Article Overview:

• Amazon can lock your personal seller account for several reasons including high order volume, refunds or suspicious activity.

• In this article we look at how to fix your locked Amazon account using methods our users have found to be the most helpful.

• If you are a dropshipper and don’t want the headache of maintaining your own Amazon ordering account anymore, PriceYak can fulfill your orders through our Amazon Managed Accounts, easing one of the biggest obstacles to dropshipping.

• As of April 2022, Managed Accounts across the dropshipping software industry have suffered in performance. PriceYak’s Managed Accounts are still running smoothly, with orders being placed quickly. If you are an AutoDS user being impacted by a slowdown in Amazon order fulfillment, email your most recent AutoDS invoice to sales@priceyak.com for a special offer and hands-on onboarding with a member of our team.

• Bookmark this page for future reference and email us at sales@priceyak.com with any questions about ordering with PriceYak’s Managed Accounts.

Dropshipping comes with a plethora of challenges from starting out to scaling up and everything in between. One issue that a lot of new sellers inevitably come across is the dreaded “ACCOUNT LOCKED” email they receive once sales really begin to take off. While this can bring profits to a screeching halt and leave you scrambling to fulfill orders with a trail of unhappy customers. We have some solutions that can help get you back on track and selling again in no time.

Why did Amazon lock my account?

Amazon can lock your account for many different reasons:

• One of the most common reasons for a locked Amazon account is your billing information not matching up with credit card details and getting flagged for suspicious activity.

• Amazon might also lock your account after an order using secondhand Amazon gift cards, as discounted gift cards are often linked to fraud.

• Another often cited issue and growing concern is high volume orders and/or refunds. If your account is new or not accustomed to a sudden increase in ordering volume, this could be a determining factor.

• Amazon loses money when Prime accounts are not used for their intended purpose, especially the accounts are being used for reselling or dropshipping. The average Amazon Prime subscriber spends $1,400 per year. Amazon has certainly calibrated the Prime membership fee so that even if they subsidize Prime free shipping, each Prime membership is still profitable to them. If you’re a reseller using Prime free shipping for more than $1,400 in items a year, this greatly upsets Amazon’s profitability balance. Prime accounts being used to resell are not profitable for Amazon, especially when they’re the ones paying shipping for low-value items. This is why Amazon shuts down Prime accounts being used for dropshipping at a higher rate than non-Prime accounts.

The best remedy is prevention.

This advice is not meant to be patronizing! We want to share valuable lessons learned from years of working with sellers sourcing from Amazon. Before you get into the account-locked pickle, let’s talk about ways to lessen your chances of an account being locked in the first place:

• If all of your orders are being shipped to different addresses using Prime, this is a pretty strong indicator that you are using Amazon for dropship arbitrage. Your account will most likely get locked within the first 5-10 orders using this method.
  • If the order has been confirmed but is still unshipped, Amazon may cancel these orders and refuse to refund you. Your payment could be confiscated when your account is locked. This is also frustrating because you likely cannot log into your Amazon account to confirm whether an order has been shipped or not, and your buyer may get angry. The quickest remedy then is to bite the bullet and risk your selling status on eBay or other platform you’re selling on and cancel your buyer’s order. Or you might choose to take the hit for potentially double-ordering and simply re-order the item to ship it on time.

• Use a non-Prime account if you plan to ship many orders to multiple addresses. Orders >$25 still ship free, and our sellers are not noticing a big enough difference in shipping times to impact their customer feedback.
  • PriceYak has tools that can automatically increase your margins on the destination market to cover the $6 shipping for most items that are below $25.
  • We still recommend keeping your initial order volume low and gradually building daily order count up over time.

• If you are shipping many items to a single address for resale, Prime may still be a viable option for you. You can ship items to a 3rd party logistics (3PL) company that will receive, sort, repackage, re-label, and send your package on to a final customer. Some benefits of this include:
  • Global package forwarding: 3PLs typically have worked out bulk shipping pricing deals with shipping providers, so they probably get shipping for cheaper than you could get on your own. They’ve also already figured out import or tax fees, so they can help you better calculate how to price your items to guarantee a profit. Reselling onto other marketplaces around the world is a huge opportunity, as many items available in the US are not yet available in other global markets, and are in high demand.
  • If you use a 3PL to repack items, your customer will not receive a package in an Amazon-branded box, which is better for your store reputation. This might help you get repeat customers more often.
  • If you are selling Amazon items on another marketplace like Walmart that hates when their customers get items in a box branded with their competitor’s logo, you have a higher chance of keeping your very profitable Walmart seller account alive by repackaging and reshipping your items.

How do I fix an Amazon account locked after an order "for security purposes"?

There are several steps you can attempt to recover your locked Amazon account. The method you ultimately choose to pursue will likely be determined by the reason it was shut down. We’ll explore some of your options below and what course of action is best for your situation. We've dealt with thousands of locked Amazon accounts and unfortunately there's no guaranteed way to unlock it. Any 3rd party who guarantees and unlocked account and asks for money for this is trying to scam you! But we can talk about some of the things that have sometimes worked.

Getting an Amazon account flagged for security purposes and reopened in a timely manner can seem like a daunting task. Navigating the network of customer service and account specialists takes time away from being able to grow your business and puts profits at risk.

Luckily, this can be one of the easiest Amazon account problems to remediate depending on what information is being flagged. As we mentioned previously, as long as you are being truthful, credit card discrepancies are often the root cause of these issues and can be fixed by simply updating, confirming, or correcting the information being requested.

So what can you do if you receive an email stating “Amazon account locked, your account has been locked for security purposes. Please check your email for instructions on how to unlock your account” ?

Follow these simple steps to get your Amazon account unlocked for security purposes:

1. Upload your document details directly to Amazon:

1. Locate and identify the last order confirmation email you received from Amazon.

2. Click the provided link to access your account settings. This link should show most of the information needed except your order details.

3. Open a product page and attempt to purchase it.

4. The page should now display the message: ‘Your amazon account is locked, and orders are on hold’.

5. Click on the “Add Document” tab and upload any and all requested information.

Tip: Make sure to sign in with your original email account. If you do not, you may not be able to upload any documents.

2. Connect with Amazon via telephone:

1. If located in the US or Canada, use the phone numbers listed below: Domestic: 1-866-216-1072 or International: 1-206-266-2992

2. If you get to an answering service, select option 2 for Amazon Prime Members.

3. Once you get a representative on the line, request to speak with a supervisor. For this, you may have to provide additional verification details for proper identification.

4. Once in contact with a supervisor, be sure to explain your situation and how your account was erroneously blocked.

5. You can also ask for an account specialist to review and unlock your account as this may be faster.

Tip: Typically, customer service representatives will not be able to unlock your Amazon account. Almost all situations will need a supervisor or account specialist for fast resolution.

3. Connect with Amazon using online chat:

1. Sign in to an active Amazon account. If you don’t have one available, create one using a new email address.

2. Once logged in, contact support via the chat option.

3. Provide verification details when needed and ask for an account specialist.

4. Explain the situation and ask what steps are needed to unlock your Amazon account.

5. An account specialist should be able to help you unlock your account or at the very least provide you with the necessary steps to do so.

4. Contact Amazon via email:

There are three primary ways to contact Amazon customer support via email. Contacting Amazon support using email has helped many users unlock their accounts quickly.

Email strategy #1: Reply to the Amazon Account Specialist

When your account gets locked by Amazon they will typically send notification to your registration email. You can often reply directly to an account specialist with the details requested for account verification.

If you did not receive this email notification, proceed to the next strategy for reaching someone that can assist.

Email strategy #2 : Email via the Amazon help center

1. Visit the Amazon.com home page.

2. Click the Sign-in button.

3. Select the Need Help option.

4. Then choose Other issues with sign in.

5. Select the I cannot sign into my account option under Account & Login Issues.

6. Draft an email detailing the issues you are currently dealing with, that your Amazon account was mistakenly locked and request that your account be reinstated.

Email strategy #3: Email the CEO

It can be easy to assume that emailing the CEO of any large corporation will result in silence, especially the largest online seller of goods in the world. But many high profile dropshippers have found success in sending a message directly to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at

Jeff@amazon.com

While Mr. Bezos is most certainly not answering these requests, there is a dedicated team that can review your information and potentially be the key to getting your Amazon account back in good standing.

Tip: Since you will not be sending this message directly through the Amazon portal, be sure to include identifying information such as your full name and email address of the locked account.

“If your account is new or used infrequently Amazon may flag your account due to a short term increase in orders which can quickly stifle growth and any attempts to scale your operation.”

How do I fix an Amazon account locked for high volume orders and refunds?

Getting your Amazon accounts locked due to a sudden high volume of orders or refunds can be one of the most difficult cases to rectify. If your account is new or used infrequently Amazon may flag your account due to a short term increase in orders which can quickly stifle growth and any attempts to scale your operation.

While some sellers have found a short term solution to this by opening more accounts, this is not recommended and can easily become a logistical nightmare in managing several points of contact while running your store. Luckily, PriceYak has been helping many high volume dropshippers move away from using their personal accounts by fulfilling orders through our own network of Amazon Managed Accounts.

With our PriceYak Managed Accounts feature you will be assigned a virtual “wallet” to transfer funds into via Paypal, Payoneer, or wire. When someone purchases an item from your store, we’ll pull from this wallet, pay for the item on Amazon and have it shipped with a gift receipt to your buyer. Fulfillment and refunds are completely automated so there's no need to set time aside and manually process each and every order that comes through your store or worry about managing a team of VA’s who sometimes make human mistakes.

The peace of mind that comes with knowing you don't have to worry about Amazon closing your accounts can be an invaluable asset when making plans to scale your business. The amount of time, capital and marketing that goes into running your business can easily be derailed by a simple overnight change in Amazon policy. To use our Amazon Managed Accounts, sign up at PriceYak.com and we’ll walk you through the setup process. Questions? Send us a message to sales@priceyak.com and we’ll be here to help!

Amazon Account Locked FAQ’s:

Q: What happens if I use incorrect/false information to get my Amazon account unlocked?

A: If you’ve used incorrect or false information to open your Amazon account, you will likely not be able to reopen the account as official documentation with the falsified information likely does not exist to corroborate your ownership o the account. You can try provide Amazon with corrected details.

Q: Does Amazon have volume limits on how much I can sell per day?

A: As we mentioned previously, a sudden increase in volume can activate the Amazon anti-fraud system and may cause them to lock your account. Our advice, as a general rule when dealing with a new account that is shipping to multiple addresses, ship no more than ~5 orders a day per account and you should be just fine. This is a typical volume of orders that would ordinarily not cause any red flags but every situation is unique. If you are shipping to a single address, you can ship more items to that address per day without raising flags.

Q: Will Amazon lock accounts for using the Prime option?

A: No, Amazon will not lock an account simply for using Prime. Typically, there are more specific reasons such as incorrect account info or disregard for compliance policies that will cause the lock. However if you are a dropshipper using Prime and especially Amazon's 5% cash back credit card to fulfill orders, Amazon does not like this use case. If you are a reseller or dropshipper shipping to multiple addresses from Amazon, you should use non-Prime accounts.

Q: Does Amazon frown on dropshipping? Are they actively trying to close my business?

A: Amazon does not want to shut down dropshippers. This has long been a myth within the dropshipping community when Amazon does in fact want and need dropshippers in order to maintain the breadth of market they have captured. However, if you are running your dropshipping business on high-discount secondhand Amazon gift cards or Prime, Amazon may try to curtail your business to prevent their own losses.

Q: What can I do if my credit card is blocking orders?

A: Unfortunately, Amazon will not assist with credit card related issues. If you Amazon account is locked due to your credit card provider, you will need to deal with them directly.

Q: Can I just open multiple Amazon accounts instead of unlocking my original account?

A: While this may seem like a good fix in the short term, unfortunately Amazon will eventually catch on and flag all accounts associated with the original fulfillment account. There are countless ways for Amazon to link your new accounts with your old one: IP address, billing information, credit card numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and other indicators. You'll always be playing a game of cat and mouse. But sometimes this is what it takes to outlast your dropshipping competition!

About PriceYak:

PriceYak began 14 years ago as a proprietary automation software for Amazon to eBay dropshipping, built out of the MIT engineering dorms of our founders. PriceYak has inspired a wave of look-alike services. But PriceYak's superior speed, reliability and advanced features make it the secret weapon of choice for today's largest dropship sellers. Sellers who source from Amazon now use PriceYak to fully automate listing, repricing, ordering, tracking upload, and return label handling on Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and Walmart. PriceYak also offers the most generous dropship automation software on the market for beginners who want to start dropshipping for free.