Amazon suspended multiple China-based sellers worth $1 billion in revenue over a massive fake review scandal uncovered by SafetyDetectives.
Several Amazon seller accounts from Greater China were suspended after the cybersecurity team at SafetyDetectives (who conduct antivirus reviews) discovered over 13 million messages in which Amazon vendors were negotiating with over 200,000 individuals for good reviews in exchange for free products.
We all know that one way to pull ahead is getting lots of positive reviews on your products. As a rule-following FBA seller, you know on Amazon it’s illegal to solicit or offer rewards for reviews. Which is why this scandal was such a big deal.
Did you know 75% of new Amazon sellers are based in China as of January 2020? And that there are very few international sellers in most marketplaces EXCEPT for those from China, which are present in every marketplace?
- Reality check: This is not a new issue. China-based sellers have taken an aggressive approach to marketing and have been winning on Amazon for years.
- Perspective check: Any seller can break the rules to get ahead, no matter how big, small, or where they are based.
Before you bust out the wine and tissues, there’s good news too!
- Amazon took swift action to remove the offending vendors.
- It also assures sellers and customers alike that it uses “machine learning tools and skilled investigators to analyze over 10 million review submissions weekly,” monitors all existing reviews for any fishiness, and makes moves to handle it.
Bottom line: There will always be vendors on Amazon that cheat. Amazon will “try really hard” to keep them all at bay but like…come on.
SO here’s what you need to do: DO YOU. Besides reviews, there are plenty of tactics to get ahead of your competition within your control like influencer campaigns, video content, top-notch product titles, etc. Like a fortune cookie so wisely once told me (probably): “Persistence and focus are the keys to success.”
