New suspension notification for price gouging, as Amazon receives bad press

“Your account activity reflects unusual pricing in period of emergency, which is unfair to our customers and prohibited by Amazon’s Seller Code of Conduct. We reviewed your account further, and we have decided that you currently may not sell on Amazon.com. Funds will not be transferred to you but will stay in your account while we work with you to address this issue. If you have any open orders, please ship them.”

Hurricane Irma Resulting In Claims That Amazon Is Price Gouging: What We Know

Online giant Amazon is no stranger to public scrutiny, but the e-commerce retailer is facing a new round of accusations as Florida residents prepare for the potential devastation of Hurricane Irma. The company reportedly has allowed prices on basic emergency supplies like to surge out of control as the Category 5 storm draws closer to the sunshine state.

Here’s Why Bottled Water Is So Expensive on Amazon Right Now

Expensive water is on sale at Amazon.com, prompting accusations that the e-commerce giant is gouging prices to capitalize on back-to-back catastrophic hurricanes afflicting Florida and Texas. Amazon says it is not gouging- and it is working to prevent the practice on its site. “We do not engage in surge pricing,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Affordable prices have boosted the reputation of a supermarket for eco-snobs. (Germany)

Attacke auf Walmart, Lidl, Aldi – Amazon löst Preis-Krieg aus

Bereits in den ersten Tagen nach der milliardenschweren Übernahme der Öko-Supermarktkette Whole Foods lässt Amazon die Preise purzeln: Avocados kosten plötzlich 1,49 statt 2,99 Dollar und das Pfund Wildlachs aus Alaska 9,99 – das sind fünf Dollar weniger als bisher. „Das ist nur der Anfang”, verkündet das Werbeschild in der Filiale in Brooklyn, New York.

If you’ve recently received a safety complaint, it’s time to start pre-empting a suspension

We’ve seen a spate of these suspensions:

“Hello,

You currently may not sell on Amazon.com because we received safety complaints regarding the items listed. Funds will not be transferred to you but will stay in your account while we work with you to address this issue.

To sell on Amazon again, please send us a plan with actions you took to resolve the issue and prevent similar complaints. Do not limit your plan to issues with specific orders. Get help creating your plan in Seller Central Help (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/200370560). To send us your plan, click the Appeal button next to this email on the Performance Notifications page in Seller Central.

We will review your plan and decide if you may sell on Amazon again. If you do not send an acceptable plan within 17 days, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon. Failure to successfully appeal this decision may result in us permanently withholding any payments to you and any FBA inventory of the items that caused safety complaints may be destroyed at your expense.

You can see your balance and settlement information in the Payments section of Seller Central. If you have questions about those, please write to payments-funds@amazon.com.

You can see the health of your account in the Performance section of Seller Central: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/seller-rating/pages/performance-summary.html…

To talk to someone about this email, ask our Seller Support team to contact you (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/hz/contact-us/performance).

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Complaint Type: Safety Materially Different Complaint”

South Carolina filed a complaint alleging that Amazon failed to collect taxes on sales made by third-party merchants

As the Multistate Tax Commission (“MTC”) is putting the burden on 3rd party sellers to collect and pay sales tax to states in which they have FBA inventory, South Carolina is alleging that the burden should be on Amazon.

Amazon faces a tax fight in South Carolina that could change how online sellers do business

President Trump has repeatedly attacked Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos for dodging financial obligations, tweeting as recently as June that the company avoids “paying internet taxes.” While the president’s claims have remained vague, at least one state is now making a similar allegation — and providing some substance to back it up.

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