Amazon suspended my seller account — $180K inventory stuck in FBA

Got the dreaded email: "Your Amazon selling account has been deactivated." Reason given: "related to another account that was deactivated."

I have ONE account. Never had another. I've been selling for 3 years, good metrics, no policy warnings. They won't tell me what other account they think I'm related to.

I have $180K in inventory sitting in their warehouses. Account balance is $45K. They're not releasing either. What are my options?

This is the "related accounts" nightmare. Amazon links accounts based on:

• IP address
• Device fingerprint
• Bank account
• Tax ID
• Physical address
• WiFi network

Did you ever log into someone else's seller account from your computer? Use shared office space? Have a family member with an account?

Wait — my wife had a seller account 4 years ago. She closed it herself, it wasn't suspended. Same home address, same WiFi. Could that be it?

That's 100% what triggered it. Amazon's system sees: same address, same network, one account closed → new account opened → must be ban evasion. The algorithm doesn't know she closed voluntarily vs was suspended.

Your appeal needs to address this directly. Show that the accounts had different principals (you vs her), different EINs if applicable, and that her account was closed in good standing.

Let's talk legal options, because the appeal process often fails:

1. Amazon's Business Solutions Agreement arbitration. Section 18 requires individual arbitration through AAA. You can claim breach of contract if they're holding funds/inventory without valid cause. Filing fee is ~$200 and Amazon pays arbitrator fees for claims under $75K.

2. State AG consumer protection complaint. Some states (especially Washington, where Amazon is HQ'd) have successfully pressured Amazon to review seller suspensions.

3. Small claims court for inventory. Some sellers have had success getting their physical inventory returned through small claims, since it's not technically a "funds" dispute.

Before you go legal, try the appeal properly. Most sellers write terrible appeals that get auto-rejected. Here's the format that works:

Part 1: Root cause analysis. "I understand Amazon detected a relationship between my account and another account previously registered at my address. This account belonged to my spouse [name] and was closed in good standing on [date]."

Part 2: Immediate corrective actions. "To prevent future confusion, I have [specific steps taken]."

Part 3: Systemic preventive measures. "Going forward, I will [specific procedures]."

Attach: her account closure confirmation if available, your business docs showing it's your LLC not hers, anything proving the accounts were legitimately separate businesses.

Submitted appeal using that format. Got a response in 2 hours: "After reviewing your account, we have decided to uphold our decision." No human read that appeal in 2 hours.

That response was automated. Try escalating to jeff@amazon.com (goes to executive customer relations) with a concise email: who you are, what happened, that you've tried to appeal, and what you're asking for. Sometimes this gets human review.

If that fails, arbitration is your best bet. For $180K inventory + $45K funds, it's worth the cost. I've seen Amazon settle rather than go through full arbitration when the seller's case is sympathetic.

Went through this last year. $90K situation. Jeff email got escalated to "Account Health" team who actually reviewed it. They reinstated after 3 weeks. Was the worst 3 weeks of my life but it worked.

Key: keep the email SHORT. Like 3 paragraphs. They won't read walls of text.

UPDATE: Jeff email worked. Got a call from an actual human at Amazon's "Seller Relations Executive Team." They reviewed my case, confirmed the link was to my wife's voluntarily-closed account, and reinstated me within 48 hours.

They released the funds and inventory. No apology of course, but I'm operational again.

Lesson learned: keep business completely separate from family. My wife's using her parents' address if she ever sells again.

Great outcome. For others reading: the executive escalation email works maybe 20-30% of the time. When it doesn't, arbitration is still there. But always try the free options first.

And OP is right — if you have multiple potential sellers in a household, treat them as completely separate businesses from day one. Different devices, different IPs (use a dedicated business internet connection), different everything.