So, we sell our products to certain distributers and make the statement that our items cannot be sold on Amazon, or to sellers who sell on Amazon. Could I use the transparency program to ensure they are not allowed to sell them on Amazon? So I would send my distributers non-transparency labeled items, and label my products with the codes when I send them in to FBA so other sellers cannot get on? Does that make sense? We are brand registered, but it has been a pain to get sellers off of our listings.
One of the drawbacks of the Transparency Program is the requirement to apply the code to ALL enrolled products, no matter where they are sold.
I will leave it to the gentle reader to discern WHY Amazon made it so.
1 Like
Meaning that for any product sold on Amazon, literally all prints/runs/batches/regional labels/etc of that product must carry a transparency code, even if not all stock of that product will be offered on Amazon?
1 Like
Yes, that is indeed what Amazon requires for participation in the Transparency Program.
Yet another reason why regulatory bodies both foreign and domestic are not amused.
1 Like
How would they even check that though?
Why would that be a regulatory issue?
Itâs not meant as a tool to brand gate other sellers out. It also undermines the program if some units have it and some donât because itâll cause confusion with buyers if the last one they bought had a code and the one they just got doesnât.
For what the purpose of the program is, it makes perfect sense that itâs all or none. If youâre adding QR codes to your product to allow the public to verify that the product is real, it should either be on every unit made or none of them.
As for whether itâs enforced I donât know. A few years ago I looked for a way to report a brand that was using it as a brand gating tool and didnât find any way to do so.
1 Like
See, but our thoughts are - we do not honor the warranty for products sold by a third party seller on Amazon as we cannot verify the supply chain and have no way of knowing if the product is real or not. Nor do we authorize sellers to sell our products on Amazon which is clearly stated in all of our distributers descriptions. Thankfully, our distributers are doing well and banning these sellers from buying our products, but they still get through sometimes by buying discounted products at an actual retail store that we allow to sell our products and then listing at Amazon.
Example: Authorized Brick&Mortar Store bought to many of our products and held a flash sale to get rid of most. Amazon Seller 1 purchases 100 and then lists on Amazon. In theory the transparency program should help mitigate this by only us using the stickers on products we sell on Amazon.
1 Like
Thatâs not what transparency is for, thatâs what a IP lawyer is for.
1 Like
Dharmesh Mehtaâs last About Amazon Blog post about the CCU (âAmazoneseâ for âCounterfeit Crimes Unitâ) crowed about increasing that teamâs workforce by roughly one-fifth (from 10K employees to 12K).
Since, by all available lights, it would seem that those folks canât be bothered (and/or not allowed) to fulfill what is supposedly their core mission, is it unreasonable to assume that they are in charge of conducting the off-Amazon Test Buys via which Transparency Program malefactors are sniffed out?
1 Like
They have 12K employees in that team?
Sounds like they rebranded the seller performance team for PR purposes.
Yes, this is similar to when they feel like it they make us take off our UPC and put on a FNSKU (Ok, they let us use a sticker but that is tacky.)
We must now have two forms of trade dress. One for Amazon one for all other markets.
I wonder, is this a plan to take over the world? (In my pinky and the brain voice.)
Well, thatâs an FBA specific requirement. Technically you donât need to do that if youâre FBM or SFP. You can also comingle your inventory if youâre stupid (but it IS an option).
My biggest issue with FBA stickers is the âitem is used,â âitem has been tampered with,â and âitem is counterfeitâ complaints that result from people not knowing the purpose of that sticker. Most people do know what a UPC is, and having that tampered with on a product does look suspicious if youâre unfamiliar with Amazon.
1 Like
I will agree to agree, we are stupid.
In 13 years or so, our brands have had no reasonable negative impact from using our own UPC codes.
Now we also are a stocking distributor for other brands. I would never consider not using a FNSKU for those items.
1 Like
I know of a company who is not adhering to this. They use Transparency to keep the product on Amazon to themselves and sell to everyone else without the codes. So apparently its not strictly enforced. I still wouldnât mess with the program and catch a hammer though.
1 Like
If there was a way to report them, it might be possible to get their brand registry suspended, unfortunately I see no information about how to report transparency program abuse.
I have no interest in reporting them or getting their BR revoked.
2 Likes