Fighting Fakes Was a Big Reason Behind Amazon’s Big Vendor Purge

Amazon.com on March 9 hinted that fighting counterfeits was a reason for its sudden and unexplained purge of thousands of vendors that sowed panic among longtime suppliers.

The company selectively reinstated some accounts, apologizing for “any inconvenience” caused by the “temporary pause” in orders, according to communications reviewed by Bloomberg. It encouraged those reinstated to enroll in “brand registry,” a tool to help brands knock counterfeit products off the platform.

The communication sheds further light on why Amazon abruptly canceled routine merchandise orders from thousands of its longtime suppliers over the past two weeks.

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