Amazon Professional Selling Account Question.

nortong

A few months ago I opened an Amazon pro account in the name of my Ltd company. I have now decided to close the ltd company so informed Amazon of the new bank a/c. also my new trading name would now be my own name 'T/A ***'.

Amazon have registered the new bank account with no problems but my new trading status has caused no end of ructions, they say they need proof documents of the registration of my new status of my trading name, I have told them that the T/A name of a sole proprietor in the UK does not need registering. My account is under restriction pending investigation.

Do I have to be a registered company to have a pro account?

RFW

nortong wrote: »

Do I have to be a registered company to have a pro account?

No. Your personal UTR should suffice. That said, it could be confusing the issue to move from a limited company to a sole trader.

theonlywayisup

You need to furnish them with documentation showing you are registered as a sole trader. Your UTR should suffice but HMRC will provide you with a letter if you ask.

Assuming you are not VAT registered you will be billed net of VAT and can apply for a refund of VAT on your fees, dating back 6 years.

You must take note of HMRC guidelines on reverse charge regarding how to calculate your output apropos the VAT threshold. Being charged fees net of VAT means you need to add in the net fee amount to your turnover when calculating your output for VAT. You won't pay VAT on this amount, it is purely used to ascertain if you are over the threshold.

sjbrun

From what I have read on the Amazon boards you put your UTR where the company regestration number goes.

Aparently they have been very funny with sole traders and verification has taken months for some.

They may even insist you close your account and open a new one as in their case it would be different people running the account, a limited company vs a person

soolin

sjbrun wrote: »

From what I have read on the Amazon boards you put your UTR where the company regestration number goes.

Aparently they have been very funny with sole traders and verification has taken months for some.

They may even insist you close your account and open a new one as in their case it would be different people running the account, a limited company vs a person

I was one of those sellers affected when they started to gather trading information. I had successfully sold on there for years and then got restricted as I couldn't supply the proof they needed.

My 'crime' was that I am a sole trader so I declare to HMRC in my own name, however I use a made up name like 'book utopia' on Amazon as a user name and I couldn't supply bank statements for that. I explained again and again that was just a user name, I had used it for 10 years or more but I traded as 'me' and the computer just kept telling me no. I phoned them, I emailed them - I pointed out that I had been receiving payments and buying from the same bank accounts account for years but they wouldn't have it and warned me I was about to lose my account permanently. Then they allowed me an appeal- I heard nothing but suddenly found I was properly registered and have been listing (but not selling alas )ever since.

My only suggestion is to persevere and just keep calling and emailing them explaining the situation.

nortong

Thanks for your replies, the irony is that this morning I had an email from Amazon Services Europe with an attached invoice for January's seller fees. The invoice is addressed to my new sole trader title, so I am at a bit of a loss understanding what their objection is.

I have explained that nothing has altered as far as my circumstances are concerned. They have accepted my new bank a/c and they seem to be already addressing me by my new title! Very confusing.

nortong

soolin wrote: »

I was one of those sellers affected when they started to gather trading information. I had successfully sold on there for years and then got restricted as I couldn't supply the proof they needed.

My 'crime' was that I am a sole trader so I declare to HMRC in my own name, however I use a made up name like 'book utopia' on Amazon as a user name and I couldn't supply bank statements for that. I explained again and again that was just a user name, I had used it for 10 years or more but I traded as 'me' and the computer just kept telling me no. I phoned them, I emailed them - I pointed out that I had been receiving payments and buying from the same bank accounts account for years but they wouldn't have it and warned me I was about to lose my account permanently. Then they allowed me an appeal- I heard nothing but suddenly found I was properly registered and have been listing (but not selling alas )ever since.

My only suggestion is to persevere and just keep calling and emailing them explaining the situation.

Oh, is it worth me carrying on then? :eek:

soolin

nortong wrote: »

Oh, is it worth me carrying on then? :eek:

95% of my stock is/was books so I am not a good comparison for sales on Amazon as I think the book market is on its last legs. I went from thousands of books in various storage places to my current total of less than 800 and am still cutting those back further.

RFW

nortong wrote: »

Oh, is it worth me carrying on then? :eek:

Do your best to get it sorted. It can be like banging your head against a brick wall but they do have some sensible people. If I remember right it's easier to email seller verification on a direct email.

I had my account all verified and was using an old email address where the domain address was due to expire. I updated my email address and my account went into pending verification again (about a week after it had been verified). This took six months and several complaints to get resolved. They asked for further information which I could provide but prior to that I just thought it was due to the email so hadn't been too bothered.

I now think that my account was throttled (sales slowed) in that pending period.

As above you may need to ask HMRC to send letters to confirm your UTR.

nortong

nortong wrote: »

Thanks for your replies, the irony is that this morning I had an email from Amazon Services Europe with an attached invoice for January's seller fees. The invoice is addressed to my new sole trader title, so I am at a bit of a loss understanding what their objection is.

I have explained that nothing has altered as far as my circumstances are concerned. They have accepted my new bank a/c and they seem to be already addressing me by my new title! Very confusing.

I have quoted my post #6 as I am intrigued as to why Amazon have already invoiced me with my new trading title and recognised my new bank a/c but are still investigating my change from a limited company to a sole proprietorship.

Is this an encouraging sign?

sequence

It took me forever to get them to verify my account too. I think a lot of the CS staff are based abroad and don't understand the concept of a sole trader.