Blog 3
Never Overlook the Simplest of Things
POSTED ON July 5, 2021
If you speak to other like minded folks who sell on Amazon, it’s almost guaranteed they will be able to share a story or two of their own upset when selling on Amazon. Today, we want to share something simple that we find is often overlooked, it can be the difference between a fruitful beginning in your relationship with Amazon, or one that will see you practically pulling your hair out as you come face to face with what we we call, the ‘bot wall’.
This tip promptly begins after you’ve reached a decision that you want to sell your products on Amazon. One of the first things you will do when setting up an account is gather and prepare information such as your company registration details, address details, National ID and Credit Card details. Once you have all of this information, the the race to ‘hit go’ starts to set in! But wait, is it really that simple? To some degree, yes, but there are a some warnings which we highlight below.
On face value, entering your information appears straight forward with a step by step guide to help you. There are error messages that prompt reminders and will guide you if you have missed anything, however, a word of warning here. Entering the information accurately is SO important! To go back and change it later is extremely difficult, especially when you reach the section on shareholders. For example, all shareholders that are entitled to 20% shares or more within your company are beneficial owners and will need to be entered. If they are beneficial owners in another company with more than 20% shares, there is a chance you may need to contact Amazon and let them know ahead of setting up.
As you continue to enter your details, you will be asked to provide a copy of your National ID, which can either be a driving licence or passport. And herein lies the potential horror. This is where the suspected Amazon bots are scanning your ID to match the information you entered. This is where you can be caught in a viscious circle! One small mishap in preparing your ID from the below list will present you with an error that can leave you stuck in an automated verification spiral. For example, if you scan or take a picture of your passport and you crop the edge ever so slightly, this will be enough for the bot to refuse the scan, even if the data is visible and matches what you have entered. Below is the official list from Amazon.
- Must be a government-issued identity card that is distributed and recognized by the country where you are a citizen or resident.
- The full name on the national ID should match the full name on your registered Amazon account.
- Scan the original document in colour or take a picture using your mobile device. Do not submit a screenshot. Black and white copies are not accepted.
- Copies should be legible. The document image must be high quality, colored and unobstructed. The image must show a full document page or in case of national ID, both sides of the card.
- For multi-page files (for example: both sides of the ID card), you may merge the separate documents or images into one file for uploading to Seller Central.
- The document should not be expired.
- The date of birth in the national ID should match the date of birth provided during the Amazon seller account registration process.
- Your identity document must be in one of the following languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, or Spanish. If it is not in one of these languages, provide a copy of your passport or a notarized translation of your document in one of these languages.
- If you submit a copy of your passport, please ensure that the passport has the bearer’s signature.
- Document should be less than 10MB in size.
- Accepted formats are *.png, *.tiff, *.tif, *.jpg, *.jpeg, and *.pdf. Do not include special characters in the file name (Examples: $, &, #).
- Companies/Corporations need to submit a government issued national ID for the primary contact or beneficial owner.