Brand Protection on AMZ: How to Use Test Buys to Remove Unauthorized Sellers from your Amazon Listings
Amazon brand managers should understand the importance of test buys in removing unauthorized sellers from their Amazon listings.
Performing a “test buy” simply means that you, as the brand rights owner, purchase of a sample of the suspected infringer’s product as a test to verify that it is actually infringing. For instance, if you believe an Amazon seller is offering a counterfeit product, or a product that falls outside the First Sale Doctrine, you will need to buy a sample of that seller’s product to show Amazon that you that you physically evaluated the product and verified your infringement allegations.
To make a test buy, simply place an order on amazon.com from your company’s Amazon buyer account for one product unit from each infringing seller on your Amazon listing. Once you place your test buy order, you will receive an Amazon order number which can then be used as evidence to support your infringement report. However, the order number alone is generally insufficient to prove to Amazon that you actually evaluated the product; you’re going to need more.
Once you receive the test buy products at your company address, Amazon will send you an email confirming delivery of the product. Amazon’s delivery confirmation email is another essential element of your infringement report, as it proves to Amazon that you actually received the infringing product for evaluation. Once you are in possession of the order number and delivery receipt, you can then evaluate the product itself to identify whether or not the third-party seller’s product is counterfeit, or if your trademark rights were infringed because the product lacks something material.
Material differences in your product, such as product warranties and packaging elements, can help protect your brand’s reputation as they set your product apart from unauthorized resellers’ products and ensure your test buys result in clear and valid reasons to remove those unauthorized sellers from your listing. This allows your brand to better protect your consumers against counterfeiters, and it ensures that your customers always continue to buy directly from the correct sources, namely, you and your authorized distributors. Once you have sufficient evidence of your test buy order, and a legitimate basis for your infringement claim, you can then make a valid intellectual property complaint on Amazon and remove the infringing sellers from your Amazon listings.
Our brand protection lawyers at Rosenbaum Famularo P.C. can help you incorporate material differences into your products to better enforce your brand and sales on Amazon.
If you’d like to learn more about how we do brand protection on AMZ the right way, please contact us for a free consultation. Before our meeting, we will have reviewed your product, identified the unauthorized sellers, and we will already have suggestions for you on how to better protect the sale of your products on Amazon.com.
