Technical suggestion to solve issue ~ sewing patterns being "recategorized"
As you probably know from my previous posts, I sell sewing patterns, with literally thousands of listings. Because a lot of these are vintage and sold by other 3P sellers, a mistake made in the listing process can create havoc for other sellers when an item subsequently becomes gated or even removed as a result. There seems to be something about Amazon's system that automatically "recategorizes" items/browse nodes (I don't know the exact lingo to describe this problem) based on these erroneous seller entries.
I've brought this issue up before but I think I'm beginning to have a better understanding of what happens behind the scenes. Some seller may not understand what to type into various fields during the listing process. So, for instance, just today, an ASIN suddenly becomes restricted. It is a sewing pattern for a skirt, but another sellers puts "Skirt" in the "Type" field, and voila! Amazon's system now thinks it's an item of clothing for which I'm required to apply for approval, or enter attributes that are not relevant like Color.
Or some seller types in that the "audience" for a children's clothing sewing pattern is "child," and now Amazon's system again treats it as an actual item of clothing. Or a seller may not know a dedicated category exists for sewing pattern, so chooses a category that applies to what the FINISHED project would be. But it's not always seller error; Amazon's system seems to pick up on keywords, relegating sewing patterns (made entirely of paper) to Toys, Swimwear, Lingerie, Medical Scrubs, Sleepwear, etc. categories.
This is a systemic, ongoing problem. Fixing these individually is certainly possible (the rep I spoke to for the last one was very sweet and finally able to get the wrong attributes removed), but it is time-consuming. Right now I have dozens of affected items in my inventory and rather than to try to laboriously work my way through these, would it be possible for Amazon technicians to change the system's code so that at least anything listed in the SEWING PATTERN category is not subject to this happening? Thank you.
0 replies
Seller_i6S8knzW6zU6Z
Hi @Seller_1aFu5QXZcX15m,
You mentioned Amazon's automatic recategorization system - this is actually documented in their help page about Warning Code 18367 (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/GXMA2QU3JZTG8JNL), which confirms that Amazon does recategorize products based on attributes like title, product description, and bullet points. While this doesn't cover all the issues you're experiencing, it shows these automated systems are indeed in place.
You've identified a key challenge with shared listings: there's both risk and limited reward. The risk comes in multiple forms - other sellers might enter "Skirt" as type, mark "child" as audience, or choose the wrong category, triggering Amazon's system to gate or restrict the listing for everyone. The reward problem is that there's little incentive to invest time in improving listings (better images, descriptions, etc.) when you'll only get a fraction of the resulting sales increase - other sellers would essentially be free-riding on your effort.
Have you considered creating your own pattern line under a registered brand? While this would require initial investment, it could help you avoid these issues. With your own brand registry, you'd have more control over your listings and would receive 100% of the benefit from any listing improvements you make.
I know it's a significant shift from your current business model, but it might provide a more stable foundation long-term.
Kind regards, Michael
Seller_1aFu5QXZcX15m
It's been quite awhile since I posted this and am wondering whether one of the mods can reply. I think this is a solid suggestion, because clearly there seems to be exceptions to other categories of printed materials, such as Books. I don't see THOSE being automatically recategorized.
It would be very helpful if Sewing Patterns could be added to that algorithm because it is impossible to continually open new cases for each item affected. @Manny_Amazon, @Glenn_Amazon? Thank you.
Seller_1aFu5QXZcX15m
Updates to previous post:
B01NAPMJPL: Sewing pattern for children's costume. This was a listing I created. It popped up on my performance dashboard, but ONLY after detail page was totally removed. Update: Appeal 17444170821 was rejected, even after I requested additional review. This makes NO sense. This same pattern is active on the site with a different size, and hundreds of sewing patterns for children's costumes are active on the site. It just demonstrates that case resolution really depends on the associate that reviews it, and whether or not they KNOW what a sewing pattern is!
B008BMEIL6 Sewing pattern that is somehow designated as "children's jewelry." - Appeal was successful.
Additional ASINS:
- B00QQNGYUK - Trying to add my offer to this sewing pattern listing but it is categorized as actual clothing which requires application to sell.
