See the screenshot attached to understand how much loss is involved due to Amazon's incompetence.
I invented and make my own product called "The Moon Ring." I own all IP (patent, copyright, trademark), and have been selling on Amazon since 2015. In that time I grew annual sales to a dependable 6 figures without any advertising. We were featured on The Bachelorette, Howard Stern, etc. and eventually made it to #1 in the Gag gift category.
Lack of UL4200a compliance certification took my product down in May of this year. I had it tested/certified immediately, submitted the passing test results to Amazon, and was denied without reason. The only information I was given in the rejection notice is shown below.
"The compliance documents that you submitted are not the documents we require. To move forward with the approval process, please submit a full test report from a ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. Please note that we are not looking for Technical Reports, Inspection Service Reports, Constructional Data Reports or Protocol Testing Reports for your products. "
I had the UL4200a test/certification performed by TUV SUD America (the largest, most legit product testing lab on Earth). When I told them about the rejection they couldn't believe it. They apologized and were very accommodating, making every possible change I suggested to get the test approved. We iterated the test format 6 times, adding new images, names of all the lab technicians, etc. and each and every time we re-submitted, we were rejected with the same cryptic message as shown above. I begged for an explanation from "consumer-buttoncell@amazon.com," multiple times, and of course, no response.
It wasn't until November (6 months later) that I was able to show the test results to Stephen Lee, the small business ombudsman at the CPSC that I figured out the problem. Well, HE figured out the problem...
TUV SUD America adds the heading "Technical Report," to all of their "Test Reports." Apparently that's just the way they do it, and no other professional organization has EVER had a problem with it. Stephen Lee suggested I ask TUV SUD to change the word, "Technical," to the word, "Test."
They made the change. I submitted, and passed. My listing is finally live again.
So basically, I lost somewhere in the ballpark of $60k and all of my sales rank because Amazon's review team at "consumer-buttoncell@amazon.com," couldn't identify a passing test report merely because it had the word, "Technical," written in the heading.
If I lost $60k, that means Amazon lost AT LEAST $9k in seller fees, which of course in the grand scheme of all things Amazon is petty cash, but I'm quite certain that I'm not the only one who's suffered an absurdly unnecessary loss due to Amazon's incompetent staff. In short, dear Amazon, I guess you get what you pay for. Or rather you DON'T get what you DON'T pay for. So here's an idea; if you're going to insist we submit legal documents for review, you should probably make sure you hire people who understand legal documents to review them. Otherwise, we both lose.
And the losses continue. My sales rank is very slowly inching higher, but I sincerely doubt it will achieve anywhere near top 100 status soon and Nov/Dec is typically when I do over half my yearly sales. Take a look at the screenshot attached to understand the level of loss I'm talking about. It's insane. But as usual, according to the reps at SC, "I'm sorry sir, there's nothing we can do."
This has been one of those things that are SO BAD you don't even get angry, ya know what I mean? Like, if your bike gets a flat tire, you might slam a door or scream obscenities and turn into Yosemite Sam while you change it, but if that same bike gets stolen out of your garage, you just look around and go, "huh..."
I just needed to vent. Thanks for reading.