There’s a ton of noise going on lately about hijacked product listings. It sounds pretty scary, and in some ways it could be if you don’t know how to stop it, but as always Scott’s got some great, simple, actionable advice for you as to how you can protect yourself from your products being hijacked. Don’t let it rattle you. You CAN take practical steps to safeguard your product listings from hijackers… now there’s no guarantee all of this will prevent your product from being hijacked, but it will definitely make it much, much harder for it to occur. Listen to this episode of The Amazing Seller to hear all the details.
Note and Update: Since this episode was recorded there's been a NEW tool created to monitor and help protect your listing from Hi-jackers. The tool is like a watch dog that notifies you by text and email if there's been any intruders.
What is a “hijacked” product on Amazon?
You’ve done the research to find and purchase your first product. You’ve listed it on Amazon. You’ve got it labeled as your unique brand. Then suddenly you no longer have ownership or control of the “buy box” on your own listing! Somebody has taken over your listing by sending products to Amazon that they “say” are identical to yours… but they CAN’T be. You’re the only one selling your products. You had them created just for you! Do you see the problem? Your sales will be impacted if you don’t do something to remove the hijacker’s products from your listing. How do you do it? That’s what this episode is all about so be sure to listen.
The first steps to un-hijacking your product listing.
What Scott recommends you do as the very first step if you see that your product has been hijacked is to send a “Cease and Desist” letter to the hijacker. It’s basically a legal-sounding, somewhat threatening letter warning the person of what could happen if they don’t stop positioning their product as yours. They are breaking the Amazon terms of service and could be kicked off the platform, so you’re using that possibility to motivate them to remove their product on their own. What exactly should you letter say? Scott reads an effective C&D letter verbatim on this episode, so make sure you put it on slow play and get every word!
The importance of registering your brand.
One of the things Amazon has put in place to help you safeguard your listings from hijackers is the “Brand Registry.” It’s a page on Amazon’s site where you can go to register yourself as the owner of your brand, give Amazon a lot of details, and set yourself in a very good defensive position should your products ever be hijacked. Scott recommends that every Amazon Private Label seller register their brand immediately, the minute they begin putting their products on the Amazon sales platform. Find out how on this episode of The Amazing Seller or by using the link to the Amazon Brand Registry included in the show notes.
If your Amazon product is hijacked, buy one of the products they are selling.
What? Why would you want to buy the product that’s posing as yours? Because when you contact Seller Support at Amazon they are going to ask you to document exactly why the product listed is not your product. That means you’ll need pictures of the product, detailed examples of how it is different from yours, and the overall ability to prove that it is not your product at all. So the minute you notice your product listing has been taken over, order one of the products. You’ll be that much ahead when it comes to rectifying the situation because you’ll be able to prove your product’s uniqueness sooner.
Make sure your product is uniquely different, as soon as possible.
It’s OK to put labels or stickers on your products to “brand” them when you first start selling on Amazon. But you can’t be satisfied with that. Stickers are too easy to fake. You want to do something unique that will make it much harder for a hijacker to create a fake of your product. Things like engraving, custom packaging, or combining your product with a related accessory that will be hard for the imposter to source, all those and more can help you set your product apart. Scott’s got other ideas too, so listen to the podcast to get all his thoughts.
OUTLINE OF THIS INTERVIEW EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER
- [0:05] Introduction to this episode on “hijacking” of products – a very vital issue!
- [1:24] An important milestone for TAS community member Nathan Young!
- [3:21] Scott’s big announcement: The FREE PRIVATE LABEL COURSE is ready! www.FreePrivateLabelCourse.com
- [6:00] What happens when your listing is hijacked: Scott’s experience.
- [11:00] Ways this can happen and things to be careful about.
- [14:35] How to register your brand.
- [15:32] Order a copy of the product that’s been placed on your listing.
- [17:00] How Amazon brand registry works and what you should include on it
- [19:00] The vital importance of having a domain name for your brand.
- [20:10] Why you need to have your own UPC code for the products.
- [21:15] The importance of differentiation (engraving, unique boxes, adding a separate component, etc.)
- [23:29] Sending a “Cease and Desist” letter.
- [25:00] Tips for dealing with Amazon seller support.
- [26:20] What the “Cease and Desist” letter should say…and why you should try it first.
- [29:10] Jeremy, A TAS Community member’s advice (see link below)
- [34:01] Advice to people who have not started selling on Amazon yet.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Click Here to Download The “Cease and Desist” Letter!
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Free Private Label Course – www.FreePrivateLabelCourse.com Amazon Brand Registry – https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/200955930 The TAS Facebook advice from Jeremy – https://www.facebook.com/groups/TAS.Private.Group/permalink/518908858277252/ Scott’s free workshop – http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop www.TheAmazingSeller.com/FB – the TAS Facebook Community
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I still have one question running in my mind – When I created my private label brand, how should I protect from other sellers listing our item ? Should I register trademark or copyright the images in listings ?How should I tackle this with Amazon to get it resolved if I get into any problem of seller selling under my brand name please help
Hey Midhun, there is no way to 100% protect yourself, but if you’re not selling your product to anyone wholesale, you can be pretty sure that any one else that tries to jump on the listing is doing so against TOS. Amazon has a pretty through process for all of the different situations you may find yourself in and if you have followed the steps laid out here, you’ll be able to get them removed without much hassle.
Hey Scott,
Thaks for all the great info.
Quick question: I have completed brand registration in amazon US. Now I am selling the same item(same ASIN) in the UK(amazon.co.uk) and Germany(amazon.de). Should I register the brand in the Brand Registry again for each country – UK and Germany.
Thank you in advance!
I would register everywhere you plan to sell!
Hi Scott,
I just wanted to say thanks for this episode and the sample cease and desist letter. It really helped me deal with a hijacker quickly. I was wondering if there are any tools that can monitor your listing and notify you of changes. I usually check my listing during the day myself, but just wanted to know if there are additional ways to monitor them as well.
Thanks,
Hey Mike, I’m not currently aware of any tools for that purpose. If you happen to come across one, let me know!
Hi Scott, can you clarify if it is actually allowed in Amazon TOS to contact sellers with a cease and desist through the messaging system? If so exactly how we should do that? Thanks!
Generally speaking you would want to keep any contact with sellers outside of the Amazon messaging system. This is a grey area at best, inside the Amazon TOS.
Hi Scott, I recently made huge mistake and lost over 1,000 units by accidentally displaying one time use discount on my display page. Over night 1300+ units disappeared to mostly Chinese named customers. I expect major hijacking. Is there anything I can do to prepare for the backlash coming my way? On top of thousands of dollars of shipping charges and over $10,000 lost inventory. I’m sick over this
Hey Jason, unfortunately since the inventory is already gone there isn’t much you can do. On the bright side, their sales (combined with your new ones) should boost the BSR of your listing so once they stock out of inventory, you’ll be in a much better position than you would otherwise be!
Hi Scott- My 2 cents coming from the branding/marketing world, a label on a product is NOT a brand, although it seems that everyone on Amazon is buying the same chinese products (copper mugs anyone?) and just slapping a label on the generic white box. I have ordered several items to see in person and found that there was no difference between all these “Brands”. There needs to be etching or a logo on the product itself, not just on the box. If you are really the manufacturer of a product then you would have made a new mold and put your name/logo in the mold, as well as change the product. Anything else is just buying stock chinese product and slapping a label on it, not branding, and surely doesn’t deserve to have their listing safe from “hijackers”.
Just a note regarding the need for a website for Amazon’s Brand Registry, I was able to get listed in the registry with just a Facebook page for the brand. I also had my domain name purchased and I did have an email address through that domain (but no website still). That was enough. Facebook pages are much faster to get up and running than even a simple WordPress page if you really want to get registered quickly without a lot of hassle.
Hey Scott,
When sellers change your actual listing images or descriptions or titles, this is actually done by 3rd party software that helps sellers lists. Channel Advisor is the main program people use to help multi-channel listing. I use to use this program in my old company before I left the company and have tested it one time to change the listing. It is ridiculously easy to change someones listing using this program. By simply typing in the ASIN and the new title and adding a new picture into channel advisor you can change the listing all together. Not to say people who use Channel Advisor is using this tool to do this maliciously since I do like Channel Advisor it helps build your ecommerce company and streamline it, but this is what happens and this use to happen maybe 5 – 6 years ago more prevalently due to the cut-throat electronics market. Normally when someone tries to change anothers posts, it says you can’t change certain things like the main image because you’re not the original creator of the listing. That person can change the title, but only shows up if that person win the buy box. I’ve tested this many times because some of my wholesale vendors have other sellers who do a bad job of naming the item and putting bad bullet points and I wanted to help get the listing rank better.
Anyways just wanted to let you know what happened to your post. Love your podcast, keep up the good work.
Scott, is there any way to get Amazon to remove the box that says “Have one to sell?” that is directly on the listing? I do have a registered brand, but Amazon makes it so easy for others to take advantage.
Hey MJ, that box will always be there since any one can list (the same) products on the site. Private labeling just helps you hedge your bet against would be hijackers, since they must be listing the same exact product (and they can’t be if you’re the only one who is selling it under your brand!)
Hey MJ, since Amazon owns the listing (even when you have a private label product), the box will always be there, since anyone who has the ability to resell your actual product has the ability to list and sell on your listing.
What if we are selling supplements and someone gets a free sample and lists it?
Hey Mike, you would treat them just like any other hijacker. Now if they only have one, let them sell out (or buy it from them to get them off) and be done with them. Sadly, the listing belongs to Amazon and not you, so as long as they are selling your actual product, there isn’t a ton you can do.
Hey Mike, any one with a unit of your product has the ability to list on your listing. If you want to be safe, you could always just buy the single unit they sell which would remove them from the listing and get you squared away.