Amazon Multiple Seller Accounts: Everything You Need to Know

To build a legitimate business that complies with Amazon Policies, you must carefully examine every issue related to your Amazon account. Your business is unique, and what sometimes works for one seller may not work for you.

Today, we provide you with an exciting topic to study - operating multiple Amazon accounts. Sellers have always been looking for the most original ways to increase profits; one of them was managing multiple seller accounts. In what cases do you need an additional Amazon account, and what are the consequences of opening it? We will figure it out in this article.

Note. This post was prepared by Seller Assistant App's partner - e-com law firm Solver. For more than 4 years, Solver has been a leading law firm working with Amazon, Etsy, Payoneer, PayPal, and Wise accounts and listing suspensions. They've successfully resolved over 2,000 cases and saved around 4 million US dollars for their clients.

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Can you have multiple Amazon accounts?

Multi-account implies a situation where one Amazon user owns, operates, is involved with, or has access to more than one Amazon selling account.

Yes, you can have multiple active Amazon accounts. According to Multiple selling accounts on Amazon Policy, you may only maintain one seller account for each region. But you can open a second account if you have a legitimate business need. Also, the same policy states that if one of the accounts is not in good standing, Amazon has the right to deactivate all of your accounts.

As examples of “legitimate business need,” Amazon provides the following reasons for opening a second account:

1) You own multiple brands and maintain separate businesses for each

2) You manufacture products for two distinct and separate companies

3) You are recruited for an Amazon program that requires separate accounts

But this is not a complete list of business needs according to which you can afford to open several accounts on Amazon. Even Amazon police use the term “examples,” which indicates an inexhaustible list of such possibilities.

When to consider having amazon multiple seller accounts?

Every business is unique, and the needs of every business are also different. You may need to diversify specific product categories in each of your accounts. Or, for example, the need to track the purchasing experience with greater precision. You would also like to maintain a separate product line with a unique brand but do not want your other brand's image to impact the current brand or account.

Amazon itself gives the following Examples of a legitimate business justification:

1. You own multiple brands and maintain separate businesses for each

(For example, you have a brand "A," and sell children's toys. You also created a brand, "B," and you will sell sauces using this brand. In this case, Amazon allows you to create two separate Amazon accounts for each brand to simplify maintenance. 

2. You manufacture products for two distinct and separate companies

When you manufacture products for two distinct and separate companies, Amazon may allow you to open a second seller account to help streamline your different accounts.

(For example, if you manufacture soaps for Company A and are going to manufacture soaps for Company B, you can create a second Amazon account.)

3. You are recruited for an Amazon program that requires separate accounts.

Pros and cons of having multiple Amazon accounts

Advantages of multiple Amazon seller accounts

Buying experience and accurate metrics

The first and the most significant positive aspects of owning several Amazon accounts are the accurate shopping experience and tracking of the brand development metrics. 

Using a separate account for each brand, you can plan separate advertising campaigns and analyze their impact on conversion more accurately. You won't need to waste time and effort on data separation.

You can easily track account metrics such as Sales, Customer Engagement, Conversion Rates, Inventory Levels, and Performance Metrics separately.

‍Risks diversification

In some cases, Amazon may arrange some verification of your account itself or particular products. For example, suppose a customer complains about the authenticity of your product, as it happens. In that case, Amazon will suspend the listing during such verification of the authenticity (most often, Amazon will request an invoice and letters of authorization from the brand, as well as shipping documents).

And until you resolve the issue with such document verification, your Account Health level will remain low. 

What does it entail:

- Possibility of Buy Box Loss

Your sales figures and income may suffer greatly if you are no longer eligible for the Buy Box since your products will no longer be prominently shown on the product page.

- Restricted access to specific functions

Amazon may restrict your capacity to produce or run ads if your AHR is low. As a result, it could be challenging to sell your products properly.

- Reduced relevance in search outcomes

Your products may appear lower in search results if your AHR levels are low, which could lead to a drop in sales and revenue.

For example, the following situation occurred on your account, and the AHR level dropped. However, you do not have a separate account for each brand. What happens next? All consequences of a violation on an account described above apply to the entire account. That is, Amazon can affect the visibility of products that came under review and related, even radically different products from another brand on the account. The same thing will happen with the visibility of the second brand's products on distribution.

What will help in this situation? Opening a second account will help. The second Amazon account will be a single, whole, and separate entity from Amazon's point of view. The consequences of the affected account will not apply to him. But please also note that this thesis concerns only the presence of violations on the account and low AHR. In more detail, we will consider the consequences for the second Amazon account of falling AHR below the permissible level and account suspension.

Sale of business

Another advantage of opening a second account is the possible sale of your Amazon business. In this case, since one account has one key upgraded brand, it is possible to assess the brand and business more clearly. The transfer of such a business will also be less problematic.

Optimization of resource costs and partial access of employees

Suppose you have each separately functioning Amazon account. In that case, you can clearly calculate what expenses are needed to develop the account and what amount is optimally required to maintain the account. Also, some account parameters may be contained or controlled by individual employees, to whom you can give partial access to the Brand Registry and account without worrying about your second asset.

Disadvantages of multiple Amazon seller accounts?

Related or Multi-accounting suspension

Amazon identifies accounts as related through an internal system. It is the main disadvantage of owning two or more accounts. When one account is suspended, your second account will be suspended automatically.

Time and financial costs

Some aspects of the account require a financial investment. You will do them for each account separately, and if you want to handle everything yourself, it will take quite a lot of time to audit and control two accounts. You also need to understand that you need to maintain several bank accounts. At the same time, it is necessary to manage to serve customers at a high level and process their requests and returns on time. It’s also worth remembering to control your listings and monitor inventory separately for each account.

How to open multiple Amazon seller accounts

To open a second Amazon account, as practice shows, you need to go through the same account verification (registration) procedure that you went through to open your first Amazon account.

However, when registering, you must use a different bank account for the new account and credit card information. Banking information may be in the same company name as your existing credit cards and bank accounts. Of course, you need to use other tax information and business registration addresses. This data will help you maintain two separate accounts independently of each other and show Amazon the reality of a legitimate business need.

Since Amazon requires that you report all changes to your business and request permission for each update, you still need to notify Amazon about the need to open a second account.

We recommend opening a separate case in your first account and entering information there that you currently have a legitimate business need to open a second Amazon account. In this case, it is better to describe the reasons for opening a second account in detail.

Things to keep in mind when creating your second Amazon seller account

- The most essential rule to keep in mind is that your current account and the new account will be inextricably related. What does this mean? Amazon sees through its internal system that both accounts belong to the same person. Yes, you can maintain one of your accounts absolutely carefully while allowing, for example, a drop in the AHR level on another account. But Amazon indicates that if you're that careless with one account, you'll behave the same way with another account.

Let's imagine a situation in which you have two Amazon accounts, "A" and "B." Account "A" is suspended, for example, for violating the authenticity of the product and selling counterfeit products. You hope you can continue your Amazon business but only using account "B," but this is not true. You will receive a " Related Suspension " on the same day or after a couple of days (depending on how quickly the Amazon system works) on account "B." 

"Related Suspension" means that your account is somehow connected to the currently suspended account.

At the same time, you won't be able to close account "A" simply. Any Amazon account can only be closed if it is active.

- You should maintain two accounts as two separate businesses, with different bank accounts and tax information, so that Amazon, among other things, treats such accounts as separate businesses. If you have not requested permission to open a second account or are trying to imitate separate businesses, you will receive a suspension called "Multi Accounting suspension."

- Before creating a second account, you need to weigh all the risks for yourself and calculate the costs of maintaining two Amazon accounts at the same time.

How to manage multiple Amazon seller accounts

Each account you have must have a separate business account, as well as charge method information. You must also have a unique business address and tax information. 

Keep a close eye on the metrics of each account, including the AHR level, since from now on, your accounts are inextricably linked. It is important to understand Amazon's logic in this matter. If you don't carefully monitor one account and violate Amazon Policies on it, then most likely, you will do the same on the second account.

If you get one of your accounts suspended? You are undoubtedly causing harm and danger to the Amazon community, which means you should not have access to Amazon privileges on any accounts. This means that Amazon will suspend all your active accounts and will not allow you to create new ones.

How does Amazon track multiple accounts?

Amazon has access to the best and most advanced computing technologies. Amazon's unique algorithms can accurately determine if a seller is involved in a particular account. Here, we want to return you to the question of what exactly Amazon considers multi-accounting. Multi-account implies a situation where one Amazon user Owns, Operates, is Involved with Or has access to more than one Amazon selling account.

That is, I shouldn't have access to other Amazon accounts besides mine. In general, according to the standards and practices of working with Amazon, you can access other seller accounts with minor reservations. There are only two of them:

- You must have a compelling reason for such access to someone else's Amazon account

- You must have legal proof of the reason for such access

Why, if I have no goal of creating a second account, should I be afraid of logging into or operating another Amazon account?

Knowledge about specific connections and algorithms by which Amazon calculates relations between accounts will help us understand in more detail. The Amazon system will undoubtedly link your accounts if at least some of this matches on two accounts:

1) Identity of the seller (identification documents according to which the account was registered).

2) Bank or credit card information

3) Email to log into your account. Email user permission

4) General categories of products or ASINs

5) Brand information

6) IP address

7) One device to log into accounts

8) Tax information

9) Phone number

10) Account business address

Now that we know what general information Amazon can link accounts with, let's look at the consequences of such suspension.

Let's assume this situation. You are a seller who has given a contractor or employee access to your Amazon account. This employee gave you an email, which you added to user permission and provided you with access to your account. After six months, Amazon suspended your account without trial or investigation for communicating with an unknown account. You receive a notification on your account, which directly states that you participated in the activities of an account unknown to you. Six months ago, you provided access to your account to a contractor with his own Amazon account, which is now suspended.

How could you be connected with him? Do you remember entering the contractor's email into the user permission section? So, the Amazon system recognized that you have something to do with that suspended account of your employee and proactively suspended your account, too. What to do now, you ask? You need to prove to Amazon that these connections are erroneous and that you have nothing to do with the operation of the suspended account. To do this, you need to provide Amazon with documentary evidence of what kind of relationship existed between you and the employee and also write down a strong Plan of Action to eliminate the problem that has arisen.

A Solver team of Amazon lawyers can help you with these and other questions.

FAQ

Can you have 2 seller central accounts?

Yes, you can have multiple seller accounts if, according to the Amazon multiple seller accounts policy, you have a corresponding legitimate business need, such as using different business models for each registered brand.

Can one person have multiple Amazon seller accounts?

Yes, sometimes Amazon business needs, for example, those related to multiple brands management of one seller, may require the creation of separate Amazon seller accounts. Remember that both accounts need to be maintained in good standing

Can I create 2 Amazon accounts with the same number?

Yes, you can do it. But this is not advisable. The first reason is separate business structures. If you decide to run two separate brands, such as separate business structures with different accounts and company registration, the contact telephone number must also be unique. Inside the Amazon system, this connection is displayed as an account registration phone number connection

How does Amazon detect multiple accounts?

Amazon's system is very sensitive and unique. Special algorithms of the Amazon system automatically determine your accounts as related based on certain criteria and similar information in your account. (such information, for example, includes the same email address, phone number, bank account and credit card information, and IP addresses).

Is it illegal to have multiple Amazon accounts?

No, you can legally have multiple Amazon accounts.

How can you get approval for multiple Amazon seller accounts?

To open another Amazon account, you must have sufficient legitimate business needs. Open a case with Amazon and explain why you need to open another account. Such reasons may include owning multiple brands, manufacturing products for two distinct and separate companies, and recruiting for an Amazon program that requires separate accounts.

Final Thoughts

Every step or decision in the structure of an Amazon business must be balanced and thoughtful. Even the most minor changes to the structure of your business or your account can have enormous consequences that can be costly and time-consuming. Suppose you want to manage multiple Amazon accounts. In that case, you should carefully develop a strategy for dealing with all sorts of problems you may encounter along the way to business development. Let’s not forget about the advisability of maintaining multiple accounts. 

And remember, the Solver team is ready to support and help at any stage of the life of your Amazon account.

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