Amazon Eases Instant Account Deactivation Policy to Appease Sellers

After years of grumbling, Amazon said Wednesday (Nov 16) it was amending a dispute policy that instantly deactivated sellers’ accounts, in favor of a plan that allows sellers to stay open while they work towards a resolution.

Before now, Amazon’s 2 million sellers faced an ongoing threat of having their accounts suspended for any red flag on their account, no matter if the claim was legit or if the seller was falsely accused by a customer.

“[Threat of account suspension] can create a level of anxiety or fears,” Amazon’s vice president of selling partner services, Dharmesh Mehta, said in an interview with Bloomberg in which he emphasized the importance of introducing a new system for sellers to fight off deactivation. “So this is really about how do we create greater peace of mind.”

Under Amazon’s new Account Health Assurance benefit, sellers with high ratings will be eligible to dispute any claims on their account without the worry of losing eCommerce revenue in the process.

By finally addressing an ongoing issue that third-party sellers face on Amazon’s site, the company is also looking to build trust that may have been wavering amid growing economic pressure and sagging sales growth.

The fence-mending move with its sellers comes the same day that the eCommerce giant started a round of announced layoffs in its smart devices sector, as Amazon takes a closer look at its headcount and cost structure worldwide in the wake of its disappointing third quarter results last month in which it pledged to “do more with less.”