Most Brands at one point or another arrive at the need to address unauthorized sellers on Amazon and eventually every marketplace platform. It's a challenge that costs Brands dearly in terms of both money and time, as well as jeopardizing their reputation with both customers and consumers.
Amazon's Brand Registry never lived up to what most manufacturer's hoped it would and Amazon's desire to combine selection and value will always override the effort to protect a brand's equity.
The most effective way to stop unauthorized sellers is to proactively police your listings and take action when someone violates your listing. This requires regular monitoring of your ASINs and taking action when someone begins selling without authorization.
The first step is to send a cease and desist letter to the offender. This puts them on notice and some sellers will remove listings and some legitimate customers will self-identify as the source behind an unknown 3P Seller ID.
The next step is addressing the sellers who are not so forthcoming. Investments must be made in this area. Working with a tracking company is a must and will provide a good picture of how large the problem is, as well as some tools to address the problem.
The final step is identifying the source of the product to the sellers who do everything they can to hide their identity. This is the most difficult and costly step, but it is also the most important. If you can't figure out how they are getting products, they will always be one step ahead of you.
Amazon is a great place to sell products and has captured a lot of consumer demand, but the platform has created several challenges as well. Once you have a handle on how to stop unauthorized sellers on Amazon, you can focus on other important aspects of your business. We can help you with that. Our solution 'marries up' the information from the 3rd party SaaS MAP/monitoring company with the brands’ shipping records, then we can manage the disruptive listings and isolate the problems quickly and in volume. By using an algorithm that analyzes thousands of data points, brands receive guidance that gives them the information and confidence to confront customers regarding sales strategies and understand gaps in policies that are disruptive, destructive, and negatively impact Brand Equity.
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