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Amazon Account Suspension: How FBA Sellers Can Avoid & Appeal in 2024
A top concern amongst Amazon sellers is Amazon abruptly shutting down their account or listings — seemingly without reason. 
And it’s a valid concern. Amazon account suspensions could result in the loss of your massive investment of time, energy, and money. Everything you’ve spent on your Amazon business can vanish in an instant.
Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about that. We’ve got your ultimate guide to Amazon account suspensions to help you navigate those treacherous waters.
Types of Amazon suspension
What can you do if you’re suspended/suppressed on Amazon?
What happens if your Plan of Action doesn’t work?
Jun 5, 2023 Update:
Based on the new INFORM Consumers Act (which goes into effect on June 27, 2023), Amazon is required to collect and verify information about your seller account, such as the seller’s name, a government-issued identification document, a business address, bank account information, a working email address, a working phone number, and a tax identification number.
If you do not provide Amazon with this information by Jun 27, 2023, your Amazon seller account will be at risk for deactivation. Go to the Account Health section of Seller Central to complete the identity verification.
 
What happens when you get suspended by Amazon?
There are four unique types of Amazon seller account interruptions, and it’s important that you understand the difference between them. We’ve ordered them by severity – from low to high.
ASIN Suppression
In addition to having your account suspended, you can also have your ability to sell an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) suppressed.
If an ASIN is suppressed, it’s still in Amazon’s database. But you, personally, cannot sell it — even if it’s your product! However, similar to Amazon account suspensions, you can appeal to have your ASIN reopened.
To learn how to lift an ASIN suppression see ‘Plan of Action’ (POA) below. 
Suspension
The first step Amazon takes when removing a seller’s privileges from its platform is to suspend the seller’s account. This may seem like bad news, but being suspended actually means that you have a chance to contest the suspension. 
And, if you’re lucky, Amazon will have revealed the reasons for the suspension in their notification, along with a time frame to appeal — typically seven days. 
Usually, when this happens, it means responding to Amazon’s concerns by writing a Plan of Action letter detailing how you will address their issues with your account.

Again, we cover how to write a Plan of Action letter later in this article.
Denied
After you’ve submitted a Plan of Action to Amazon, your POA may get denied. A denied status isn’t the end of the world though. You can rewrite and resubmit it to make your case. 
Also, there is no set limit to the number of times that appeals can be resubmitted. 
I’ve seen claims on seller forums that say some sellers have submitted multiple appeal letters until they finally gave the POA Amazon was looking for.
Banned
Finally, the worst-case-scenario for a suspended Amazon seller is a complete ban.
Once banned from the platform, Amazon will no longer read your emails or accept your Plans of Action. In other words, you’re done. 
It may be possible to start another account, but Amazon is pretty good about “sniffing out” dummy accounts, so a ban usually (and effectively) ends your career as an Amazon seller.
How Amazon will notify you if your account gets suspended 
If Amazon suspends your seller account, you will receive a notification within Seller Central, and likely to your email address on file. Make sure you frequently monitor the Account Health section in Seller Central to see the status of your Amazon Seller account. 
Amazon will not send you a text so make sure to not click on any suspicious link sent to your phone!
Important: Take a moment to reflect before you act
Regardless of which interrupted account status you’re given, make sure you take a moment to pause and reflect on your circumstances. 
Sometimes our first instinct is to reply right away in protest, but that can (and often does) backfire. 
Instead, follow the steps detailed below.
What can you do if you’re suspended/suppressed on Amazon?
Step 1. Consider what may have caused the suspension/suppression
Occasionally, Amazon can be somewhat vague regarding the reasons for your suspension, suppression, denial, or ban. So, if the letter from Seller Support doesn’t reveal the causes for the status, take a step back and think about all of the actions you’ve taken within the last few months.
Also remember that the event that led to the change in your seller status might come either from something you did and can control or from something outside of your control.
Things you can control: seller performance and account health