Don’t Let Grey Market Sellers Destroy Your Black Friday

Back in 2021, the last year Amazon reported specific Black Friday sales, their one-day holiday revenue haul was $8.9 billion. No doubt November 22, 2025, will be a $10 billion day for Amazon.

Unfortunately, counterfeit and grey market sellers increase their activity during peak shopping periods when ecommerce spending increases sharply.

One prolific type of Grey Market seller is the Parallel Importer. These sellers primarily focus on the arbitrage opportunities created by product price variances across geographical borders. Seems harmless enough, and in many cases, it is.

However, for large global consumer brands, or any CPG brand for that matter, which sells regulated products across borders, Parallel Imports present several challenges, both from a consumer regulatory perspective and the damage done to the brands’ ecommerce operation on Amazon.

Regulatory Violations

If it’s the “same” product, why does it matter? Because the U.S. government says so – and so does Amazon.

In the United States, products classified as ‘Over-The-Counter” (OTC) drugs fall under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&A) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) that states that OTC drug labeling must provide accurate and adequate information in English to ensure consumers have access to essential details, including but not limited to, Statement of Identity, net contents, active/non-active ingredients, directions for use and domestic contact information. This includes elements such as the product Net Contents appearing in both metric and imperial units, and a requirement that all OTC products for sale on Amazon have a visible Drug Facts Box on the back.

Consider this example to illustrate the laws’ requirements. These are the same products, and both are for sale on Amazon. But there is an important difference between the two products. The compliant Net Contents come from the brand’s own authorized listing – while the other comes from a rogue listing offering the European version of the same product.

What you can do about it

Amazon’s Terms and Policies for the sale of OTC drugs essentially mirror many of the same elements within the regulations. This means that non-compliant products are actionable violations on Amazon. You can conduct a test purchase on Amazon to get the process started. When test purchases are performed and regulatory non-compliant products are delivered, or when rogue product listings are created and feature images of non-compliant products, you can report these violations to Amazon for appropriate action.

Armed with your evidence, either an Order ID and photos verifying the product is Diverted, or a rogue ASIN clearly showing non-compliant packaging, log into your brand registry account.

Head over to the Contact Us section on the right-hand side.

Under Report a Marketplace Violation – Click on Regulatory Violations.

Lastly, fill out the form. Most of it is self-explanatory, but here are a few tips to help ensure your violation is actioned correctly.

1. State clearly if you are requesting ‘Seller Action” or ‘ASIN-level Action”. Obviously if you are reporting a seller for delivering a non-compliant product to you, it’s a ‘Seller Action”.
2. Make sure to include the Amazon Order ID for the test purchase and the specific U.S. regulation that is being violated. All of that should go into both the ‘Please describe your issue’ section and the specific sections below that.
3. Include photos clearly showing the product packaging, shipping label, and all elements of the packaging which show the non-compliant elements.

Once submitted, you will get an email confirmation that your submission is under review. Keep the Complaint ID handy – but know that three days after your submission has been acknowledged and/or actioned, the case is closed and can’t be reopened inside Brand Registry.

Users of the IPSecure platform have several advantages when identifying and reporting regulatory violations. From automatic catalog deconfliction to in-app anonymous test purchases with an integrated brand registry workflow, IPSecure makes this process a breeze.