u/blueberry94801

It's a sadly common story. 22 years on platform and myriad pivots... early adopter of FBA... Many years ago I got some inventory by buying overseas and reselling brands not really represented in the US, just marking them up and not asking to be a reseller. There wasn't much talk on seller forums about right of first sale being risky. As time went by I got approval from some suppliers and narrowed down to one main one, retired most others, and purged that type of listing.

Out of 10,000 listings that came and went, I had 48 from one brand that I didn't realize were closed but not deleted in 2021. They just issued strikes, I didn't notice in time, and I got suspended.

It was stupid to miss the warnings but they are buried a level down in Account Health where most of the time it's just listing quality warnings that don't affect the account, or emails buried in a flood of others. You would think Amazon could have someone try calling, or put a big warning right on the dashboard when it's that critical, but they don't give a shit about sellers even if they have a vacation or are sick. Well, spilled milk...

Now there are two options. Asking a trademark holder for a letter of approval, or retraction.

(1) Is it possible to get a retroactive letter of approval for old retired listings, if they don't want you selling now -- but you can beg pity about your livelihood and it doesn't hurt them to un-screw you?

(2) Or, what if you contact the rights holder contact provided by Amazon and they don't answer -- is there any better way to get their notice or go to the company they work for, like by having a lawyer send a request for social consideration?

More details about the strikes:

• Brand in the UK
• Didn't have a US presence until recently and hired a new guy to represent (rights holder in the US who issued the strikes)
• 48 products listed 2015-2021, then closed but not deleted, I don't know if they even knew who I was when they issued strikes
• 750 total sales in 6 years, each product was purchased at full retail but imported in bulk, then resold with markup but not international shipping, so the source got paid and the customer got it faster with domestic shipping cost
• On last contact with source in 2021 they didn't want a formal supplier relationship so I had not sold anything of theirs for 5 years

They don't owe me an answer for pleas to reconsider, I have contacted the rights holder (twice), the main company supplier email, and a lawyer who had worked with the company. No answers.

At this point I am low income, sole proprietor, with disability, dependent on the livelihood, and other reasons they could be nice if they wanted with no cost to them.

What if

• The main supplier I work with now sent an official request on my behalf? I guess they are sort of competitors (not exactly comparable products or region), but I'm just at the end of the chain... they can supply anyone else, so it makes no difference to the trademark holder whether it's me or someone else selling their competitor's stuff.
• A lawyer sent an official request on my behalf?
• I offered to pay compensation?

Anyone have any experiences with any positive outcome?

Followup: If time runs out with no possible appeal, is Amazon going to keep thousands and thousands of my stuff at FBA? And the $2500 in my account? Are they just going to put their feet up, light up a joint and blow it in my face if I beg for my shit back?