Amazon Plan of Action for a Dropshipping Violation
Amazon allows dropshipping, but only when you are the seller of record and the package carries nothing from another retailer. Deactivations follow when a customer opens a box showing someone else’s branding, packing slip, or price.
Policy reference: Amazon Drop Shipping Policy
Is this your violation?
- •The notice cites the Drop Shipping Policy
- •A buyer reported receiving a package from a different retailer
- •You fulfil orders by buying from a retail site and shipping to the customer
- •The notice asks for invoices you cannot produce because there is no wholesale supplier
What Amazon wants to see
- ✓Acknowledgment that orders were shipped with another retailer's branding or packing slips
- ✓Confirmation that the practice has stopped
- ✓Evidence of a compliant supply chain going forward
The three-part structure
Every Amazon plan of action answers the same three questions, in this order. Skipping one is the most common structural mistake.
- 1. Root cause. What went wrong, stated as a fact about your own operation. Not what Amazon misunderstood.
- 2. Corrective actions. What you have already done, with dates. Past tense throughout.
- 3. Preventive measures. The system that stops it recurring. A process, not a promise to be careful.
Root cause examples
Pick the one that is true for you and rewrite it in your own words with your own specifics.
- I fulfilled orders by purchasing from a retail marketplace and shipping directly to Amazon customers, which resulted in orders arriving with the retailer's branding and pricing information
- My dropshipping supplier shipped orders using their own branded packaging, which I did not realize violated Amazon's policy
Corrective action examples
Replace every bracket with your real supplier, brand, or date.
- I immediately ceased fulfilling orders through [RETAILER NAME] on [DATE]
- I cancelled all open orders that would have been fulfilled through the non-compliant method and refunded the buyers
- I established a relationship with a wholesale supplier who ships products with my own or neutral branding
Preventive measure examples
- I will only use dropshipping suppliers who ship products using neutral packaging without any retailer branding, pricing, or promotional materials
- I am listed as the seller of record on all shipments and my supplier sends items only on my behalf
- I conduct spot-checks of incoming shipments to verify packaging compliance before orders are sent to customers
Evidence to attach
- •Explanation of how the orders were fulfilled and why retailer-branded packages were sent
- •Your new fulfillment arrangement that complies with Amazon's dropshipping policy
Mistakes that get this appeal rejected
- ✗Claiming it was a one-time mistake without addressing the systematic nature of the practice
- ✗Not explaining the compliant fulfillment method you will use going forward
Questions sellers ask
Is retail arbitrage the same as dropshipping?
Buying retail stock and holding it yourself is not what this policy targets. Having a retailer ship straight to your Amazon customer is, because their branding reaches the buyer.
My supplier ships in neutral packaging. Am I compliant?
That is the requirement, along with being identified as the seller of record on the packing slip, invoice, and packaging. Spot-check outgoing shipments so you can say you verified it rather than assumed it.
Will Amazon accept a promise to change suppliers?
Not as the whole plan. Name the arrangement you ended, the date, and the compliant supplier that replaced it. Completed changes carry the appeal.
Not sure this is your violation?
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