What Is Amazon Listing Hijacking? (And 5 Ways to Stop It)

Zeeshan Riaz November 29, 2022

Hijacking is a term used to describe the practice of changing the URL for a product listing on Amazon. If you own a small business or are an entrepreneur, you must know how to stop this from happening to your business. This article will explain what Amazon listing hijack is and how it works so that you can protect your brand from being hijacked by other companies.

Amazon Listing Hijacking

What Is Amazon Listing Hijacking?

Amazon listing hijacking is a form of fraud that occurs when someone attempts to sell an item on the Amazon Marketplace using someone else’s account. The perpetrator will create a fake account, then use that person’s information to enter orders and make purchases. Once they’ve done this several times, they’ll begin targeting other sellers who may have been listed before them to take over their sales numbers and profits.

It can be challenging to detect this kind of fraud because no signs indicate it has occurred until after the fact—and even then. However, it’s difficult for sellers who weren’t targeted directly by hackers unless they could catch something red-handed during their research.

How to Hijack an Amazon Listing?

Hijacking an Amazon listing means taking over the page that displays your product details and images, making it look like someone else’s product.

Here’s how it works:

  • You create a new listing on Amazon by using its Seller Central platform (for more information on this, see the section below).
  • You choose “Create New Listing” from Seller Central’s main navigation bar.
  • You enter basic information about your business and product(s) in their respective fields. This helps them to be easily found when people search for similar items in future inquiries—and ensures there aren’t any typos or missing information!

What is Product Hijacking?

Product hijacking is when a seller, usually an Amazon seller, places their products in the same category as yours. Typically, this means that they will list your products on their listings at a lower price than what you’re selling them for. The result is that your sales are significantly reduced or even eliminated.

What causes this to happen? The ethics behind this practice are murky at best (and illegal in some countries), but there are several reasons why sellers might target your product.

  • They may have access to better inventory than you do—meaning they can buy more discounted goods from manufacturers and resell them at higher prices than yours would be fetching on eBay or elsewhere online. For example! There are some cases where even though our competitor had no access whatsoever into our supply chain(s) – meaning he didn’t know what was going into our warehouse until after it was already packed up. Yet, he still managed to sell off those same items at double or triple his regular rate of sale due solely because he knew how much demand existed for those particular types of things among shoppers who wanted them very badly.”

What is Asin Hijacking?

ASIN hijacking is when a seller registers a product with an invalid ASIN. It violates Amazon’s terms of service and can result in your account being suspended.

This kind of activity is so insidious that it can be done by anyone—even sellers who aren’t necessarily trying to game the system or avoid paying for listings. If someone else has already registered an ASIN for your listing (or even if they have not), you could face suspension or even removal from Amazon altogether!

How does Amazon Hijacking work?

Amazon listing hijack is a form of fraud where a seller or marketplace offers a product at an artificially low price. The seller then steals your listing, uploads images and descriptions stolen from other sellers, and posts them on their listings. This can happen to anyone with an active account on Amazon, but it’s especially common for sellers who have been doing business on the platform for a long time because there are many ways someone can get caught up in this type of crime.

Amazon hijacker tactics include:

  • Using stolen private label ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers) to hijack other people’s products to sell them under their brand name
  • Using stolen images from other sellers’ listings to create new ones for themselves (generally called “spoofing”)

What distinguishes Amazon resellers from Amazon Hijackers?

The first thing to look for is whether or not an authorized reseller lists your product. Some brands have strict policies about who can sell their products on Amazon. For example, many companies will only allow specific individuals or companies to use their logos and trademarks in promotional materials. If you need to check if a particular brand has authorized resellers for its products, check out this list of all the major brands that have trusted sellers on Amazon: https://www.amazonsellercentral.com/authorize-sellers/. Of course, the best method for determining whether someone is an authorized reseller or hijacker is by looking at their account information. If they’re using a different name than what’s listed on your listing (or if they aren’t using any terms), ask them why they think they should be listed under another name instead of yours!

Common Amazon Listing Hijacking Practices

Amazon listing hijack is the unauthorized use of a product listing on Amazon. It’s an illegal practice that can lead to legal action and damage your brand, but it’s not hard to prevent. Here are some standard procedures and examples of how they might be used:

  • If you’re selling high-end items like designer clothing or furniture, some people will likely buy them for less than their advertised price if they think they can get away with it. But, unfortunately, they may not even realize what they’re doing until after the sale is complete—and maybe even then!
  • Someone else could copy your existing listing and sell it as their own (for example, by changing just one word). This way, you’ll lose out on potential sales because people will only know that someone else has taken over your account with permission from either party involved in this situation (you & seller).

How do Amazon resellers and Amazon hijackers vary from one another?

Amazon resellers and hijackers have many similarities, but some key differences exist.

  • Amazon Resellers: Typically, people who sell products on Amazon are known as “Amazon resellers.” These individuals buy goods from third-party sellers (also known as “third-party marketers”) and then list those products for sale on their store pages. They typically mark up the prices of these items significantly over what they paid for them—usually by 20% or more—and sell them at a profit margin that’s often much higher than what you’d find anywhere else in the market.
  • Amazon Hijacker alert: While most sellers operate within this legal framework, some hijackers violate laws by buying directly from the manufacturer or other authorized resellers instead of another third party.

How do I remove the Hijacker Amazon Brand Registry?

If you’ve been affected by hijacking and want to remove it, contact Amazon directly. They will investigate the issue, and if your product has been hijacked, they’ll remove it from their system.

The best way to avoid hijacking is to sell unique, high-quality, relevant products. If your product doesn’t fit this criterion, it will likely be hijacked.

Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that products have customer satisfaction. Amazon may remove your product from their site if there are any complaints or returns. So make sure you have a solid plan for dealing with customer service issues before selling on Amazon.

How to Prevent Amazon Hijackers

  • Register your brand

If you have a new product or are selling one that hasn’t been offered on Amazon, it’s essential to register your brand. This will help prevent hijackers from using your name and logo without permission. It will also give you access to other tools, such as changing the description of products or tracking what people are buying using the information they provide during checkout.

  • Use a trademark

Trademarks are used by companies who want ownership over their brands to protect themselves against others claiming infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR). For example, suppose someone has registered their trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In that case, there is no way for another person/company to claim infringement of IP rights over those specific words/images unless they can prove that their use was done before the publication date at least 20 days after the registration date.

Send a Letter of Cease to the Amazon Hijacker.

If you are an Amazon hijacker, you must stop your actions before they cause irreparable damage. To do this, Send a letter of cease-and-desist to the hijacker.

  • Include your brand name in the body of your letter (e.g., “Dear Mr/Ms. Amazon Listing Hijacker”).
  • Include a link to your product listing on Amazon (the page where you show off all those great products).
  • Include a link to amazon.com so people can browse through all their favorite brands without having problems finding them!

How to Remove Amazon Hijackers

If you’ve been affected by an Amazon listing hijack, there are several ways to remove fake listings.

  • File a trademark infringement claim with Amazon. This will allow you to have your copyrighted content removed from their site and prevent them from selling it again in the future. For example, to file this type of claim:
  • Log into your account on [Amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/) or access your seller central account at [myaccount](https://myaccount). Next, go to “Product Data” and select “Add Product.” Next, select “Manage my products,” then scroll down until you see “Report an issue.” Select that option and fill out the following form; include as much information as possible inside this message box, including what counterfeiters have used part number(s) on their website! You can also include links where these items are being sold so that we can verify if they’re legitimate or not!

The Bottom Line on Amazon Hijacking.

In short, Amazon hijacking violates Amazon’s terms of service and is not allowed. It can be challenging to prove that an Amazon hijacker has targeted you because they often sell counterfeit products or resell them at inflated prices.

To report a violation Amazon provides instances of this type of scamming behavior on the site; you’ll need to contact customer service directly through their website or via email (see below). Once reported, an agent will review your account and may remove any offending content from your listing(s).

Amazon hijackers, also known as Amazon spammers, are a huge problem for sellers. They often have never sold anything on Amazon before and don’t care about their seller rating.

Inform Amazon of your Product’s Violation.

If you suspect a third party is hijacking your listing, you can file a complaint with Amazon. To do this, send a letter of cease (C&D) to the hijacker. In addition, you must have a registered trademark for your product and ensure that another company is not using it in any way.

Keep detailed records of all correspondence with Amazon—especially if there are any issues with their database or rules about listing products on Amazon Marketplace or Prime Day!

Make sure you know the rules and regulations regarding Amazon Marketplace and Prime Day.

Conclusion:

As we’ve seen, Amazon listing hijack is a severe problem. However, it’s also not limited to just one company or person. It’s been going on for years. So if you find that your product is being hijacked by someone else, there are a few things you can do about it. First, let them know about the issue so they can get back on track with their listing. Second, if you feel compelled enough to contact Amazon, send them an email detailing what happened and why; this will help prevent other customers from being affected by the same issue.

 

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