I am a fan of several razors. Occam’s and Hanlon’s.
I believe in this case Hanlon’s is key as Amazon is merely a house of cards held together by bailing wire, zip ties, duct tape, gum and excel spreadsheets.
Look at the “Generic” brand registration nightmare, USPS late deliveries over the holidays years ago, and on and on and on. These are all massive indicators of ineptitude more than nefarious behavior.
Like many large corporations, it is cheaper to pay for the errors of broken systems than to fix the systems themselves. To make things worse, the broken systems in place are being utilized by untrained, unprofessional amateurs, many of which cannot even articulate their problem in the most simple of terms.
Hanlon’s Razor -" Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
That would be insane if they wanted to review everything again. There’s millions of sellers, having to review everyone’s documents again would be an immense amount of work.
Not when robots do the work.
Have you ever heard the term “Stockholm Syndrome”? 
Ya I teeter back and forth on this question, or if I am suffering from Intermittent Explosive Disorder, due to my repeated desire to cause an unscheduled rapid disassembly of an entire (empty of people) 524’ foot tall skyscraper in Seattle.
The urge seems to be associated with emails ending in “Amazon Brand Registry Support” or “Selling Partner Support Executive Escalations Department”.
Yes, I have.
However, I generally prefer another term when I refer to it:
Marriage.
As it’s past my bedtime, I hope you will pardon me while I strap οn me some shin guards.
Conscious or not, the better ½ always knows when I’ve been poking fun, so I’m gonna need `em…
Right, but when you get your DL renewal notice does it say:
WARNING YOU ARE AT RISK AND HAVE HAD A CRITICAL EVENT
No, it says, here, time to renew, here’s how you do it. That’s how Amazon should have handled this, vs using the same method they use when you have a major issue on your account like an ODR or compliance problem. When something actually went wrong, I expect banners and warnings. When something that is going to be an annual re-up is due, I expect it to be handled like they way they do for things like emergency contact info, or, where they send an email in advance.
They done messed this one up in the communication to sellers, making it sound like we personally had an actual live problem. None of us did.
I would assert many sellers are too stupid to operate a motor vehicle, and the common sense associated with that level of human functioning is missing. We literally have people selling on the platform who cannot do basic single digit percentile math.
They cannot comprehend 5% of $100 so they need a big warning.
Well, there is a pretty major difference since the DMV IS the Government and is not going to get fined if you don’t renew so I’m doing a cut and paste of what I used on the NSFE for someone equally PO’d about the way the message is/was sent:
First, I do NOT disagree with the sentiment at all.
Amazon does not have a velvet glove. All they have is an iron fist.
On the other hand, since almost no one has paid attention to the bits and pieces contained in the Inform Act, there is an actual reason for Amazon to get your (our) attention as rapidly as possible and it all involves THEIR bank account –
A violation of the law is treated as a violation of an FTC rule. So online marketplaces that don’t comply may face FTC law enforcement that could result in civil penalties of $50,120 per violation. The statute also gives enforcement authority to State Attorneys General and other officials authorized by the State. They may file an action in federal court to enjoin further law violation, seek civil penalties and other remedies permitted under state law, and obtain damages, restitution, or other compensation for residents of that state.
Amazon is already on the radar of the Feds and virtually all the sates and DC. How much money do you think they are willing to spend for a bunch of scofflaws at $50 grand a pop?
According to one source (BusinessDIT) there are “there are over 2.5 million people selling stuff on there now?”
Of course, the same source says only “76% of Amazon sellers turn a profit.”
I can say with 100% certainty that Amazon has zero interest in paying any fines they don’t have to.
If you get high blood pressure from their crappy messaging that’s a you problem. If you don’t comply with the inform act requirements now it becomes an Amazon problem. (Note that they will suspend you to comply and not pay the fines, but it’s still generating work for Amazon)
Well they do if it is cheaper than fixing the problem.
Well said, Amazon needs to use respectful and clear communication. That’s not an unreasonable expectation.
I think it is unreasonable to expect Amazon to put something like that together. it would be like expecting third graders to provide a deep analysis on the concept of infinity… Outside of the realm of possible expectations from a department that exudes ineptitude and sheer stupidity on a second by second basis.
I truly believe Amazon has intentionally weaponized ineptitude.
Amazon doesn’t respect sellers. That’s the bottom line
You’re right and that just shows how cocky they are.
Imagine not respecting 60% of your sales and way more than that when it comes to the bottom line of the retail marketplace in general.
We know from what’s been published how little profit there is in their own brands and 1P offerings.
We know from the quarterly reports just how ginormous the income is from PPC with very little overhead.
We mean so much to Amazon and mean so little to Amazon.
Amazon is basically a giant advertising platform. Amazon retail doesn’t make any money. You can buy a lot of items for less than a 3P seller would pay in just FBA fees to ship that item to you. The referral fee is far higher than their margins on their own products/brands. Plus the number of sponsored ads they show has exploded.
And a lot of these brands that buy tons of ads don’t even have any off-Amazon presence, which means they’re not building any real business or brand loyalty which means they’re locked in to paying Amazon fees + PPC forever.
A more perfect description of Amazon has never been written.
Well done 
Clearly, i agree Amazon does not respect sellers. I think it is “reasonable” to expect a corporation to have a culture of respect but in the Case of Amazon it is completely unrealistic . “… their motto to sellers should be “feed me, Seymour” ( little shop of horrors). The next campaign they run should be called “ Octopus by Amazon” . ( Frank Norris on the California railroad v. Farmers) it’s not a new concept, small company preys on smaller companies and becomes a tyrannical behemoth, destroying those who helped it grow. Sad to be on this end. Still i expect it to burst some day like mr. Creosole in Monty Python’s the meaning of life. Ok guess i made my point.
I’m gonna have to disagree with this, because corporations get successful by being cutthroat and taking advantage of people. And it’s not just Amazon. Phone companies tack on tons of junk fees onto your bill, banks will nickel and dime you on fees every opportunity they can. I could go on all day about all the chitty things corporations do on a daily basis.
Right. Like Walmart does. Got this today. There are no harsh deactivation warnings, no flaming banners on the dashboard. Just an email reminding sellers what they need to do to comply with the law.
There’s no reason why Amazon cannot do the same instead of creating fear and panic - their specialty.
