Prohibited seller activities and actions

These prohibited seller activities and actions are established to maintain a selling program that is safe for buyers and fair for sellers of both products and services. Failure to comply with the terms of the Agreement can result in cancellation of listings, suspension from use of Amazon tools and reports, the removal of selling privileges, or permanent suspension.

Attempts to divert transactions or buyers:

Any attempt to circumvent the established Amazon sales process or to divert Amazon users to another website or sales process is prohibited. Specifically, any advertisements, marketing messages (special offers) or "calls to action" that lead, prompt, or encourage Amazon users to leave the Amazon website are prohibited. Prohibited activities include the following:

• The use of email intended to divert customers away from the Amazon sales process.
• The inclusion of hyperlinks, URLs or web addresses within any seller-generated confirmation email messages or any product/listing description fields that are intended to divert customers away from the Amazon sales process.

Unauthorized and improper business names:

A seller's Business Name (identifying the seller's business entity on Amazon.co.jp) must be a name that accurately identifies the seller, is not misleading, and the seller has the right to use. In other words, third party trademarks (including but not limited to trademarks such as "AMAZON," "AMAZON.CO.JP," and "Amazon" in Katakana), and must not infringe on the third party's trademark rights or other intellectual property rights. Sellers are prohibited from using any form of the name Amazon, such as "Amazon-ten," (in Katakana and Kanji), "@Amazon," or "@Amazon" (in Katakana) as their business name. Furthermore, a seller cannot use a business name that contains an email suffix such as .com, .net, .biz, etc.

Inappropriate email communications:

All seller email and phone communications with buyers must be courteous, relevant and appropriate. Unsolicited emails and phone communications with Amazon.co.jp customers other than as necessary for order fulfillment and related customer service, and emails containing marketing communications of any kind (including within otherwise permitted communications) are prohibited.

Appropriate treatment of customer phone numbers:

Amazon provides access to customer phone numbers to professional sellers who fulfill their own orders, so that they can comply with carrier label requirements. If you receive this customer information, you are required to adhere to Amazon's customer personal information policy, which can be found in our Seller Agreement.

Please review the policy and the guidance below to make sure that you are using customers' phone numbers correctly.

• Proper treatment of customer phone numbers:
  • Print on labels to comply with carrier requirements.
  • Dispose of any customer phone number data that you retain after you have processed the customer's orders.
  • Monitor who in your organization has access to customer phone numbers, protecting this data is your responsibility.

• Improper treatment of customer phone numbers:
  • Never contact a customer using their phone number. To contact a customer about their order, only use Buyer-Seller Messaging. For more information, please see our Buyer-Seller Messaging FAQ.
  • Never share customer phone information with an external party.
  • Never pass along customer information of any kind, including phone numbers outside of Buyer-Seller Messaging.

Permitted email addresses:

Both seller and buyer are to use the email addresses assigned to them by Amazon, and communicate with each other via the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service. While communicating with the buyer using the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service on the Amazon site, providing or requesting a different email address from the one assigned by Amazon is prohibited.

Operating multiple listing accounts:

You may only maintain one Seller Central account for each region in which you sell unless you have a legitimate business need to open a second account and all of your accounts are in good standing. If any of your accounts are not in good standing, we may deactivate all of your Selling accounts until all accounts are in good standing.

Examples of a legitimate business justification include:

• You own multiple brands and maintain separate businesses for each
• You manufacture products for two distinct and separate companies
• You are recruited for an Amazon program that requires separate accounts

Filing Infringement Notices as an Agent or Brand Protection Agency

Amazon understands that many brands may choose to have brand protection agencies or agents report intellectual property infringement on their behalf, and accepts submissions from authorized agents. However, Amazon does not permit individuals with active selling accounts to file infringement notices as an agent of a brand when the filing of those notices could benefit their own selling account (through removing competing listings, for example). Any person filing notices as an agent that benefit their own status as a seller may have their selling account terminated.

Fraudulent use of seller ratings, feedback and customer reviews:

Manipulating ratings, feedback and product reviews is prohibited

• Ratings and feedback: Buyers rate the seller's overall performance using ratings and feedback, which help buyers build a high level of trust within Amazon Marketplace. Sellers must not post fraudulent or inappropriate feedback, force or threaten a buyer into posting feedback, post feedback on their own transactions, or post the personal information of any buyer posting feedback. Any manipulation of seller reviews is prohibited. You can request feedback from a buyer, but you cannot pay or offer any incentive to a buyer for either providing or removing feedback. Furthermore, sellers are strictly prohibited from impersonating buyers and posting reviews for commercial purposes.
• Reviews: Reviews are important to the Amazon Marketplace, providing a forum for positive or negative feedback about product and service details and reviewer's experiences. You cannot write reviews for products or services that you have a financial interest in, including reviews for products or services that you or your competitors sell. Additionally, unless Amazon solicits a review through Amazon’s program such as Early Reviewer Program, or an answer through its Customer Questions & Answers, you cannot provide compensation (including free or discounted products) for a review. Review solicitations that ask for only positive reviews or that offer compensation are prohibited. You cannot ask buyers to modify or remove reviews.

Misuse of sales rank:

The best seller rank feature allows buyers to evaluate the popularity of a product. Any attempt to manipulate sales rank is prohibited. You cannot solicit or knowingly accept fake or fraudulent orders, including placing orders for your own products. You cannot provide compensation to buyers for purchasing your products or provide claim codes to buyers for the purpose of inflating sales rank. In addition, you cannot make claims regarding a product's best seller rank in the product detail page information, including the title and description.

Post-transaction price manipulation and excessive shipping fees:

Any attempt to increase the sale price of an item after a transaction has been completed is strictly prohibited. Additionally, sellers cannot set excessive order fulfillment and shipping costs.

If the seller deliberately manipulates handling fees or shipping rates in order to deceive buyers, or if Amazon receives complaints from buyers, or judges that the settings pose a risk of complaints, Amazon will suspend the seller's eligibility and take any other measures that Amazon deems appropriate. Please take careful note of this.

Accurate descriptions of product information:

When listing items for sale using an existing product detail page, the product being offered must be listed on a product detail page that accurately describes the product in all respects, including the following attributes: manufacturer, edition, version, format, or player compatibility. Please check your product against other products with the same ISBN, JAN code, or other external identifiers.

Accurate description of "List Price":

Unless otherwise stated, the prices shown in the "List Price" field on our site must be the latest prices widely publicized by manufacturers and distributors and printed on packages and in catalogs. This is generally called the manufacturer's suggested retail price. Alternatively, prices must be the latest ones widely publicized by retailers, known as the "recommended retail price". A price specially offered to a limited number of retailers, a past or future sale price, or the price of a product that is not recognized as the same as the product concerned cannot be designated as the "list price". For more information, see section "Reference price settings" under Merchants@amazon.co.jp Listing Rules.

Display of appropriate "Sales price":

If you wish to appeal price discount by setting a sale price, sellers must comply with the applicable Policies and Agreements of our site. For more information, see Sale Price Settings under Merchants@amazon.co.jp Listing Rules.

Description of appropriate product information and advertising:

Expressions used in product descriptions and advertising must be appropriate and must comply with all applicable laws and guidelines. The URLs listed below give examples of websites for government agencies etc. with explanations of major relevant laws. You yourself are responsible for checking applicable laws and guidelines and ensuring your own compliance.

Uploading product images displaying inappropriately branded generic products, including inappropriate brand marks on product detail pages and including wording on your products page indicating an inappropriate association with the brand:

Uploading images of products displaying your trade mark affixed in a way that is not permanent (for example, on a sticker, label or tag, etc.) is prohibited in principle where that product is a generic product. Including references to your trademark on a product detail page (including attaching your trademark to the product title) where that product is a generic product not permanently branded with the trademark is prohibited. Amazon reserves the right to delete or modify the products, product pages, and product images that violate this terms and conditions.

Compliance with laws regarding the provision of premiums:

If providing a premium, you must comply with the restrictions on premium value and other stipulations, as set forth in the Unjustifiable and Misleading Representations Act (Premiums Act). For example, if sellers offer a premium such as free promotional items, the highest amount of the premium must be less than two-tenths of the sales amount if the sales amount is 1,000 yen and above, and 200 yen or less if the sales amount is less than 1,000 yen. The seller is responsible for checking the Premiums Act, as well as applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and related notices, and ensuring compliance with them.

• Consumer Affairs Agency (http://www.caa.go.jp/index.html)
• Unjustifiable and Misleading Representations Act (Premiums Act) (http://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/representation/fair_labeling/pdf/141210premiums_1.pdf)
• Usage Standards for Specified Terms (http://www.jfftc.org/)
• Restrictions on Advertisement of Pharmaceuticals (Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Regenerative and Cellular Therapy Products, Gene Therapy Products, and Cosmetics)

  http://www.fukushihoken.metro.tokyo.jp/kenkou/iyaku/sonota/koukoku/

Display of information in accordance with the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and other applicable laws:

Persons selling goods through the Internet are required to display certain information regarding themselves, the products offered, the transaction terms, and related licenses, permits, registrations, notifications, etc. in accordance with applicable laws. On our site, we require sellers to display relevant information, including those noted above, in order to ensure that sellers are compliant with applicable laws and to allow customers to purchase goods with confidence. For more details, please refer to our policy, Display of information in accordance with the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and other applicable laws.

Concerning overseas shipping by sellers:

You must complete customs procedures to activate overseas shipping and ship items overseas. Sellers are responsible for customs procedures when they ship overseas. Check in advance for products whose export is prohibited by law or customs, and for import restrictions in the countries to which you plan to export. Also, In Your Info & Policies under the Settings tab, enter the information regarding overseas shipping in both English and Japanese. Read more about it here:

• Japan Customs home page

  http://www.customs.go.jp/

• Import-Export procedures

  http://www.customs.go.jp/tsukan/index.htm

Creating duplicate product detail pages:

Creating a product detail page for a product already in the Amazon.co.jp catalog is prohibited, and Amazon.co.jp might close your account.

The Add a Product feature:

The Add a Product feature allows sellers to create product detail pages for products not available in the Amazon.co.jp catalog (or product detail pages). Merchants@amazon.co.jp Add a Product Rules apply to sellers who use the Add a Product feature of Amazon.co.jp.

Fraudulent use of A-to-z Guarantee claims:

Any fraudulent use of A-to-z Guarantee claims is prohibited. Sellers who have an excessive number of claims or excessive monetary amounts of A-to-z Guarantee claims are subject to termination. Amazon reserves the right to judge whether claims or monetary amounts are excessive. Buyers who are dissatisfied with a product can contact the seller to make arrangements for a refund, return, or exchange. Amazon.co.jp reserves the right to demand compensation from the seller for the money it reimbursed to buyers based on an A-to-z Guarantee claim.

Improper use of Amazon.co.jp:

All sellers are able to access and use the Amazon.co.jp selling service. If a seller uploads large amounts of data repeatedly, or otherwise uses the service in an unreasonable way, it can place an excessive load on the website and impair the ability of other sellers to easily access and use the service. If a seller is misusing or making unreasonable use of the Amazon.co.jp selling service, Amazon might, at its sole discretion, restrict or block the seller's access to product feeds or any other functions that are being misused until the seller stops misusing them

Misuse of Search and Browse:

When customers use Amazon's search engine and browse structure, they expect to see relevant and accurate results. Any attempt to manipulate the Search and Browse experience is therefore prohibited. Prohibited behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Artificially simulating customer traffic (through Internet bots, paying for clicks on organic search results, etc.).
• Providing misleading or irrelevant catalog information (title, bullet points, description, variations, keywords, etc.).
• Adding product identifiers (brand names, product names, ASINs, and so on), even if they are your own, to hidden keyword attributes.

For more context and guidelines, see Optimize listings for search.

Selling books, music, video and DVDs (BMVD):

BMVD products can only be listed on Amazon.co.jp if the seller has the rights to sell or distribute them in Japan. Except for cases in which approval through the specified procedures is obtained in advance, products that include "Amazon.co.jp exclusive" in the product title cannot be displayed during the pre-order period

Amazon.co.jp exclusive Media products:

Products, Music, DVD/Blu-Ray, Video Game and PC softwares that include "Amazon.co.jp exclusive" in the product title and are listed by Amazon.co.jp cannot be listed during pre-order period.

Advertisements:

Listing products completely or mainly intended to be an entrance into a commercial or personal website for advertising purposes, or listing products for providing contact information related to transactions outside of the Amazon.co.jp website, are prohibited. Linking to another commercial website is prohibited, particularly websites that have an order tool or information other than those of the Amazon.co.jp website.

Listing prohibited products:

You must not list prohibited items without obtaining approval in advance. Refer to the Amazon.co.jp list of prohibited items.

Improper use of removal orders:

You can only use FBA product return orders for returning your products to you. Using removal orders for other purposes is prohibited. Amazon can withhold your removal orders if it is clear that the destination address is different from your address.

Security Control Measures:

You must manage Buyer's Personal Information which you obtained through Amazon.co.jp ("Personal Data") in accordance with any agreements between you and Amazon.co.jp, Amazon Services Privacy Policy and Act on the Protection of Personal Information. If any leakage, loss, or damage of the personal information happened or possibly happened, the seller shall notify Amazon of the fact immediately and take appropriate countermeasures for security control.

Additional Useful Information:

• Amazon Services Privacy Policy
• Amazon.co.jp Conditions of Use
• Act on the Protection of Personal Information
• Guidelines Targeting Economic and Industrial Sectors Pertaining to the Act on the Protection of Personal Information