happened should she have signed up for FBA. Would she had to have paid a small fortune to get her inventory back? Does Amazon keep the inventory if she doesn't? Just curious.
    Sorry to hear about this story. I've been on Amazon for 6 years and can't imagine what I'd do if I got an email like this.

  • mediavan

    it is tough to go through an account shutdown without warning. amazon don't really care who they shut down as they'll still earn a commission on a sale from another seller for the same item.

    in this case, it appears that a second account existed previously (either knowingly or not) that has caused a trigger for a violation of two seller accounts. thats probably their number one method of detecting fraudulent sellers. again, amazon will most likely try to avoid applying any more resources to the issue because they'll make sales off of other listings anyway, but if i was this seller, i wouldn't give up trying to petition for reinstatement. just write a polite letter stating that you had no idea you had a second account — unless you actually knew about it — and what you plan to do about it. stating that participating in fba is part of your plan for future sales… you never know.

  • Funny_funster

    Why was her account bloked before? What happened this time? A lot of this story is missing.

  • adbertram

    This I don't know.

  • Stevejaxfl

    I am just getting started selling books on Amazon, and this is really scary. I had hoped to be able to grow this into a business to eventually replace my current job.

    I am going to have to think about ways to diversify so that I am not dependent on one company that could shut me down with no recourse.

  • Steve J

    That's a tough one. It's a stark reminder for all of us to 'keep our nose clean' and stay within the rules. I'm sorry she's lost out on her source of income. But, I'm glad that Amazon does have rules for us to follow.

    I'm not making a judgment on her particular situation, because we don't have enough info. But, I'm comforted a little in knowing that those who don't take the rules seriously will not last long.

  • adbertram

    Definitely diversify.

  • Pat

    A true wakeup call to “Keep Your Nose Clean” on Amazon. I could not imagine having a $3K+ business on Amazon, then getting an email stating I was out of business.

  • adbertram

    Definitely!

  • JP

    You're right, very blunt. Sends a clear message and thankfully one not intended for me (read: you… and you… and… ). I also wonder the same thing as I grow to the point where I am considering hiring others to help. How can I make someone else care about my ratings as much as I do? How can I implement a checks and balances process to ensure that all of what I check on all of my orders is checked by my potential employees? Also, what if… she had 20,000 books in the FBA warehouse? What then? That's a loss too, I bet. Do most people pondering these questions decide to take the plunge and open your own site? This makes me strongly consider the idea. Your thoughts?

  • adbertram

    I will never open my own site because I hate marketing. It's just that simple.

  • JP

    You're right, very blunt. Sends a clear message and thankfully one not intended for me (read: you… and you… and… ). I also wonder the same thing as I grow to the point where I am considering hiring others to help. How can I make someone else care about my ratings as much as I do? How can I implement a checks and balances process to ensure that all of what I check on all of my orders is checked by my potential employees? Also, what if… she had 20,000 books in the FBA warehouse? What then? That's a loss too, I bet. Do most people pondering these questions decide to take the plunge and open your own site? This makes me strongly consider the idea. Your thoughts?

  • adbertram

    I will never open my own site because I hate marketing. It's just that simple.