As a successful Amazon Seller, you’ve worked hard to establish a successful business and a good presence in your niche. But suddenly – without warning – something doesn’t seem right anymore: suspiciously bad reviews start popping up on your product page, sales have dropped inexplicably and you lost the buy box.
It may be as bad as it sounds! Your listing could be hijacked but not all is lost you could still take back what’s yours with a bit of effort.
Amazon Listing Hijacking
How Does a Listing Gets Hijacked?
Listing hijacking occurs when a counterfeit version of your product is sold on your Amazon listing without authorization. This is distinct from resellers who legally purchased and offer the same item.
Hijackers typically target popular products in order to reproduce cheaper knockoffs, disguising them as originals. Don’t be fooled by the hijacker’s product; it may appear identical to yours, but that is where the similarities end. This can potentially cut into your bottom line.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
Revenue Lost: If hijackers manage to infiltrate your Amazon listings, it can be detrimental both financially and emotionally. They may appear as if they are offering authentic products but in reality, they are just selling second-rate items while stealing profits from all of the hard work you have put into growing your business.
Negative Reviews: We all know how influential Amazon product reviews and ratings are! Unsurprisingly, when buyers have a bad experience with your merchandise, they’ll be more than willing to post negative feedback on your listing which could potentially dissuade others from purchasing it.
Poor Ratings Impact Your Brand: Poor reviews can have a damaging impact on your brand image and overall rating, which is essential for Amazon sales. It will eventually cause the same sales loss on other products in your store.
How to Check if Your Amazon Listing Has Been Hijacked?
To ensure that your Amazon listing hasn’t been hijacked, start by conducting a sweep and look for an unfamiliar seller in the “Other Sellers on Amazon” section. Though this isn’t always a sign of hijacking, it could be a legit reseller.
Then check to see if the “buy box” is still there. If another seller has managed to win over the buy box for your product, it may be a sign that you have been hijacked. However, don’t jump to a conclusion; check again to see if it’s a reseller.
It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your reviews regardless of whether or not you suspect that your listing has been hijacked. The most common thing you’ll notice is that suddenly your product is unexpectedly getting poor quality reviews, which mainly happens due to counterfeit products.
What to Do if Your Listing Has Been Hijacked?
Buy the Fake Product
I know this may sound strange, but it’s to gain physical evidence of the counterfeit product. Once obtained, compare the fake product with your original one and note any discrepancies between them.
Don’t talk to the hijacker before getting the counterfeit – they can easily stop your shipment and make it impossible for you to get the evidence of their hijacking. Be patient and wait, having tangible proof will be essential to protect yourself from further hijacking!
Cease and Desist Letter
We’ve all experienced the painstaking wait times of Seller Support when resolving any issue, which is why we need to take matters into our own hands and try to scare off the hijacker. Sending a legal cease and desist letter can instantly make them back away from your product listing.
It’s simple: just head over to the hijacker’s Amazon page, click on “Ask a Question” then “Item for Sale,” paste in an exact copy of your cease and desist letter – that’s it!
Give the hijacker 48 hours to respond, if they don’t, we should take additional action without any further dialogue or debate with them. The only acceptable resolution is that the counterfeit item is taken down immediately.
Raise a Case to Seller Support
To permanently rid yourself of the hijacker from your listing, you must supply a legitimate “Infringement Report” to Amazon Seller Support that showcases evidence of their counterfeit product.
It may take some time for them to respond; however, they’ll most likely take down the hijacker. Then you can start dealing with the bad reviews while your listing was hijacked.
Protecting Your Listings for the Future
While it’s impossible to avoid hijackers altogether as an Amazon seller, there are steps you can take to safeguard your business and make it more difficult to hijack your listing:
⚫ Trademark your products: Although this process may take some time, it significantly curbs the production of counterfeit goods.
⚫ Register your brand: After Trademarking your products, you can now register your brand it’ll make it easier for Amazon to recognize all products of your brand, cutting down the time needed to resolve a hijacking if it ever happens.
⚫ Project Zero: Amazon created a decent self-service tool to fight counterfeits — it quickly flags suspect counterfeit items and empowers you to remove hijackers right away, instead of having to wait for Seller Support’s investigation.
⚫ Brand your packaging & listings: Having a product with distinct branding makes it much more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.
Final Thoughts
If your listing is hijacked, it can be devastating to your brand image and Amazon business profitability. The most effective way of safeguarding yourself from hijackers is to ensure that you take proactive steps in securing your brand while being vigilant at all times.
Whenever you suspect a listing of being hijacked, act quickly and exercise your due diligence – the longer counterfeit products remain up, the more damage they will cause for your brand.
If you find yourself a victim of hijacking and counterfeit products, Seller Candy has your back. Our team of Amazon experts will quickly take action to remove the scammer’s products and help you protect your listings against future hijacking so that you can concentrate on what matters – growing your business. No more time wasted with Seller Support!
Stop the daily grind and research every time something goes wrong in Seller Support let the experts take that off your plate, Talk to Seller Candy.
