Amazon bans three Chinese brands from bribing customers

According to the announcement, Amazon banned electronics company Sunvalley from selling RAVPower power banks, Taotronic headsets and VAVA cameras from June 16. This suspension comes after Amazon discovered that a seller offered to give a gift card to a customer to write a good review after purchasing a product. This is a familiar practice in the Chinese e-commerce world, but Amazon sees it as abusing the review system.

Guangdong SACA Precision Manufacturing, the parent company of Sunvalley, said that the company has hired a lawyer to communicate, actively coordinate and appeal to Amazon so that sales can be restored on the floor. Recently, Amazon also made a similar decision with Chinese merchants for violating regulations on fake customer reviews, including an online store backed by ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company).

The three banned brands listed above sell a wide range of consumer electronics. Affected products account for about a third of Sunvalley’s sales on Amazon since early 2020. Several of the company’s other brands are not affected by the ban.

Sunvalley runs six different brands, from electronics to home appliances. Revenue from Amazon in 2020 reached 4.5 billion yuan ($697 million). Amazon has zero tolerance for violations, including asking friends to leave reviews or enticing users to write positive reviews with rewards. The company affirms that the policy applies to all sellers, regardless of size or territory.

Manufacturer Aukey was among the merchants previously banned by Amazon. The Shenzhen company reaped more than three-quarters of its revenue from Amazon in the first quarter of 2018 and 2019. Total Aukey sales in 2018 were 5.1 billion yuan. Mpow, Patozon’s Amazon online store – which is backed by ByteDance and Xiaomi – was also banned. In the first half of 2020, Patozon set a record of 2 billion yuan in export sales.

In recent years, more and more Chinese merchants have turned to major e-commerce platforms such as eBay and Amazon to reach new customers. According to a report by consulting firm MarketPlace Pulse, they accounted for 75% of new merchants on Amazon in January. The percentage of Chinese merchants selling on Amazon increased from 28% in 2019 to 63% in 2021.

According to SCMP