Help! Amazon hates me! Why??
August 7, 2007 3:59 PM Subscribe
Why can’t I register to sell my used books, etc., at Amazon? I went through all the online steps, got approval emails about the items I’d posted, then within an hour, got another ominous email from “alliance@amazon.com” telling me...
...that my seller account was being closed, my items taken down, and that they would not be explaining to me why this was being done! I called customer service at amazon, was unable to connect directly to the “alliance” folks, but was encouraged to write to them; did so, but have had no response in several weeks. Anybody have a clue what might have triggered such a response? Or what I might be able to do about it? I’d like to be an Amazon seller, after all these years of being an amazon buyer!
...that my seller account was being closed, my items taken down, and that they would not be explaining to me why this was being done! I called customer service at amazon, was unable to connect directly to the “alliance” folks, but was encouraged to write to them; did so, but have had no response in several weeks. Anybody have a clue what might have triggered such a response? Or what I might be able to do about it? I’d like to be an Amazon seller, after all these years of being an amazon buyer!
What was the item? Perhaps an overzealous publisher is "turning in" sellers of used copies. If it's anything like Ebay, anyone can complain about an auction and get it taken down even if the claim is totally specious.
posted by cosmicbandito at 4:30 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by cosmicbandito at 4:30 PM on August 7, 2007
Wow. Check out this page. Apparently Amazon hates lots of people, and vice versa.
I know I'm not answering your question, but maybe it'll help to put you in contact with these other disgruntled sellers.
posted by iguanapolitico at 4:48 PM on August 7, 2007
I know I'm not answering your question, but maybe it'll help to put you in contact with these other disgruntled sellers.
posted by iguanapolitico at 4:48 PM on August 7, 2007
Were any of them ARCs (advanced readers copies) or bound galleys? Those are not technically published, but distributed only for promotional purposes. Publishers are pretty sensitive to those editions and their sale and at the request of the major publishers Amazon has been rather diligent in preventing their sale. The only place those editions can be sold these days is ebay.
Used copies are completely legal to sell under the first-sale doctrine. I've never heard of Amazon having an issue with that.
The only other issue I've seen them respond to was the nature of the material. Racist, pornographic, and violent material sometimes will get booted, if it has no apparent social value.
posted by Toekneesan at 4:49 PM on August 7, 2007
Used copies are completely legal to sell under the first-sale doctrine. I've never heard of Amazon having an issue with that.
The only other issue I've seen them respond to was the nature of the material. Racist, pornographic, and violent material sometimes will get booted, if it has no apparent social value.
posted by Toekneesan at 4:49 PM on August 7, 2007
Are you sure that you have not just received one of the many fake Amazon messages that are out there? Those awful, "your account is suspended" notices that are just trying to get personal info? I've never had trouble selling on Amazon, so I'm just putting that out there. Spams like that happen all the time.
posted by misha at 5:34 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by misha at 5:34 PM on August 7, 2007
alliance@amazon.com is a real e-mail, and if the OP's items did disappear from the site then it's almost certainly legit.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:44 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:44 PM on August 7, 2007
alliance@amazon.com is a real e-mail, and...
Irrelevant. It's trivial to forge any email header, including "From", as every phisher knows well.
...IF the OP's items did disappear from the site then it's almost certainly legit. (emphasis added)
Agreed.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 9:05 PM on August 7, 2007
Irrelevant. It's trivial to forge any email header, including "From", as every phisher knows well.
...IF the OP's items did disappear from the site then it's almost certainly legit. (emphasis added)
Agreed.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 9:05 PM on August 7, 2007
Did you make any successful sales before you were banned? Do you have any negative feedback? Did you refund any orders? Low feedback or high refund rates can result in Amazon pulling the plug.
You could post this question in the Amazon Seller Community forum. Experienced sellers may have some insight. If you want to stay anonymous, sign up to post there with a different email address than your seller account.
posted by reeddavid at 12:40 AM on August 8, 2007
You could post this question in the Amazon Seller Community forum. Experienced sellers may have some insight. If you want to stay anonymous, sign up to post there with a different email address than your seller account.
posted by reeddavid at 12:40 AM on August 8, 2007
Have you tried selling on half.com ? It's owned by ebay, but is more like Amazon marketplace instead of an auction site.
posted by ijoyner at 7:07 AM on August 8, 2007
posted by ijoyner at 7:07 AM on August 8, 2007
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posted by Lentrohamsanin at 4:19 PM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]