This post is about what to do when you as an Amazon seller receive an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal. You could be selling on Amazon with no issues for months and years when all of a sudden you receive an email with the subject line “Notification of Restricted Products Removal”, where Amazon is telling you that your product has been removed from Amazon’s site and is no longer available for sale. This can be devastating because if your listing is down, then you can’t generate any sales. At Goat Consulting, we help clients mitigate these restricted product risks and help resolve account health issues when they arise. This post calls out certain items from Amazon’s policies, but you should thoroughly review each Restricted Product Policy Notification yourself to understand the exact issue and policy that is in violation. Here we outline what an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal is, how to know you have received a restricted products removal, and steps to reinstate your product listing.
What is an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal
An Amazon notification of restricted products removal is a notification that your selling account has violated an Amazon policy for selling or listing a product on Amazon. Amazon has policies in place so they can create a marketplace that customers can trust and buy with confidence. They consistently monitor the listings to ensure that listings contain products or information that complies with all laws and regulations. It is your responsibility as a seller to list and merchandise products that are compliant with Amazon policies, or you will receive an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal.
How to Know you Have Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal
There are several ways to know that your product has received an Amazon notification of restricted products removal.
Email From Amazon Regarding Restricted Product Removal
Amazon will send an email of a notification that the detail page has been removed. This email will contain important information about what product is in violation (ASIN, SKU, title identification), why the product is in violation, actions required by the seller, links to applicable Amazon policies, and steps to take to resolve the issue. This email is sent to the email addresses that are added to Settings > Notification Preferences > Brand Health Notification Preferences and selected Brand Health Notification. This can be sent via email or SMS. In our experience, you will receive this email almost immediately after the listing is removed from the catalog.
Seller Central Performance Notifications
Hovering over Performance and selecting Performance Notifications, within your Amazon Seller Central Account, will bring you to a page that lists all of the alerts regarding account health. This includes notifications around restricted products removal and contains the same information provided in the email notification. In our experience, the performance notification will display in your account almost immediately after the listing is removed from the catalog.
Policy Compliance in Account Health
In Seller Central, selecting Performance > Account Health, there is a module titled “Policy Compliance”. This contains a list of policy compliance issues, with one of them being Restricted Product Policy Violations. Selecting that shows a list of the history of restricted policy violations. This page shows the date the issue was identified, ASINs that were impacted, the action that has been taken, and next steps for resolving the issue. This is the page that is used to take action to reinstate your listing after you have received an Amazon notification of restricted products removal. In our experience, the Account Health Dashboard will be updated with the violation, approximately 24 hours after the listing is removed from the Catalog.
Amazon Product Listing Page Not Found
The most obvious alert that there is an issue with your listing, is that it no longer exists on Amazon. When you visit the product listing page, you are shown a picture of a dog with a title stating “Sorry, we couldn’t find that page. Try searching or go to Amazon’s homepage.” and the Status column for that product on your Manage Inventory page may say “Detail Page Removed”. This is an indication that Amazon has removed your product listing and could be an indication that you have violated an Amazon policy.
Steps to Reinstate Listing After Receiving an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal
First and foremost, you need to ensure that your product complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies. if it does not, then you must close, delete, or archive your listing. If your product is compliant, and you feel that your product is permitted for sale then you can provide evidence and documentation to reinstate the listing in the form of an appeal or plan of action. The goal with a plan of action is to provide Amazon with the confidence that you will and have addressed the issue to help Amazon make a reinstatement decision based on your listing by considering a holistic perspective of your specific situation.
Here are the steps to take to reinstate your listing after receiving an Amazon notification of restricted products removal:
Close your listing
Understand the Issue - Review the original Performance Notification to confirm which changes need to be made on your listing
Read the Restricted Products Policy - Ensure that your product complies with all laws and regulations and Amazon policies
Review all ASINs that were removed for Restricted Product Policy Violations - you are able to provide an appeal for multiple ASINs at one time
Provide reason for appeal and documentation to request reinstatement
This appeal should outline the cause of the performance notification and what was done to resolve any issues to be compliant with Amazon’s policies. You can add additional documentation including images and PDFs to support your case. Once submitted, it may take Amazon up to 7 days to review and reinstate your product listing.
Conclusion of Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal
When your product listing goes down due to an Amazon Notification of Restricted Products Removal policy violation, it can be a stressful event as your sales are completely cut off until resolved. Amazon is striving to create a trusted marketplace that customers can feel confident shopping. Luckily, Amazon provides sellers with an appeal process to reinstate product listings if the listing complies with all laws and policies. Amazon taking these steps helps build a trusted marketplace for customers in the long run, which will help your business grow by providing a safe and trusted shopping experience. If you have any questions or need assistance with resolving any account health or Amazon notification of restricted products removal appeals, please reach out to Goat Consulting for assistance.