Please see the following topics from @AZEthos for some context:

• Perfect example of FB review and sales manipulation
• I wish Amazon would monitor Facebook for seller review manipulation

(I’m not certain why vitamins/supplements seem to employ these black hat, violating Seller tactics more frequently…except that they probably work. )

Scrolling through Facebook, I see:

“More…” includes:

Clicking on the ad forces the user into Facebook Messenger. Once a user engages with a Message, the Seller then has access to the user’s Facebook profile information and access to them via Messenger. This clearly violates Amazon’s policies against off-Amazon marketing and contact, as well as prohibitions against exploiting Amazon’s platform to build a Seller’s client list.

Note that the message says “2 easy steps”. The comments on the ad make clear that these steps include purchasing 1 bottle of the product at $24.99 and then submitting a screenshot of the order with order number via Facebook Messenger, in order to receive the 2 free bottles directly from the Seller¹:

Ad comment 1

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Ad comment 2

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A further comment confirms that only Amazon purchases receive this deal, thus artificially inflating sales figures (rank, totals, etc) on Amazon’s platform while also violating prohibitions about currying side relationships with Amazon’s customers.

This Facebook “deal” is not generally available to any Amazon customer, i.e., it is not a promotion that is visible on the PDP or at checkout. It is only available if users give the Seller contact and demographic data access via Facebook.

And to be clear, this product’s price for 30 pills is 2-3x competitors’ prices for 200 to 2000 pills–so the Seller is not losing money by offering 2 free bottles with the purchase of 1.

@SEAmod, what is the most efficient way to report actions like this to Amazon, such that the Seller will (at a minimum!) see restrictions on these types of violations going forward? It is difficult enough as it is to report Sellers’ malign actions occurring on Amazon, much less off Amazon.

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¹Without further investigation, it was not clear whether the Facebook users also needed to leave a positive product review, in order to receive their 2 free bottles.