How to Remove Unauthorized Sellers from Amazon

E-commerce, and Amazon in particular, has made it easier and faster than ever to get your products into consumers’ hands and build your brand. Unfortunately, it’s just as easy and quick for unethical business practices, like undercutting prices or creating unauthorized product listings, to flourish on these platforms too. Let’s look at what can happen, risks to your brand, and options you have to combat unauthorized resellers and fraudulent e-commerce practices.  

E-commerce Pitfalls and How They Happen

E-commerce through Amazon, or most other e-commerce platforms, makes your products and brand vulnerable. Anticipating these vulnerabilities is the first step toward prevention. The most common problems include:

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Unauthorized listings: These appear when a reseller creates one or multiple fake Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs) or retailer names, or even both. By listing your products for sale with false information resellers can “game” Amazon search algorithms to push their listings ahead of legitimate ones in the results list. Another tactic is making small changes to listings to improve search rankings, like adding images, claims, or fake reviews. Tracking down a retailer using a fake name is a challenge because they can easily create more names, ASINs, and listings for your products before you can find them.

Undercutting prices: Both authorized and unauthorized resellers have been known to set prices below minimum advertised prices (MAP); however, brands with a MAP policy in place and enforced consistently have some recourse with authorized resellers. The only option with unauthorized resellers who undercut minimum prices is identifying and removing them.

Counterfeit products: Some sellers create counterfeit products and sell them under your brand, logo, or trademark. Sending the seller a cease and desist letter, if contact information is available, is often the first step in e-commerce brand protection.

Leaky supply chains: Always consider how unauthorized resellers are obtaining your products in the first place. Review your distribution agreements with wholesalers, distribution networks, and retail partners for gaps or flaws. Distributors could be intentionally or accidentally selling to unauthorized parties, or theft and other forms of “shrink” may be to blame. 

Intellectual property (IP) theft: Anyone using your logo or trademark without your permission is violating IP laws. This includes counterfeit or “knock off” products made to look like one of your specific products as well as copying your logo to a different Amazon listing to falsely associate it with your brand.

Risks to Your Brand

Unauthorized sales and product misrepresentation are nothing new in the retail space; however, in today’s age of one-click purchases, online reviews, and the all-important Buy Box, the impact on your brand and revenue hits swiftly. Top risks to your brand include:

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Damage to reputation and value: Unauthorized listings and counterfeit products often don’t deliver what they promise, whether that’s a warranty that can’t be honored or a poor quality product. All of this threatens market share and decreases brand value.

Loss of consumer trust: Once consumers notice irregular quality, inferior customer service, or products that are clearly fakes, they begin to lose trust in your brand. Many customers spread the word through online reviews or social media, potentially directing traffic away from your products.

Diminished customer service: Unauthorized sales can’t support the warranties, return policies, user support, and customer service you offer. This further erodes customer trust.

Loss of revenue: When fake retailers list your products and make their way into your Buy Box, you lose revenue.

Foundations of E-commerce Brand Protection

Realistically, you can’t completely prevent unauthorized resellers from targeting your brand or listing your products without permission. But there are some critical ways to defend your products, services, and brand against violations. Start by defining the details of your relationships with distributors and protecting your IP in these ways: 

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MAP policy: A MAP policy states the minimum prices you allow for your products, and is non-negotiable. Sellers are required to comply and do not have any say in setting MAPs. A good policy will define violations, set penalties and needed escalations, indicate if warnings are given, and spell out grounds for termination. Seasonal or promotional MAPs may also be defined with a policy. Keep your MAP policies up to date and enforce them consistently.

Distribution agreements: Clear, detailed agreements with your wholesalers, distributors, and retail partners helps everyone do their job. Depending on your products and industry, you may choose to specify that retail partners may only sell to consumers and not other retailers. Name all parties, list applicable products, define territory and scope of distribution rights, list distributor and supplier obligations, detail permissible trademark and IP use, list grounds for termination, and set up a process for resolving disputes.

Registered trademark: Apply for a registered trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect your IP against counterfeits or unauthorized logo use. According to the USPTO, “you can’t register a word, phrase, symbol, or design as a trademark without specifically identifying the goods or services being used. Your trademark isn’t limited to one good or service. It can be used with many different goods or services, and include both goods and services.”  

Tools and Tips for Removing Unauthorized Sellers on Amazon

Be aware that Amazon offers limited help because it classifies most unauthorized listings and MAP violations as business disputes between the two companies involved. If you do report problems to Amazon, be prepared to show what steps you’ve already taken to contact the reseller or otherwise correct the issue. Amazon is more likely to assist you in removing false listings if there is evidence of copyright or IP infringement. In many cases, if Amazon investigates, the focus may be on determining violations of Amazon’s own sales policies.

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Amazon offers several tools you can use to further protect your brand, including: 

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• Reporting violations to Amazon
• Adding your company to Amazon’s Brand Registry
• Adding secure, unique codes labels to products with Amazon’s Transparency program
• Applying to become a Gated Brand to limit which resellers may offer your products

Finding a Partner for Long Term Success

These are all steps in the right direction but you’re still left to deal with MAP violations, unauthorized listings, and regular monitoring of your products. Consider how many products you sell, the size and complexity of your distribution network, and the resources you can devote to continually monitoring listings, acting quickly, and following up. Identifying opportunistic unauthorized sellers hiding in plain sight is a never-ending responsibility. 

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Working with a partner like Kreller for online brand protection services provides a dedicated team of investigators, fraud detection experts, and account managers who use digital tools and keen insight. We go beyond automated software packages or one-size-fits-all services with direct communication channels to unauthorized sellers, supply chain leak identification, and decades of experience. 

End-to-End Brand Protection Managed Services from Kreller

Kreller specializes in finding and mitigating threats to your brand from unauthorized sellers on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms. With 24/7 monitoring across all of your e-commerce channels and a strategic approach to brand security, we can manage this critical but resource-intensive task so you can focus on running your business. 

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Please contact us to learn more about our online e-commerce brand protection services.

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