When it comes to protecting your brand on Amazon, you absolutely cannot stick your head in the sand and pretend it’s not a problem that’ll never affect you. There are tons of unscrupulous sellers out there trying to take advantage of easy marks, but with a bit of help from RepricerExpress, you can steer clear of them. Here’s how.
Start by Enrolling in the Amazon Brand Registry Program
Your first step — after you’ve already sourced products and negotiated contracts with suppliers and logistics companies — is to safeguard your brand with Amazon. Their Amazon Brand Registry Program is specifically designed to legitimize you as the owner of the brand, giving you a strong leg to stand on in the future should anything go wrong.
What’s neat about this is you can do away with Universal Product Codes (UPCs) on your products and apply individual ones instead. Plus, the keywords you choose for your product listings will carry more weight than those submitted by other sellers because you’re in a higher position of authority.
The downside? As much as it protects you, it’s not a foolproof method to stop other sellers from hawking your wares. For that, you’ll need to take extra steps.
What if You Suspect a Seller of Trying to Rip Off Your Brand?
Other than a copycat listing where it’s almost identical, word-for-word, to yours, there’s another way to test if a seller is trying to hack your brand. Try adding their product to your cart, but select a ridiculously high number, like 900. If you’re able to do that no problem, you might have a rogue seller on your hands.
Now That You’ve Found One, How Do You Protect Your Brand on Amazon?
Since you’re selling on Amazon, your first course of action is to reach out through Amazon by sending them a formally-written message outlining what’s going on, telling them to cut it out. A good deal of the time, this is enough and they’ll back off.
If not, you can always include a line that threatens contacting Amazon directly and that should take care of the rest of the bunch.
And if that doesn’t work, then it’s time to up the ante.
Get in Contact with Amazon
Since playing nice hasn’t worked, it’s time to pull out the big guns: Amazon themselves. They have an infringement team that’s dedicated to this sort of thing, so send a message to them that:
- Summarizes the situation and the actions you’ve taken so far.
- Shows why protecting your brand will help Amazon protect its own brand and interests (bring up how customers expect a high level of service, support and product quality).
- Explains which terms and policies the rogue seller has breached (counterfeit products).
- Says what you want them to do.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Amazon Brand in the Future?
Being proactive can be a lot more effective than going on the defensive, and there are several excellent strategies you can employ to protect yourself in the future.
- Make your brand as unique, creative and stand-out-from-the-crowd as possible. The more different your brand is, the more it’ll stick out when someone tries to copy you. Look at fast food chains as an example. McDonald’s has been copied as Michael Alone in China, Mash Donalds in Iran and McDoner in Kazakhstan, while Pizza Hut is Pizza Hat in Iran, Starbucks is Stars & Bucks in Palestine, and KFC is both KFD and KLG in China. It’s instantaneously easy to see these brands are being ripped off because they’re so recognizable, so aim for the same with your brand.
- Catalogue your brand’s items on a standalone site. This is an added step of security to prove that you’re the rightful owner of the brand and its products. The more of a digital paper trail you can show, the more you’re able to prove that it all started with you.
- Negotiate strong contracts with distributors. Your ideal option is to make yourself the sole purchaser or products, making it impossible for other sellers — and even the distributors themselves — to sell your brand on Amazon or anywhere else. You may have to enlist the help of a lawyer to make the contract binding. And if you find the distributor listing your products on Amazon? Strike back by increasing their wholesale price to the point that your products are cheaper so that buyers will have no reason to buy from your distributors.
Final Thoughts
You worked really hard to think of a unique brand that fills a need in the market, so why should your efforts get ripped off? Selling on Amazon can be a cutthroat business, but there are ways to get ahead of the competition fairly and honestly.
One of those ways is by aggressively repricing your inventory to present the best all-around deal, and RepricerExpress is your most direct way of getting there. Because we also believe in honesty and fairness, you get to start off with a 15-day free trial when you sign up now, giving you ample time to learn the ropes and customize it to your liking.
