Quick Answer
Amazon listing hijacking is when a seller you never authorised attaches an offer to your ASIN, usually undercutting you to take the Buy Box and often shipping a counterfeit under your brand.
- Four signals give it away: a seller you didn’t approve, sudden Buy Box loss, quality complaints in new reviews, and sales dropping with no other explanation.
- Amazon does not notify you when it happens.
- Brand Registry is the fastest removal route, and evidence quality decides how fast it moves.
- Prevention costs less than removal: Brand Registry, trademarks, distinctive packaging, Transparency on repeat targets.
About the Author: Gloria Anderson is an Amazon Brand Protection Specialist with 9 years of experience helping private label brands protect their listings. At SellerSonar she has worked with brands managing 50 to 2,000+ resellers, and has seen firsthand what happens when enforcement is reactive instead of proactive.
As more and more sellers move their business to Amazon, the competition is becoming much more harsh, belligerent, and ruthless. If you are not differentiating yourself from the rivalry, your online business won’t persist in the long course.
Therefore, this article will discuss a common issue that almost every successful Amazon seller has faced. So, what is an Amazon hijacker? How to stop Amazon hijacking listings?
What is Amazon listing hijacking?
It means that some people sell counterfeit products or similar versions of your private-label goods. It is incredibly frustrating to a private-label Amazon seller. They took the effort to develop their brand and products on Amazon specifically to avoid competition with other sellers and control the Buy Box. Having their listing “hijacked” is a crucial concern among sellers on Amazon. According to Jungle Scout’s 2021 State of the Amazon Seller report, 48% of merchants said they were worried about hijackers building copycat listings, and nothing since has made that easier to ignore.
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Effectively tracking and addressing Amazon hijacking manually can be a daunting task, particularly with a large number of listings. SellerSonar provides an invaluable solution by offering automated hijacking alerts. By continuously monitoring your listings, SellerSonar promptly notifies you of any changes or unauthorized sellers detected, allowing you to take immediate steps to protect your brand and maintain control over your listings.
Furthermore, SellerSonar offers the convenience of exporting daily tracking data, providing a comprehensive summary of your listings. With this feature, you can determine the number of merchants offering your products and their corresponding prices. By comparing these statistics, you can quickly identify if you are facing any hijacker issues. The exported file compiles all alerts, including relevant information such as ASIN, marketplace, and alert type. Utilizing filters, you can easily sort and analyze the data according to your specific needs.
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How to spot a hijacked listing
Four signals, roughly in the order you tend to notice them.
1. A seller you never approved. Open your product page and look at the other-sellers section. On a private label ASIN there should only ever be one name there, and it should be yours.
2. Sudden Buy Box loss. Your price is competitive, your metrics are fine, you’re in stock, and the Buy Box has gone anyway. Someone is undercutting you on your own listing.
3. Quality complaints in new reviews. “Cheap plastic.” “Nothing like the photos.” Those are photographs of somebody else’s product, and the reviews stay on your listing long after the hijacker has gone.
4. An unexplained drop in sales. No algorithm change, no stockout, no seasonal pattern. Usually it means a hijacker holds the Buy Box and is taking traffic you paid for.
None of these confirms a hijack on its own. Together they are enough to go and check, and checking takes a minute.
Example of hijacking
Let’s take a closer look at how this issue appears on the platform, so you can easily spot its signs. For instance, we’ve found a product listing for a fidget popper toy with two different sellers. Since it is a private-label item, it should have one seller.
We highlighted several sections on the product detail page that show the listing might have been hijacked: the brand, the Sold by and Ships from information, and the “New (2) from…” line at the bottom of the description bullets. It can define two or more Amazon sellers on this product listing.
As the seller and brand names match, we know this item is a private label. So, there are a few reasons why there might be more than one seller on this private label listing.
- The owner of the brand approved another Amazon seller.
- The other seller bought these products from some coupon site and is reselling them.
- The other seller is selling counterfeit goods and is hijacking the product listing.
When we click that “New (2) from” line, you can see a screen that shows all of the Amazon sellers on this listing. It is indicated that the original offer for this item is from the brand named Color Baby, which controls the Buy Box.
Once you look below Color Baby’s offer, you can see that another seller is Aidream. That seller’s feedback rating is noticeably weaker than the brand’s, which is another sign this might be a hijack situation.
Side note: As an Amazon seller, you should strive to keep your seller feedback as close to perfect as you can.
The evidence seems that AiDream has hijacked product listings and is attempting to sell counterfeit or generic versions of the Color Baby products under the Color Baby brand, even when they don’t have stock of the original goods.
Please note that this is just an example. If AiDream turns out to be an authorized seller of Color Baby goods, this wouldn’t be a true case of listing hijacking. However, you can utilize the same clues to check whether other sellers have hijacked your Amazon listing. For example, if you see someone competing with you for your Buy Box and you have not authorized it, you are likely to have been hijacked.
💡 Expert Tip: An authorized reseller is not a hijacker. If you sell wholesale and a distributor lists on your ASIN, that’s expected. Check your own agreements before you send anything, because going after a real partner costs you a relationship you actually want.
What is the influence of hijacking?
A hijacked listing can impact both your bottom line and your customers.
Imagine this: an unsuspecting client buys your product. However, instead of getting an original item from you, the following happens: your hijacker on Amazon owns the Buy Box, receives the sale, and the client gets a counterfeit item. Dissatisfied with their purchase because of the poor quality, the shopper shares a negative review on your product listing. You receive a bad testimonial for something that you do not even sell, discouraging prospective visitors from buying your goods. How frustrating!
How to get rid of Amazon hijackers?
How to remove Amazon hijackers? A smart yet simple strategy on how to deal with Amazon hijackers is all you might need. Below are five efficient ways to secure your listing and enhance your Amazon business at the same time:
- Track your listings closely
Beyond just monitoring your Amazon Seller Central account every day, you will wish to check your listings from your clients’ point of view. First, look at the listing to check how many Amazon sellers offer your private-label products. If it is more than one (that single seller should be you!), then you might have a hijacking situation on your hands. Of course, you do not need to track your listings every day. Every week is enough, especially when your sales start to rise and competitors notice your success.
- Create your website
Suppose you can create your digital channel outside of the Amazon platform (there are many sites that make it easy to develop your online business store). In that case, you can boost your business against Amazon FBA hijackers. In addition, if you can verify your business with your website, it adds up to trust and credibility with your clients, and you will always have some home base outside of the marketplace to sell your products online.
- Promote your brand better with Amazon Brand Registry
You might deter the lurking pirates when you create proper branding on your product listings and indicate that you have a distinct seller brand and logo on the products and packaging. You will be displaying your brand identity to the clients, and if they order your goods from some counterfeit seller, the client will be able to promptly recognize that what they are purchasing isn’t the same brand as yours.
When taking photos of your product, try to show off your branding on the product itself and packaging. Whether you started your business or are an experienced seller, it’s the best practice. You have been working hard to develop your brand, so show it off proudly to your clients!
The next thing Amazon sellers should do is send a polite letter to the hijackers requesting them to take down their listings.
Here is an example of the email you can write:
If the seller does not reply, report infringement to Amazon to block hijackers.
The platform has Anti-counterfeiting Policies you can find on the Amazon page with help files that make clear that the marketplace doesn’t tolerate the selling of counterfeit products. Here’s exactly what Amazon says:
- Once you follow the “notify us” link, you will be taken to the platform’s Report Infringement policy and form. Fill in an infringement claim and file a complaint.
- Amazon reviews the claim and responds. If it’s accepted you’ll get a notice from Seller Performance that the listing you reported has been removed. Amazon doesn’t publish a processing time, and in practice it varies with how much evidence you attached.
If the offer is priced well below yours, a test buy is the strongest evidence you can get. Order the item from the hijacker’s offer, photograph it beside your authentic unit, and attach those photos to your report. Reports with side-by-side evidence get acted on; vague ones sit.
The full removal process, including a copy-paste cease-and-desist template, the exact Brand Registry report path and what to do when Amazon goes quiet, is in our step-by-step hijacker removal playbook.
How to prevent Amazon listing hijacking
You can’t stop people from trying. You can make your listing a slow, unrewarding target, and the tactics below sit inside a wider Amazon brand protection strategy.
Enrol in Amazon Brand Registry
Brand Registry is the foundation. It needs a registered trademark, and it unlocks IP violation reporting that routes to Amazon’s enforcement team rather than general support.
Reports from registered brands carry more weight and move faster. If you sell private label and you aren’t enrolled, this is the highest-value item on the list.
Make your branding expensive to fake
Put your logo on the product and the packaging, and show both in your images. When a customer opens a counterfeit the difference should be obvious straight away, because that’s what turns a quiet return into a report you can use as evidence.
Trademark the brand
A registered trademark is what gives a takedown request legal teeth. Without one you’re asking Amazon for a favour. With one you’re asserting a right.
Sell something harder to copy
Generic products with a logo attract hijackers, because a counterfeiter can source an identical unit for pennies. Bundles, custom moulds and genuine design work all raise the cost of copying you.
Use Transparency on repeat targets
For SKUs that get hit again and again, Amazon’s Transparency Program puts a unique code on every unit and scans it before shipping. No code, no shipment. Project Zero is the next step up for brands with a persistent counterfeit problem.
🎯 Pro Insight: Prevention work is cheapest before you need it. Brand Registry takes weeks to come through because the trademark does, and the week you find a hijacker is exactly the wrong week to start that application.
How to monitor my Amazon listings for hijackers?
How to protect Amazon listings from hijackers? Unfortunately, you cannot prevent hijackers from trying to damage your business. However, you can react promptly and efficiently to all their malicious actions by tracking your product listings and receiving instant alerts of any listing violation, listing hijacking on AMZ, and unauthorized changes. This is where SellerSonar comes in, securing you from all the black hat tricks.
How to prevent AMZ listing hijacking? SellerSonar immediately sends you notifications of any changes to the Amazon listing or crucial account metrics. It includes the following common issues: listing hijacking, adding prohibited words to your product description, changing titles, manipulating reviews, and many other threats.
Final Expert Recommendations:
If you do one thing after reading this, open your best-selling ASIN and count the sellers on it. More than one, and you didn’t approve them? You already have the problem this article describes. Start Brand Registry this quarter if you haven’t, and get alerts running before you need them rather than during the incident.
Try SellerSonar’s free 14-day trial and start protecting your listings today.
