An Amazon moderator confirmed that a seller trying to describe the scent of a candle in their listing would not be allowed to do so. The seller posted an exchange they had had with Seller Support in which they explained they had listed a candle scented with “Fresh Apple, Berries, Clove Buds Made w Essential Oils.”
“It got flagged for using the brand name Apple,” the seller said they had explained in a chat with Amazon customer service, who responded that the product listing had an invalid brand name, and suggested the seller add the correct brand name attribute. “You may be subject to additional approvals depending on the brand name you choose. Once your listing is updated with the correct brand name, it will be automatically reinstated within about 24 hours of the modification.”
The original poster said the brand name was “generic.” One seller suggested, “Do you have a brand name? If you are able to use a different brand than “generic” it might get you past the issue.”
Another seller said, “Amazon policy does follow the Trademark definitions and in this case, the BOT that is doing the checking has been incorrectly programmed and is flagging items which are not in violation.”
One seller said,”If it makes you feel any better we fought for months on one of these for Mac & Cheese because “Mac” is also one of their trademarks. Not surprising, Amazons employees were not helpful, either.”
If you’ve had issues trying to list on marketplaces with a generic term that is also a brand name, did you find any workarounds? Any advice for this seller who is stymied in trying to list their apple-scented candle?
We had the same issue with our products. About 85% of our items use a generic word that describes a party item. After months of stressing about this and trying to solve this issue I finally said screw Amazon. I don’t miss Amazon at all. It’s just 1 big race to the bottom!
I had a similiar issue with a DISNEY title (let’s call it XYZ), but instead of slugging it out with the Amazon rep in a totally different culture, i just changed the name to “XYZ-like” and it’s been behaving for months.
(just a note: it was a hot christmas item, flagged in November, just in time for the season LOL)
so, for your example “Apple inspired” or “Apple like” or dont use apple as first word and adjust “….Apple-like, Apple- simile, Fresh-Apple” etc
That doesn’t impact how it performs in search?
*** When bad words happen ***
On Etsy, I tried to sell a necklace made of “Redskin” Turquoise, which is turquoise from China. The Pro Football team Washington Redskins had to change their name as the word “Redskin” is now considered racist. Etsy flagged my listing because I used the word “Redskin”. I re-listed the necklace and took out the word “Redskin”. This was an easy fix for me. Shortly afterword, the necklace sold.
Once eBay pull an item I had for sale. The reason, selling a prohibited item. What is prohibited from selling a Springs Industries towel? The color, ivory. Ebay flagged my item because the color was ivory. It gets better, the color was in a drop down box provided by eBay.
All well and good except if you read the history of Apple .. and how THAT trademark belonged to a certain English rock group … but I digress.
Amazon is wrong on this and is INCORRECTLY applying Trademark.
Could a seller sell Apple Juice? Apple Jacks? Apple Cider ?? Apple Flavored fruit snacks ?? Of course they can. APPLE was a fruit before a computer co. No person in their right mind (Trademark is about brand confusion) would think that an apple smelling candle is an iPhone or a Macbook or what ever they make now.
Sometimes the Indians that work for Amazon, the stuffy Seattle know nothings, and crooked AI know LESS then the average common man/women.