If you are considering selling replica sunglasses in place of original on Amazon to earn a ton of money, then it is highly advised that you do not go ahead with this plan! Amazon will suspend your account faster than you can imagine.
Yes, it is true that the Internet is filled with tips and tricks on selling fake and replica products on Amazon. So, it is not surprise that you are thinking to yourself that you can get away with it.
Selling replica on Amazon is a big no-no
If you do your research, then you will see that there are many news reports, forum confessions, blog posts and articles which talk about the serious consequences that come with selling replica sunglasses i.e. not following the Amazon seller policy. Take that seller for example who got banned for selling replica sunglasses for more than 5 years.
The seller’s rags to riches story
The seller’s business was quite small when he decided to use Amazon to reach more customers. So like many others, he also signed up with Amazon and agreed on all the terms and conditions set up by the site for their sellers. When he first started to sell, he was actually selling original sunglasses and thus in no time he quickly became one of the top sellers of sunglasses on Amazon.
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With such popularity came a huge order and he saw that he was short on few hundred sunglasses. He could have inform that the product was out-of-stock but, in order to keep on earning money in any means necessary he imported replica sunglasses from China where the different replica models along with cases and documents are available in bulk and that too at a very cheap rate. He sold these replicas as original to customers on Amazon at the price of the original. When he saw the huge amount of profit he made by selling the replicas, he went on the dishonest path and cheated thousands of customer like this for about 5 years without getting his Amazon account banned.
Growth of customer’s awareness
Unfortunately, he was not the only one who was selling fake or counterfeit and replica products on Amazon. Many of these sellers were discovered by buyers, who reported the fraud to Amazon. Thus, severe actions were taken against these dishonest sellers which included a lifetime ban from selling on Amazon.
When the news of so many sellers selling fake products and Amazon’s new strict seller policy became one of the most talked about topics, almost every customer became alert.
There are blogs posts on Amazon and other websites which provided detailed guidelines to spot replicas sunglasses. By following the guidelines, many customers realized that the one he bought from the seller was indeed a replica.
These customers quickly contacted Amazon and reported the seller in a matter of minutes as Amazon made the reporting process a quick and easy one for the customers’ convenience. They also wrote reviews under the product to warn other existing and potential sellers.
The seller’s downfall
So, when Amazon investigated the claims of the customers they found out that this seller was indeed a fraud. And without any further question, they immediately banned the seller and removed the listing. The seller did try to re-register but it did not help and soon after he lost his business and everything he had made within those 5 years.
So, let this true story be a lesson for you! Read and follow the guidelines for sellers of Amazon to succeed.
Resources:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/41c504ba-bade-11e5-bf7e-8a339b6f2164.html#axzz44PRdykZr
http://announce.ft.com/Detail/?DocKey=600-201601050700BIZWIRE_USPRX____BW5525-1