Predicting success on Amazon can feel impossible. Whether you’re new or established, complaints of any kind are a major concern. They lead to dreaded account shutdowns and are just plain stressful. So how can you prevent IP complaints? Luckily, like most things in life, there’s an app for that.
Get the plugin here!
What is an IP complaint?
An IP complaint is when a brand flags your account to Amazon, claiming that you’re unlawfully selling their product or products without their approval. These formal complaints have become increasingly common on Amazon as brands become choosier about who they let sell.
What happens when you receive an IP complaint?
If a complaint is ignored or otherwise left unresolved, you can get suspended from selling that particular listing or – worst case scenario – have your account suspended altogether. Some sellers hit with IP complaints hire a lawyer – and for good reason. It’s important to remember that intellectual property violations are serious and go beyond Amazon’s policies. Brands have the right to take their complaints to court.
How can IP Alert help?
IP Alert is a Chrome plugin that predicts whether selling a given product will result in an IP complaint. How? The app pulls from a user-generated list of brands that have previously given grief to sellers over IP violations, whether that be a complaint or formal cease and desist letter. With the plugin activated, every time you’re browsing a listing on Amazon, a pop-up will appear alerting you when a brand has been flagged.
Nothing in life is foolproof, but in these times of uncertainty, we need every roadblock-preventer enabled. In this case, the roadblock-preventer lives on Chrome. The plugin costs $100 for one year or $200 for a lifetime of use and may save you a lifetime of Amazon headaches. See below for a special discount.
Happy selling!
Transcript
Todd Welch (11:18):
Now that question flows right into the next thing that I want to talk to you about before I answer another user viewer question and that is a tiny little Chrome plugin Google Chrome plugin that I’ve started using that helps you predict if you will get an IP complaint or an intellectual property complaint. If you start selling a product and this little plugin is called IP alert and what this plugin is, is basically a user generated content of brands that issue IP complaints that are known to issue IP complaints. Now the developers behind it, they are not just accepting any brand so that people could try to fake out the system just to get people to not sell a product. So they definitely look into it and you need to provide proof. But if you get say an IP complaint from a brand or you get a cease and desist letter from a lawyer telling you to stop selling a product, you can then submit it to IP alert and they will potentially add it into the directory.
Todd Welch (12:36):
But what’s really nice is it goes right into Google Chrome and when you go to an Amazon listing, then it will pop up a box right in the middle of the page. If it’s a brand that issues IP complaints, it will say this brand is known to issue IP complaints and so then you can decide whether you want to go forward or not with it, but it’s a really nice handy little plugin. It is $100 for the plugin and that is a lifetime payment, so a onetime payment, no monthly, no yearly stuff like that, just a hundred bucks and you get it for good. So it’s a nice little plugin. It’s not going to be foolproof. There’s going to be brands that are not on the list, but if they’re already known and in the database it’s nice just to get that little pop up and then you can decide, have that extra information as to whether you’re going to go forward with that or not.
Todd Welch (13:35):
Now I emailed the developers of IP alert to see if we can potentially get a discount on their product, so we’ll see what they say. Maybe I can get a little bit of money off for you guys. I’m going to try my best, but in either case you’ll be able to see if I did or didn’t and get the plugin. If you head over to amazonseller.school/alert and that information will also be in the show notes down below as well so you can get that there and click over to it.
