Amazon Section 3 supply chain audit with no invoices — what to do

A supply chain audit is triggered when Amazon cannot verify where your units came from — usually after an authenticity complaint, a brand notice, or an unusual sales velocity on a gated ASIN. Amazon is not asking whether the product is genuine; it is asking whether the paper trail proves a legitimate commercial purchase from an authorised source. Retail receipts, screenshots of order pages, and packing slips fail that test because they do not show a business-to-business transaction.

• Supplier invoices dated within the last 365 days, on the supplier's letterhead, showing supplier name, address, phone and website
• Invoices that list your legal business name and address exactly as registered in Seller Central
• Line items naming the brand and product, with quantities that match or exceed the units you sold
• A letter of authorisation from the brand or an authorised distributor, if the brand is gated
• Proof of payment for each invoice — bank transfer confirmation or card statement line matching the invoice total

1. 1

   Stop selling the ASIN before you reply

   Do not send more units into fulfilment while the audit is open. Continued sales on the audited ASIN during the review is read as a refusal to cooperate and pushes the case toward enforcement.

2. 2

   Ask your supplier for a proper invoice, not a receipt

   Many suppliers will reissue the same transaction as a commercial invoice with their letterhead, tax number and your business details. This is legitimate — you are asking for correct documentation of a real purchase, not for a new document describing a purchase that did not happen. Never edit, recreate or backdate anything.

3. 3

   If no compliant invoice exists, say so plainly

   Appeals fail more often from an unconvincing document than from a missing one. State which units are covered, which are not, and how you are removing the uncovered inventory from your catalogue.

4. 4

   Submit a Plan of Action around sourcing control

   Amazon wants to see that the sourcing gap cannot repeat: named approved suppliers, an invoice-before-inbound rule, and a person responsible for checking documentation on every purchase order.

• Attached: Supplier invoices dated within the last 365 days, on the supplier's letterhead, showing supplier name, address, phone and website
• Attached: Invoices that list your legal business name and address exactly as registered in Seller Central
• Attached: Line items naming the brand and product, with quantities that match or exceed the units you sold
• Attached: A letter of authorisation from the brand or an authorised distributor, if the brand is gated
• Every bracketed placeholder in your appeal replaced with a verifiable fact
• No promise of a specific outcome or timeline anywhere in the text
• Case or notice reference number quoted at the top of the submission