Shocking US Anti-Trust Investigation Report into Amazon is here and confirms what we all already knew!
American lawmakers who spent the last year investigating the practices of the world’s largest tech giants said this week that Amazon, along with three other companies exercised and abused it’s monopoly power and called for the most radical changes to antitrust laws in half a century!
In a 449-page report, lawmakers said the four companies had turned from “scrappy” start-ups into “the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons.”
The lawmakers said the companies had abused their dominant positions, setting and often dictating prices and rules for commerce, search, advertising, social networking and publishing.
To amend the inequities, the lawmakers recommended restoring competition by effectively breaking up the companies, emboldening the agencies that police market concentration and throwing up hurdles for the companies to acquire start-ups. They also proposed reforming antitrust laws, in the biggest potential shift since the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
Some interesting parts about Amazon mention it’s bullying, cruel treatment of third party sellers, which includes unhelpful Seller Support and unjustified suspensions with very limited options to appeal.
As Stacy Mitchell, Co-Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, noted during the Subcommittee’s hearing on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, “Among the most egregious examples of Amazon’s arbitrary treatment of sellers are its abrupt suspensions of their accounts, frequently made without explanation. Once Amazon suspends a seller’s account or delists its products, the business is left with largely ineffective remedies as they watch their sales disappear. Sellers shared with Subcommittee staff that communications to Amazon’s Seller Support Central generally prompt automated, unhelpful responses, which may be entirely unrelated to the specific case, question, or concern raised by the seller.”
Amazon can treat sellers in this manner because it knows that sellers have no other realistic alternatives to the platform. As Mr. Barnett noted in his testimony: “When there is bullying by an extremely successful company with all these partners that continue to do business with it, one has to ask how is it that such a successful business maintains partnerships with so many companies while bullying them. It is because of the power asymmetry . . . that companies tolerate this.“
Additionally, the sellers interviewed by Subcommittee staff generally indicated that Amazon’s customer service and treatment towards them has declined significantly in recent years. One business owner, who has been selling on Amazon for over a decade, told Subcommittee staff that in the past a seller could get meaningful assistance by talking to an Amazon representative over the phone.
He said, “I used to think that Amazon was a partner,” but, now, “I don’t think they care about the third party seller . . . . They treat us as a commodity.”
Internal Amazon documents suggest that the company’s hyper-focus on a cost-cutting strategy to adopt automated processes for nearly everything —which Amazon refers to as “HOTW” or “Hands off the wheel” — combined with the platform’s monopoly power over sellers may be to blame for Amazon’s atrocious levels of customer service.
Amazon has recently monetized the degradation of its seller services, rolling out a program where sellers can pay an extra fee for a dedicated account representative. Sellers are supposed to pay for representatives to help them solve the very problems that Amazon created in the first place. Many sellers say, however, that even with paid Amazon account managers they are often unable to get their issues resolved. One seller told Subcommittee staff, “It is a problem that an algorithm can make a decision that just shuts off my income stream and there’s nothing I can do to get it back . . . . The only thing I can do to get it back is pay $6,000 a month for a dedicated rep and even then, it doesn’t always work.”
If you are not planning to read the whole document, start with page 267, which addresses Amazon and the company’s abusive treatment of third party sellers.
Here I am including some screenshots of the most interesting pages, which I collected out of the whole document, after entirely reading it:
And here you can view the whole document:
[documentcloud url=”https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7222833-House-Tech-Antitrust-Report.html”]
➡️ If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic
As you know, last year Amazon updated Account Health Dashboards across North American marketplaces by introducing numeric scores. The same features are now available on European marketplaces as well.
Account Health Rating constitutes a numeric score ranging from 0 to 1,000 (in addition to the color coding), enabling you to see how close you are to the various thresholds that move your AHR from green (‘Healthy’) to yellow (‘At Risk’) to red (‘Unhealthy’).
If your AHR is green (“Healthy,” based on a score of 200-1,000), that means your account is not at risk of deactivation. If your AHR is yellow (“At Risk,” based on a score of 100-199), your account is at risk of deactivation. When your AHR is red (“Unhealthy,” based on a score of 99 or lower), your account is either eligible for deactivation or already deactivated.
Account Health Rating is also displaying the degree to which any violations you might incur impact your account health, allowing you to prioritize addressing those that are most negatively affecting it.
Here you can learn more in a screenshot of e-mail regarding the matter from Amazon:
| New Account Health Rating features are live – preview your rating and address open issues on your Account Health page now! Hello, Over the past few years, sellers have asked for more insight into account health-related issues. We heard your feedback and have rolled out the new version of the Account Health Rating in August 2022 to our sellers in the US and Canada stores. We are now excited to share that we have expanded the program to the EU, the UK, and Türkiye. Starting today, we have added new features to your Account Health page that will provide more transparency into your account health status. These new features will allow you to spend more time growing your business and delighting customers, and less time worrying about your account health and potential disruption to your business. We are now also displaying your AHR as a numeric score ranging from 0 to 1,000 (in addition to the color coding), enabling you to see how close you are to the various thresholds that move your AHR from green (‘Healthy’) to yellow (‘At Risk’) to red (‘Unhealthy’). If your AHR is green (“Healthy,” based on a score of 200-1,000), that means your account is not at risk of deactivation. If your AHR is yellow (“At Risk,” based on a score of 100-199), your account is at risk of deactivation. When your AHR is red (“Unhealthy,” based on a score of 99 or lower), your account is either eligible for deactivation or already deactivated. We are also displaying the degree to which any violations you might incur impact your account health, allowing you to prioritize addressing those that are most negatively affecting it. We offer a 7-day preview period that starts today, for you to see your AHR score and status and address any open violations in your account to improve your score. Starting 7 days from today, your account may be deactivated if your AHR score is red or “Unhealthy.” By looking at your policy adherence holistically, we want to create a predictable and consistent experience for you to manage your business, while still maintaining a high bar for Amazon customer experience. We encourage you to go to your Account Health page and, if your account is in “at risk” or “unhealthy” status, address open issues that impact your score before the 7-day period ends to avoid potential deactivation. We will continue to work hard to make it easier for you to monitor your account health and performance. If you have any questions or suggestions about how we might improve the AHR, please visit the Seller Forums and browse to the “Account Health” category there to share your thoughts. Our team of Account Health Specialists is ready to answer any questions surfaced there. To learn more about the AHR, please visit our Help pages. Thank you for selling in Amazon’s store. Selling Partner Support |
In order to receive a professional advice and get help with your Amazon issue, feel free to subscribe and reach out through my dedicated assistance help page at www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic, where I provide help with Amazon related matters in exchange for a small $24.99 fee.
If you have an Amazon-related issue, feel free to join and post into my large Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide Facebook group, where you will be very welcome.
Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!
Additionally, here you can watch my YouTube video, where I am presenting you my advice how to avoid getting suspended on Amazon and get help with a Plan of Action without having to spend a lot of money on a hired guru:
If you are carefully monitoring Amazon’s notifications, you must have noticed a recent change in wording, concerning e-mails sent regarding different international Amazon marketplaces.
Previously, informative e-mails used to be sent in different languages, depending on the store’s local language.
Now, all e-mails are being sent in English regardless of the store’s location and a header stating “Regarding store: Germany / Sweden…..” is being added.
Here you can view what the new notifications look like:
Another one:
In order to receive a professional advice and get help with your Amazon issue, feel free to subscribe and reach out through my dedicated assistance help page at www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic, where I provide help with Amazon related matters in exchange for a small $24.99 fee.
If you have an Amazon-related issue, feel free to join and post into my large Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide Facebook group, where you will be very welcome.
Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!
Additionally, here you can watch my YouTube video, where I am presenting you my advice how to avoid getting suspended on Amazon and get help with a Plan of Action without having to spend a lot of money on a hired guru:
Here are some quick tips to boost your running business on Amazon:
Optimize your product listings with high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and relevant keywords.
Use Amazon’s advertising tools, such as sponsored products and sponsored brands, to increase visibility and drive sales.
Offer competitive prices and promotions to attract customers.
Monitor your inventory levels and ensure that you always have sufficient stock to meet customer demand.
Use Amazon’s FBA service to save time and money and focus on growing your business.
Encourage customer reviews by providing excellent customer service and follow-up support.
Expand your product offerings to attract a wider range of customers and increase sales.
Keep an eye on your competitors and adjust your pricing and product offerings accordingly.
By implementing these strategies, you can quickly and effectively boost your running business on Amazon and increase your sales and profitability.
In order to receive a professional advice and get help with your Amazon issue, feel free to subscribe and reach out through my dedicated assistance help page at www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic, where I provide help with Amazon related matters in exchange for a small $24.99 fee.
If you have an Amazon-related issue, feel free to join and post into my large Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide Facebook group, where you will be very welcome.
Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!
Additionally, here you can watch my YouTube video, where I am presenting you my advice how to avoid getting suspended on Amazon and get help with a Plan of Action without having to spend a lot of money on a hired guru:
-
All Blogs & Seller News1 year agoYou would never think this could get you suspended! Amazon continues its wave of Buyer Account closures, learn what is new!
-
All Blogs & Seller News1 year agoWatch out! Amazon is mercilessly cracking down on dropshipping!
-
Amazon Seller News2 years agoMeltable inventory restrictions start April 15, 2021
-
Amazon Seller News2 years agoFind out if any of your Amazon listings include prohibited keywords
-
All Blogs & Seller News1 year agoWhy isn’t Amazon doing anything to help third party sellers affected by the situation in Ukraine?
-
Amazon Seller News2 years agoAccount deactivated in accordance with section 3 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement
-
Amazon Seller News2 years agoNew automated-removal options for unfulfillable inventory
-
Amazon Seller News10 months agoWhat is the difference between FNSKU and SKU?
Gia Reiniger
December 3, 2020 at 6:04 pm
Hello everyone, it’s my first pay a quick visit at this web site, and paragraph is
genuinely fruitful in favor of me, keep up posting these articles.
Fay Bays
December 5, 2020 at 4:37 am
I like looking through a post that can make people think.
Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!
Pingback: Letter from Dave Clark, Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO to the new US president Joe Bidden - Seller Union
Pingback: Jeff Wilke makes an announcement on behalf of Amazon, despite thousands of sellers mercilessly suspended during pandemic – Seller Union