I'm on the verge of bankruptcy due to being undercut by other sellers, can you help me think of a solution? Any good ways to handle this!

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Several listings that I started in 2020, which I've painstakingly operated, are being destroyed by other sellers. The brand was registered last year, but the application was rejected in March this year. I regret not appealing, so if you have similar issues, make sure to change your brand immediately and don't delay. Currently, the products are being sold at a loss by the followers, and the number of following stores is increasing. I've roughly calculated that there are at least ten stores now. It's terrifying. Out of the dozen products in my store, all the good ones are being followed. The best listing has five sellers following it. Asking service providers to combat this hasn't worked because I received a warning for abusive threats from a third-party seller last year. I'm afraid to use this option due to potential risks. If any friends with service providers can explain this in detail, I'd appreciate it. Is the Zero Tolerance Plan risk-free?

Possible solutions:

1.Register the trademark (R), then change the brand and apply for the Zero Tolerance Plan or Transparency Plan. However, it's a mess because brand registration is easily abused now. I've seen others use other stores to solve this. I have another R mark, but using it to complain about the main store's following showed abuse. The others are just TM marks.

2.Change the brand directly to a TM mark, and then apply for the Zero Tolerance Plan once the R mark is approved. This might be safer but not fundamentally effective, as my TM mark still needs two months to reach the public notice period, and the public notice period takes another three months. This is a long five-month wait. (One question: If I don't authorize it, will Store A stop selling? Can stores with TM marks follow without authorization? Are there any associated risks?)

3.Place a test order since the followers use self-delivery, then file a complaint once the goods arrive. However, with too many following stores, this method seems difficult.

4.Abandoning products to save the business. This is the hardest and least preferred option. Directly add violations to all listings, and discard my inventory (after a week, the low-priced sales have consumed most of it). This way, I can protect the new products developed this year and change the brand before anyone follows. I've never tried this! If anyone has experience, please recommend what to add to images or violation terms to eliminate following stores.
These are the only ideas I have. If anyone knows a better way to get rid of followers, I've heard about the AB store synchronization link operation but don't know how to do it. Please help me think of solutions. (As a joke, my wife cried over the following issue.)

Finally, my thoughts: Amazon's current approach seems to encourage competition among sellers. The misuse of brands is severe this year, and following has become rampant. It seems Amazon is pushing us to do this. It's exhausting.

Alaia26
5 Answers

1.The Transparency Program is the ultimate solution. Test buys are often useless and can even lead to your own account being suspended because many of them use FBA to follow and sell genuine products. They actually want you to do a test buy, so your account gets suspended, and then they can take over your other listings. My personal suggestion: play the victim, beg for mercy, and ask them to let you go since you can't bear the losses. Meanwhile, prepare for trademark registration (R mark) and the Transparency Program.

2.Common reasons for brand abuse include: being blacklisted by lawyers, low success rate in removing followers, multiple unsuccessful attempts to remove followers, cross-authorization, too many authorized stores, and violations by authorized stores. Emphasizing the reason for brand abuse due to removing followers: follower groups take turns targeting you, testing your response. If you hire a service provider to remove more than three follower stores, and they simultaneously counter-sue, there's a 90% chance your R mark will be abused. This is why I say the Transparency Program is the ultimate solution.

In summary: if your product isn't restricted, not a big brand, and doesn't require certification, test buys can only remove newbie-level followers. Play the victim to stabilize the followers while quickly obtaining an R mark in your category and registering it. If you're in a hurry, hire a service provider to authorize and register quickly. Once registered, immediately apply for the Transparency Program. One often overlooked issue: protect your editing rights. Immediately re-upload all your store's listings using a spreadsheet, filling in as much information as possible to prevent desperate followers from destroying or hijacking your listings.

Learn from your mistakes and keep an eye on industry news. For example, now followers from Shanxi and Fujian have invented FBA ghost packages that can still return funds. If they target your listing, it's ruined.

Su1

Preventing follow selling completely is very difficult, and the Transparency Program can't protect all sites or countries. However, the best current solutions are the Transparency Program or the Brand Gating (BG) mark.

Mayoi1

Apply for** the Zero Plan**: This is something that requires additional conditions to be met even after obtaining the R Badge. The process can be time-consuming and might lead to potential brand misuse, so it can be considered a backup plan.

The issue of hijacking has always existed, with many instances involving bulk data scraping by automated tools. Therefore, it's crucial to mitigate risks before starting on Amazon. For aspects that can be planned ahead, make sure to implement preventive measures. For the rest, address issues as they arise.

Brett Bennett1

After a period, the Transparency Program prevents them from sending new inventory to FBA. This fundamentally resolves the issue. If you act quickly, you can resolve this problem within a couple of months.

If they intimidate you, you can also email them back to intimidate them. If you back down, they will naturally feel emboldened to bully you. Try adopting a "take down with me if necessary" attitude, and they may back off. Meanwhile, make sure to get the Transparency Program set up properly.

Changing the label is too cumbersome and takes too long.

Eva Sanchez1

In a situation similar to yours, the TM mark still has 3 months to become an R mark. Last month, I was plagued by copycat sellers; they followed my listings and kept changing stores to continue the infringement. I tried to address it through a service provider, but it didn’t help. Eventually, I decided to lower my prices to a point where even the copycats couldn't make a profit. I endured this for about half a month, and eventually, the copycats left. Afterward, I gradually raised the prices back up.

Phoebe3