Man, let me tell you, diving into the Amazon seller life felt like hitting a gold mine at first. Then reality smacked me hard, especially when it came to those sweet, sweet disbursements. You hustle, you sell, you see the money piling up, and then BAM! Blocked. I’ve been through this wringer a few times, and every single time, it’s a gut punch.
The First Scare: Just Starting Out
I remember my very first big blockage. I was selling niche electronics, nothing fancy, but they moved fast. I racked up maybe five grand in sales in my first month—I was ecstatic. Went to check my next scheduled disbursement, and it was held up. Status: “Under Review.” I panicked, naturally.
- What happened? I realized I went too hard, too fast. My volume spiked way quicker than Amazon expected from a brand new account. They flagged it as suspicious activity. Rookie mistake, right?
- The fix: I had to scramble to provide a ton of documentation. Utility bills, invoices from my supplier (thank goodness I kept good records!), and a detailed explanation of my business model. It took two agonizing weeks. Lesson learned: pace yourself initially.
The Second Block: IP Complaints Are No Joke
The second major hold was different, and frankly, more annoying. I sourced some cool accessory components, thinking they were generic. Turns out, another seller was very aggressive about their “intellectual property,” even though the components were open-source designs modified slightly. They filed an IP complaint against me. Amazon just froze everything related to those listings—including the incoming funds.
This whole scenario blew up my disbursement schedule.
I woke up one morning to an email: “Your funds are being withheld pending resolution of a rights owner complaint.” My heart sank.
- My action plan: First, I immediately pulled those listings. No point fighting a losing battle with an aggressive IP lawyer, I thought. Second, I had to contact the rights owner directly. That was a nightmare. They barely responded.
- The resolution: I compiled all the proof I had that my components weren’t infringing, but more importantly, I showed Amazon I had removed the offending items and wouldn’t list them again. It was a partial win. The money that was tied directly to those sales was held for maybe 90 days as they figured out liability, but the rest of my disbursements eventually resumed after about a month of back and forth. You gotta be super careful about sourcing.
Velocity Reviews and Policy Changes
I thought I was safe after that, sticking to established suppliers and steady growth. Nope. Amazon loves to change the rules or just randomly decide your account needs a deep dive.
Last year, I got hit during a high-volume holiday season. Sales were through the roof. I shipped everything fast, got decent feedback, everything looked great. But my disbursement was sitting there, stuck on “Processing,” for days past the scheduled date.
I got onto Seller Support—which is always an adventure—and finally figured out it was a Velocity Review. They saw a massive surge in sales volume over a short period (hello, Christmas rush!) and they immediately got nervous about my ability to fulfill orders or potential fraud.
This felt absurd. I was doing exactly what they want—selling a lot!
I quickly uploaded fresh tracking information for every recent order and highlighted my excellent performance metrics. I even linked them to my external business licensing to prove I was legit. The key here was overwhelming them with proof of operational stability.
It was only held for about five business days, which is quick in Amazon time, but when you’re counting on that cash flow for inventory reloads, every hour hurts. It taught me that just hitting massive volume isn’t enough; you must proactively show Amazon you can handle it, or they just hit the pause button on your money.
My Takeaway on Staying Afloat
Every time my funds got locked, it was either because I grew too fast, stepped on someone’s toes, or just got randomly selected for a checkup. Being an Amazon seller means you are constantly proving you deserve your own money. Now, I’m obsessed with keeping my performance metrics perfect and being ready to dump documentation on them at a moment’s notice.
Always keep your invoices clean, track your shipments perfectly, and never, ever ignore those compliance warnings. Trust me, preemptive maintenance is way less stressful than chasing a blocked disbursement.