How to protect your brand on Amazon from unauthorized sellers?

Amazon is a double-edged sword for brands and manufacturers. On the one hand, it is an excellent sales channel with plenty of positive aspects: visibility, reach, ease of selling, and unified metrics. On the other hand, Amazon is also a marketplace where fake products are commonplace and authorized resellers are often taken advantage of. However, all is not lost.

There are quite a few steps you can take to prevent unauthorized sellers from listing your products on Amazon or any other sales channel. In this post, we will discuss how you can protect your brand on Amazon from unauthorized sellers while also enabling authorized resellers to sell your products more efficiently through branded seller accounts.

What’s the problem with Amazon and unauthorized sellers?

Amazon has been experiencing an increase in the number of unauthorized sellers who are selling fake products. Unauthorized sellers are able to sell their products on Amazon by setting up a listing for the product and then selling it at a cheaper price than Amazon does. This means that when customers are looking for a product on Amazon, they may not find it because it has been sold by an unauthorized seller. Customers can also be misled if they do happen upon an unauthorized seller's listing—they may think it is from Amazon, but it is actually not!

This is also problematic because customers who buy from these unauthorized sellers will not get the same kind of customer service or guarantees that they would get if they bought directly from Amazon. For example, if you buy something online and receive it damaged or broken, you can return it to the retailer where you bought it; however, if you buy something through an unauthorized seller and receive damaged or broken goods, there really is no anyone else to turn to except yourself or the seller themselves (which isn't always easy).

If you’re selling through Amazon FBA, it is likely that you’ve encountered counterfeiters at least once. If you’re dealing directly with third-party sellers, you have probably come across the dozens of times. Technically, counterfeit goods are illegal to sell in any sales channel, but it’s especially rampant on Amazon.

First of all, Amazon allows anyone to sell any product on their site. This means that there are some products that are sold by people who don't actually own the product or have any right to sell it. Other times, it's just a case of bad luck. There are lots of counterfeit products on Amazon, and sometimes even the manufacturers themselves sell their goods without authorization through Amazon.

The problem isn’t just that counterfeiters mislabel their products or sell fake copies of your goods, it is also that Amazon is notoriously unresponsive in these situations. While you can report counterfeiters and fake sellers to Amazon, there’s no guarantee that Amazon will take action. In some cases, it can take months for Amazon to respond to a complaint, and even then, there’s no guarantee that the seller will be penalized.

In this case, you can take help from Urtasker, one of the finest amazon account management services and amazon marketing service provider agency.

Limiting your products to only authorized resellers

There are multiple ways to limit your products to only authorized resellers, whether they sell through Amazon FBA or directly to Amazon customers.

First, you can require resellers to sign an agreement that they will sell only genuine, authentic products. This can be done through a contract or an addendum to your reseller agreement. Additionally, you can require that resellers use your branded catalog. This can be done through Seller Central settings.

Other ways to limit sellers are:

Requiring authorized resellers to use your branded catalog

One of the easiest ways to stop resellers from listing your products on Amazon without your permission is by requiring that they use your branded catalog. If you use a branded catalog, resellers will be unable to list your products on Amazon without first uploading your catalog. This means that even if a reseller has access to your product SKUs, images, and prices, they won’t be able to sell your products unless they have your catalog. Moreover, if you are using amazon account management services ask them to never list products without your branded catalog.

Limiting which Amazon marketplaces your products can be listed in

Another way to prevent your products from being listed on Amazon without your consent is to limit where they can be listed. One way to do this is through your Seller Central settings. If you have multiple warehouses, you can choose which warehouses each product will be shipped from.

However, when you set your locations, you can also set which Amazon marketplace each product can be listed on. You can even select which country each product will be listed in, like if you want to restrict your products’ availability to the United States or a single state.

Using UPC codes to make sure only your products are sold

Another way you can ensure that your products are the only ones being sold is by using UPC codes. UPCs are unique identification codes that are assigned to every product. UPCs can be bought from a variety of different providers and have been used since the 1950s.

However, UPCs have fallen out of popularity since the rise of Amazon listings. In fact, Amazon has been very quiet about whether UPCs are necessary for sellers. However, there are plenty of resellers who still use them. And if you require resellers to use UPC codes for your products, they won’t be able to sell them on Amazon.

Conclusion

Amazon is a powerful sales channel for brands and manufacturers, but it’s also a marketplace where counterfeiters and fake sellers thrive. Luckily, there are a few ways you can take to prevent unauthorized sellers from listing your products on Amazon. You can require resellers to use your branded catalog, limit which Amazon marketplaces your products can be listed in, and use UPC codes to make sure only your products are sold. This is all you can do to protect your brand from the attack of unauthorized sellers.