Seller Performance Solutions
137 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsThis is the definitive podcast that covers performance and policy teams from the perspective of a former Seller Performance team member, and former Amazon employee Chris McCabe. Leah McHugh nails down analysis of listing compliance violations and presents viable solutions to troubleshoot product takedowns.
We created Seller Performance Solutions to help sellers better understand the inner workings of the team I worked on at Amazon, and to help 3rd party marketplace sellers cope with account and listing suspensions. We answer questions around things like, How does Seller Performance investigate a seller before taking them down? What do they need to see in an appeal, to reactivate the account for future selling? What are common mistakes that sellers make trying to get reinstated on Amazon?
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Episodes
Brand Registry Issues
December 02, 2021 14:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBIf you’re a brand owner selling on Amazon then you know that protecting your brand can be a full-time job. In this Episode Chris McCabe & Leah McHugh discuss the complexity of brand registry and the challenges it can present if approached incorrectly.
Amazon Advertising with Destaney Wishon
November 25, 2021 14:00 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MBAdvertising in the Amazon space is more important than ever as it is one of the most fundamental ways to drive white hat traffic to your page. In this podcast we talk with Destaney Wishon of BetterAMZ about the importance of advertising, what new advertising tools she's excited about and the best ways improve your ranking on Amazon.
Q4 Quick Wins with Norm Farrar
November 18, 2021 14:00 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MBWe all know Q4 is a crazy time of year. It's difficult to decide where to hone in and devote your attention, money or time. In this Episode we speak with Norm Farrar of Private Label Legion about the advantageous power of influencers & other brand building techniques to put your best foot forward this Q4 season.
Amazon's New Appeal Forms
November 11, 2021 14:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MBAmazon has been "simplifying" the appeal process for some policy violations, in order to lighten the caseload for their investigators. Chris and Leah discuss this change, and what sellers need to know before you submit these new types of appeals.
Building Your Brand Off of Amazon with Drew Himel
November 04, 2021 13:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBMarketing your brand off of Amazon, not only grows your brand, it can also grow your Amazon account. We talk to Drew Himel from Consult PCR about best practices for communicating with your customers and building your brand's base.
Simplifying International Freight with Rael Lowethal from Zee
October 27, 2021 18:19 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBInternational logistics can be complicated at the best of times. Add global supply chain disruptions and an increased demand for ecommerce, and you're likely facing delayed shipments and extra demand to get your inventory where it needs to be. We spoke to Rael Lowethal from Zee about what sellers can do to streamline moving their products internationally.
Managing Expectations in Q4 on Amazon
October 21, 2021 15:08 - 10 minutes - 9.27 MBAs we swiftly head into the deep end of Q4, we're all getting busier. And Amazon isn't exempt from that. But how should you manage things on your end, as Amazon response times get longer and longer? Leah and Chris discuss how you should plan for Q4 to mitigate issues caused by slow moving Amazon teams.
Get Your Brand Omni-channel Ready with Kunal Chopra
October 14, 2021 13:00 - 17 minutes - 15.6 MB2020 accelerated the adoption of online shopping by as much as 10 years, but successfully expanding into onmi-channel ecommerce takes a lot more than simply listing your products everywhere. In this discussion Kunal Chopra discusses different omni-channel strategies such as brand building and expanding to different marketplaces.
Expanding Your Sales Channels – Sell Your Products Wholesale with Amy Wees
October 07, 2021 13:00 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBGet your products on the shelves of 1000’s stores all over the USA. You already know who your online consumer is, but who is your B2B retail customer? Get expert tricks and tips to discover how to find your B2B audience to sell your products beyond your existing channels.
Using the Firehose Of Traffic on Amazon To Grow Your Brand with Jason Boyce
September 09, 2021 13:00 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBOptimize everything, relentlessly.The everything store has the shoppers, but it also puts your product next to EVERYTHING. Without a strong brand strategy, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd of products all trying to compete for the same customers. You need to leverage the flywheel to not only boost sales, but build brand awareness and loyal customers.
Driving over $500 million in sales with video- with Theron Harmon
September 02, 2021 13:00 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MBWhat do ClickFunnels, Purple Mattresses, Squatty Potty and Poo-Pouri have in common? Viral videos by the Harmon Brothers! With over 1.4 BILLION views, Harmon Brothers are masters at creating great marketing videos. Chris speaks to Theron Harmon about the process they use to create entertaining and informative ads that brand and sell
Advertising Best Practices for Growing Brands
August 26, 2021 13:00 - 17 minutes - 16.5 MBAndrew Waber of Teikametrics joins us to discuss the best practices for advertising your growing brand. We discuss the importance behind key word use and having a solid campaign structure ready to go so your listings can soar.
Preventing Returns and Negative Feedback with Sajag Agarwal
August 19, 2021 13:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBThe quality control process can be a black hole. Even with inspections, issues can easily slip through the cracks. We talk to Sajag Agarwal about how to create a quality control process that actually works. And why you need to create these procedures to minimize returns and negative reviews.
Efficiently Growing Your Business with Carlos Alvarez
August 12, 2021 13:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MBA lot of Amazon sellers tell us it's all they can do to keep their heads above water. As soon as one problem is resolved, another one pops up. Sound familiar? There are so many things that can go wrong in any given day, and it seems like the more money you make, the more problems you have to deal with. But it doesn't have to be this way! Carlos Alvarez joins us to discuss how he has efficiently grown 52 successful businesses! Get insights into lessons learned and tips you can take away so y...
Listings that sell, and are TOS Compliant
July 29, 2021 13:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBEmma Schermer Tamir, a listing optimization expert, joins us to discuss tips and advice for Amazon Seller's navigating the Amazon space. It can be very easy to pay attention and follow suit of what your competitors are doing with their listings, but we go over the best and safest practices to follow with your Amazon listings.
Variation Warnings
July 23, 2021 13:00 - 5 minutes - 4.97 MBIn our experience the ASIN variation policy is one of the least understood areas by Amazon sellers. Unfortunately, the way Amazon words their policy warning ASIN Variation Misuse, leads a lot of sellers to believe that no action is required by them. We discuss the steps that sellers should take to protect their listings and account.
Phony Amazon Sellers
July 08, 2021 13:00 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBWe've seen it all on Amazon, from fake reviews to faking brand approvals. Recently we're spotting more sellers using third-party services to provide fake documentation, not realizing that they are committing fraud. Ultimately, Amazon will hold you the Seller responsible for the conduct on your account, regardless of whether it was you or someone faking the documents on your behalf.
No products, no money.
July 01, 2021 13:00 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBIf you're flagged for an authenticity investigation and aren't able to get documentation deemed acceptable by Amazon, you'll likely find yourself unable to get your inventory out of FBA OR get your funds disbursed. This leaves you stuck, with no product, no cash, and Amazon threatening to dispose of your inventory. Then what?
How To Use The Category Listing Report
June 24, 2021 13:00 - 10 minutes - 9.92 MBCategory Listing Reports are one of the more useful tools available to sellers, and most don't know what it is! We use these reports to vet cases, identify abuse, all the way through to strengthening plans of action. Sellers should be using these to protect their accounts. BONUS: they can simplify your listing management.
Fool Me Once
June 17, 2021 13:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBDealing with an account suspension is difficult for most sellers. Even more difficult is getting suspended for the same reason twice. Amazon only gives you so many changes, and that second reinstatement is hard to achieve. How do you prove to Amazon that you've REALLY implemented a plan of action to prevent future issues when you already failed to follow through on your previous appeal?
Amazon's Preferred Payment Provider Program
June 10, 2021 13:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBWorking capital issues can shut down your business. As we see the costs of selling on Amazon increase and the speed at which Amazon disburses your funds decrease, it's more important than ever to have additional funds available. Often the times you need funds the most are the times that you have the least access to them. Plan ahead to make sure your business can stay afloat in an emergency.
Amazon doesn't want to have a conversation with you
June 03, 2021 13:00 - 7 minutes - 6.56 MBMany sellers confuse the appeal button with an ongoing email thread between them and Amazon. We go over the correct steps during the appeal process so sellers don't waste attempts and can solve their issue quicker.
Antitrust
May 27, 2021 13:00 - 10 minutes - 9.17 MBWe discuss the District of Columbia filing for an anti-trust based lawsuit against Amazon and why we think seller's aren't necessarily talking about this. Chris and Leah share what they find the most interesting about this on going case and whether it will spark a reaction in which other state's follow in the District of Columbia's footsteps.
Are you dropshipping the wrong way?
May 20, 2021 13:00 - 9 minutes - 8.69 MBDropshipping is a common business model used among sellers. We go over the best way to use dropshipping as a selling method on Amazon and what to avoid to ensure that you don't put your account at risk.
Stop Making Excuses
May 13, 2021 13:00 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBNew sellers on Amazon tend to use their newness as an excuse for issues they run into with their account or in hopes of earning some sort of leniency from Amazon. We discuss the correct approach new sellers should be taking rather than using excuses and essentially admitting to being too new to fully understand the correct plan of action in order to reinstate their account and listings.
Abuse Reporting
May 06, 2021 13:00 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBMore and more of the cases we're working on are due to abuse- where another seller is attacking the account. In these cases, just fixing the listings, or responding with a POA isn't enough. You need to report the abuse, to hopefully get Amazon to put an end to it (or at least create a paper trail for the next time it happens).
Aggregators
April 29, 2021 13:00 - 9 minutesThe hot new thing in the Amazon space is Aggregators. About 55, venture-backed aggregators have popped into the Amazon space, looking to buy up Seller accounts. We're huge advocates of doing your due diligence, and in this episode we're talking about why that's so important on both sides of buying and selling Amazon Seller Accounts
Studying Amazon Sellers
April 22, 2021 13:00 - 28 minutes - 64.3 MBMoira Weigel, Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center/ Harvard Law School and Harvard Data and Society researcher, joined us for a far-reaching discussion of technology’s impact on behavior, and in our case, how Amazon’s expanding influence is taking over the lives of so many business owners, globally. She’s looking to talk to sellers about their Amazon experiences, both with their competitors and with Amazon itself. That may mean you! We discussed her writing project in-depth and the...
Who is working on your account?
April 08, 2021 13:00 - 13 minutes - 30.4 MBIn this episode, Leah and I cover one of the more worrisome trends in the consulting space. Using the concept of “White labeling” services, a company contracts out the work that you’ve just hired them for, without making it clear who is working on your account. It is up to you to know who you’re paying, and for what level of skill. A company that also offers numerous other services may be the jack of all trades, mastering none of them. We delve into this phenomenon, and how you need to approa...
Troubleshooting GTIN issues
April 01, 2021 13:00 - 14 minutes - 34.3 MBWe've been fielding UPC questions from Sellers ever since Amazon changed their GTIN policy in 2016. What do you do if Amazon tells you your GTIN has already been used? How do you add a GS1 GTIN to an old listing? What if Amazon won't recognize your prefix as matching your brand? We spoke to Michelle Covey of GS1 US to get the best troubleshooting steps for these common issues.
What is "Suspected" IP Infringement?
March 25, 2021 13:00 - 12 minutes - 27.6 MBASINs are getting suspended left and right for “potential” (read: often imaginary) Intellectual property infringement violations, and sellers are searching for answers. You need strategies to defend yourself against this automation and human error combo! Opening cases with Support or sending emails to Seller Performance won’t get you anywhere, unless you enjoy copy and paste generic “responses.” Every kind of seller, both private label and resellers, need to learn up on these to resolve app...
Why You Need Liability Insurance
March 18, 2021 13:00 - 9 minutes - 20.7 MBProduct liability insurance isn’t just something to think about, or a ”nice to have” if you’re a private label brand owner on Amazon. You need to have it! We spoke with Matt Lovell of WELL Insurance in this episode to go through the main questions and confusion he sees from Amazon sellers pushed to provide copies of their liability coverage by certain dates. Final reminders were recently sent, too, and most dates suggested deadlines in the near future if not already passed. Matt spoke with...
Product Compliance
March 11, 2021 14:00 - 13 minutes - 30.5 MBAmazon finally put measures into place in the past several months and executed the kinds of things you’d expect them to, in order to sure a safe buyer experience. Leah and I have worked on numerous cases with sellers who didn’t understand these new processes nor Amazon’s compliance document expectations. In this episode, we discuss the nuances of effective communication with Amazon teams and what missteps to avoid.
Account Health Services vs Seller Performance
March 04, 2021 14:00 - 10 minutes - 23.2 MBIn this episode, Leah and I cover the key differences between Amazon’s “Account Health Services” team and the “Seller Performance” team. They may sound like they’d cover the same ground, but if your account or listings get suspended, you quickly understand that they are far from the same thing. We dig into what these teams are there for, who staffs them, and how their work influences (and sometimes undermines) the reinstatement appeal process. We also cover how much you can trust the informat...
Why are Sellers Still Committing Review Abuse?
February 25, 2021 14:00 - 11 minutes - 25.6 MBAmazon takes more enforcement actions these days to prevent fake reviews because they face external pressure to do so. In this episode, Leah and I walk through the sources of those policy suspensions, and why we believe sellers think they can get use giveaways, rebates, and other incentives to "game the system." Old shortcuts to success may be mentioned in groups, classes or videos, but they have a big cost.
Used Sold as New Doesn't Mean What You Think it Means
February 18, 2021 14:00 - 12 minutes - 28.3 MBWe receive nearly daily reports from Amazon sellers who have been hit with a listing suspension due to “Used Sold as New” complaints from their buyers. In this episode we delve into the main seller confusion around what Amazon really means by “used sold as new”. Amazon’s misleading jargon often sends sellers down the wrong appeals path.
Seller Psychology: Amazon Teams are Inconsistent
February 04, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutes - 21.3 MBAmazon is inconsistent in its enforcement of policies. Looking at other sellers' behavior isn't an accurate measure of what's allowed, or what isn't. Seller mindset is an important factor in what determines whether an account is successful, or gets into trouble for unknowingly breaking the rules. We discuss what you need to do to cultivate a winning seller's mindset.