Published: 2023-03-02 · Podcasts · Ricky Bandelin
When you start seeing some success with a product, competitors can find your sales data and want to get a piece of what you're getting so they introduce a knockoff product from yours. This episode talks all about knockoffs on Amazon and what you can do to work around them.
There are two types of bad actors: copycats — those selling a duplicate item claiming it's a genuine article — and hijackers, who may be selling the real product but on your listing and taking all the sales.
The main tool Amazon has to combat this is Brand Registry — a tool you can register for and claim that you are the brand owner. You need a trademark (which can take 18 months or more), but Amazon has an accelerated brand registration program using Amazon-certified lawyers that grants access to Brand Registry tools before your trademark is fully completed, and is generally cheaper.
Anyone who is serious about selling on Amazon will absolutely need Brand Registry. If you have a copycat on your listing, buy the product and submit photos to Amazon of the packaging, the genuine product vs the knockoff. This isn't a guaranteed way to remove sellers but it's an important step.