For those of you who missed it Amazon has launched a new series in Seller Forums, Ask Amazon! As you might have guessed the first topic to be discussed by Amazon is Pesticide Product Listings. So here’s how it worked. Amazon posted the topic and allowed Sellers the day to post their questions as a reply. They then grouped similar questions together and responded to the most relevant topics.
As you can imagine a lot of sellers used this to discuss one of issues specific to their accounts. However, there was also a lot of great information provided to Sellers by Amazon. The full discussion is linked above, in this article I will cover the most popular topics of discussion.
Amazon |Pesticide Product Listings | Talking Points
So the first big talking point was books! Amazon incorrectly coded some book ASIN’s as pesticides. As such these ASIN’s were temporarily suspended. Amazon has since been made aware of the issue and seemingly by their response reinstated those ASIN’s. If any of your books were taken down and you did not appeal or see them reinstated, you should have little issue having them reinstated now. If appealing this type of ASIN suspension it may be helpful to quote the Ask Amazon article in which they claim the issue has been resolved.
Another popular topic was clothing. While there was some back and forth and quite a bit of frustration on the Sellers part. Simply put if you use the term anti microbial, your product will be flagged as a Pesticide and Pesticide Device. Additional information on what the EPA defines as a pesticide can be found here and here.
Apparently the Pesticide Course is giving a lot of people issues at the completion. Upon completion of this course via the Seller University route, if it should fail to allow you to exit the course don’t panic. Take a screenshot proving you completed the course and provide this information to Seller Support. They are aware of this issue and should be able to help you receive credit for the completion.
Compliance ID Attribute | Pesticide Marking
The EPA has a broad description as to what constitutes a pesticide or pesticide device. Clothing that claims to be anti microbial or ground/in wall vibration units that claim to deter insects or pests. As such sellers are not always aware they are selling a product that is considered a pesticide or pesticide device.
Per Amazon’s policy “Listings of pesticide products and devices require evidence of an EPA registration and/or EPA establishment number or a certification that the product is exempt from EPA regulations.” Good news is Amazon is now allowing not only the creator/owner of the listing to make changes ensuring compliance but also other sellers are now allowed to submit changes.
Instructions on compliance and how to modify listings can be found here.
While Amazon in my opinion is making great strides with the Ask Amazon series, due to popularity there was a ton of content. Most of which are one of stories that won’t apply to most sellers. What does apply to most sellers or at least any who are selling items that do or may identify as pesticide are the links provided to Sellers.
If you have any questions pertaining to Pesticide Product Listings that were not covered here, I highly suggest checking out the Ask Amazon series.
If you are unable to resolve this matter through the normal appeals teams be sure to check out our article on Drafting an Escalation Appeal.
Next up we will be discussing Amazon’s Order Defect Rate.
As Always, It Never Hurts To Ask For Help
Have you received an Amazon Account Suspension or Notification? We here at Amazon Account Rescue are here to discuss these matters with you.
Should you have any additional questions or wish to discuss this or any other matter please feel free to contact us at 1-800-757-0282 or at info@amazonaccountrescue.com.