The First Sale Doctrine is a legal rule under U.S. law that says: once a product is sold by the rights holder or with their permission, the buyer has the right to resell it – no further permission required.

On Amazon, that means:

• If a seller legally buys your product – from a distributor, wholesaler, or even a retail store – they have the legal right to resell it.
• They don’t need to be “authorized” by the brand.
• Amazon supports this, as long as the product is authentic, new, and matches the listing.

It’s codified in 17 U.S.C. §109 and backed by a long line of case law. Amazon doesn’t just allow it – their entire third-party marketplace model relies on it.

The first thing you need to know is this:

Amazon follows U.S. First Sale Doctrine.

That means once someone legally buys your product – even from your own distributor, retail store, or a liquidator – they are allowed to resell it. Including on Amazon.

It doesn’t matter if they’re not an authorized reseller. It doesn’t matter if you told them not to sell on marketplaces. In Amazon’s view, as long as:

• The product is authentic

• It’s in new condition

• It matches the listing

…that seller has the right to sell it.

If that sounds insane from a brand control perspective, you’re not alone. But Amazon didn’t invent this policy. It’s backed by U.S. law, and Amazon strictly adheres to it.

Think of it this way: Amazon is a trillion-dollar company with lawyers on speed dial. It doesn’t want your hot-selling garlic press – or a faulty phone charger – creating legal firestorms. So Amazon transfers the liability back where it belongs: to the seller.

Picture this: a simple Bluetooth speaker malfunctions and starts a fire. A customer complains. Without proper insurance, Amazon can hold you accountable for damages, medical bills, and brand trust fallout. If you’re not protected, your profits – and your account – are on the line.

In short: if you sell it, you own it. And you’re expected to carry the liability too.

This new policy stems from increasing pressure on Amazon to combat counterfeit and stolen goods. Laws like the INFORM Consumers Act require Amazon to take a more aggressive stance on verifying seller legitimacy, but the way the policy is written and enforced introduces widespread collateral damage.

Amazon now expects all sellers of branded products (i.e., not private label) to provide:

• Invoices or receipts showing purchase source and quantity

• Supplier and manufacturer contact information

• Documentation aligned with your sales volume

• A complete chain of custody back to the original manufacturer – even if you bought from a distributor

Importantly, Amazon reserves the right to contact your suppliers directly. If the supplier is unreachable, slow to respond, or declines to verify your claims, you may lose the listing.

Amazon doesn’t just follow marketplace rules – it mirrors federal Canadian law. That means if you sell in Canada, your products must meet the bilingual packaging and labeling standards set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Food and Drugs Act (FDA), and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR).

Here’s a direct quote from one of Amazon’s enforcement letters to sellers:

“Food products must be labelled with all the information required by applicable Canadian law in both French and English.”

So, what exactly does that mean for you?

These messages typically follow a specific structure:

“I will not provide proof. I will escalate this to Amazon’s Safety Team. I expect a full refund immediately, no conditions. This is your only chance to avoid escalation.”

Sellers often receive identical messages from different buyer names, sometimes just days apart. Many of these come from the same delivery region or share the same billing country. Some even link back to the same IP range.

They all have the same demands:

• No return
  
• No evidence
  
• Full refund now
  

And the result? If Amazon sees multiple unresolved complaints that mention safety or product condition issues, their system flags the ASIN – or the account – automatically.

You’re sipping coffee. Orders are rolling in. Then – out of nowhere – it lands: a Performance Notification from Amazon. “Live verification call required.” No real explanation. No appeal option. Just a link, a date, and a blunt warning.

Your heart jumps. Because you’ve heard the stories. The rep will be cold. Abrupt. Almost aggressive. They’ll ask questions like they already think you’re lying. And if you mess up – even slightly – you risk losing your entire business.

But here’s the part no one tells you: the call is a performance. A psychological pressure test. Amazon wants to see if your story holds when you’re uncomfortable. The tone is intentional. The goal is consistency under stress.

And if you walk in prepared – with documents in order, answers aligned, and zero panic – you’ll walk out with your account intact.

Let’s walk through what’s actually happening, why sellers fail, and how to beat the system without getting flustered.

These calls are not random. They’re triggered by specific compliance, behavioral, or risk signals inside Amazon’s internal systems. Sellers often think they’re being singled out. The truth is, you’re just one of thousands flagged for one of the following reasons:

Annual compliance re-checks. If you’re a high-volume U.S. seller, Amazon must re-confirm your identity, banking, and contact info annually under the INFORM Consumers Act. Miss one form update – or change your address – and you may land in the call queue.

DAC7 tax validation. European sellers get flagged for documentation mismatches under DAC7, especially if your marketplace region, business entity, and bank info don’t all align. A small typo in your VAT ID could be enough to trigger a video call.

Behavioral triggers. Amazon watches behavior patterns constantly. Updating your bank account days before a large disbursement? Suspicious. Logging in from multiple locations? That looks like a related account. Changing business names or uploading documents that don’t match past ones? That can all result in a manual check.

Supply chain audits. If you sell in high-risk categories – like dietary supplements, cosmetics, electronics, lithium battery devices, fire safety tools, ingestibles, or even pet products – Amazon’s systems often force a deeper verification. Especially if you’ve changed suppliers, listings, or documentation recently.

Post-appeal audits. Sometimes, the call isn’t the first step – it’s the second. You submit an appeal, Amazon flags a gap, and instead of rejecting the paperwork, they escalate to a live call to probe the consistency of your explanation.

We’ve even seen cases triggered by sudden seller performance improvements. You clean up your metrics, start scaling up fast, and Amazon wants to check if you’re really the same business they reviewed a year ago.