Stranded Inventory and Dog Pages--What to do
There are so many threads on stranded inventory and dog pages.
As usual, Amazon is doing a terrible job communicating.
On behalf of all sellers, I will thank Amazon for making this place an unpleasant place to do business and showing us we should put our business resources elsewhere.
Here is what I have learned.
- There is a new team doing this.
- The goal is to stop things that should not be going on. Make sure you understand when you can use a major branded name in a listing and search terms. I will not post links as sellers need to seek out this information and understand it.
When selling cell phone accessories and the like, use the words Compatible With
Make sure you understand how brand works. Apple is the brand for items they make. ABC cell phone accessories that are Compatible With Apple products are ABC branded.
This process is frustrating and time consuming. It is not being dealt with properly or in any reasonable amount of time.
If you are going to ask for help here,
Post the ASINs affected
Post what the item is: title, brand, etc.
Post what potential major brands your item could be a problem with: Apple, Microsoft, Nike, BMW, etc.
Seller_cu1Lr54OxusWw
I agree on how slow it has been going. I know Susan has been working behind the scenes though …
Overall … many sellers have created issues themselves by not following Amazon’s guidelines or just not understanding the difference between Amazon and eBay.
From an email I came across while helping others …
Sellers on Amazon.com are not allowed to use trademarked terms on the detail page in a way that might lead their product to be confused with a different, branded product.
Here are some examples of how trademarks may be used in product detail pages:
- Example 1: [Product name] works with [Trademarked product].
- Example 2: [Product name] is compatible with [Trademarked product].
Of course, these statements must also be true. To learn more about this policy, search for “Amazon Intellectual Property Policy” in Seller Central Help, and review the section for “Trademark.”
ALSO … to help buyers Amazon expects your Brand Name to be at the front of the title. So actually it should be :
- Example 1: [Brand][Product name] works with [Trademarked product].
- Example 2: [Brand][Product name] is compatible with [Trademarked product].
Seller_sUfyk7ajzPzny
This is another thread that I wish were more-easily pinned for all to see.
Seller_9irtimllZMUAY
I think it goes a lot deeper than this.
Over 50% of my ASIN are going to dog pages, that about 1250 SKUS.
All my items are:
Trademarked with my own trademark
GTIN are owned by my own company
My brand is brand registered
My product titles are per guidelines.
Strangely enough it’s all my older SKUs (2+ years old) which are affected.
Checking them using the listing checker tool returns a “no issues found, should show in 1-2 hours” - still not showing after 24 hours.
Seller_dXGfLg4dFnSaH
My sales are in the tank also. I sell a mix of shoes, clothes books sourced via retail and online arbitrage. My slump started in March and since then I am down over 20% compared to the same time period last year. Returns almost doubled during this period but seem to have leveled off. Sales started to pick up to “normal” at the beginning of Aug for about 5 days and it looked like they were stabilizing. Then the faucet turned off again and I’m back to a trickle since Wed. This is incredibly frustrating. Whatever is going on I hope they fix soon. I won’t have enough cash to put into Q4 sourcing.
