If you are running a successful store on Lazada, or if you are in the process of building one, then you will need to be aware of unauthorised sellers on the platform!
These unauthorised sellers can damage your business financially and damage your brand.
So we have prepared a quick guide on how to deal with these unauthorised sellers on Lazada specifically, which will cover the following:
- Who Is An Unauthorised Seller On Lazada
- How To Report Unauthorised Lazada Sellers
- Why You Should Report Unauthorised Sellers
Who Is An Unauthorised Seller On Lazada
According to Lazada’s example, an unauthorised seller is someone who infringes on your Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
There are 4 ways someone can infringe on your rights, which are:
- Trademark
Legal protection for a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a source from those of others - Copyrights
Legal protections for original creative works to determine whether and under what conditions it may be copied and used by others. - Patent
Legal protections for inventions (example: process design) to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing. - Registered Design
Legal protections for the shape, configuration, visual appearance, pattern, or ornamentation of a product.
These are the simple definitions of the 4 ways someone could infringe on your products on Lazada.
For a more in-depth understanding, we recommend consulting intellectual property experts.
If you find someone infringing on ANY of these, you will need to file a report to Lazada against that person.
We cover how to report an unauthorised seller in the next section.
If your report is successful, the seller will be given punishment points, and all unauthorised products in their store will be removed from being listed.
To learn more, you can click here for Lazada’s full policy on IPR infringement.
How To Report Unauthorised Lazada Sellers
There are actually two ways to go about this.
Let’s start with…
IP Infringement Online Form
If you have found someone infringing on your IPR and have proof, you can submit a report to Lazada through this link.
The page should look like this.
But why does this link go to alibaba.com?
You must submit the report through alibaba.com because the Alibaba group acquired Lazada in 2016.
Don’t worry if you cannot read mandarin, you can change the language to English in the top right-hand corner of the page.
On the report page, you will need to provide the following information before you are able to submit it, which are:
- Identity Information
Are you the IP owner or an agent working on behalf of the IP owner? - Complaint Information
Which IPR was violated? If you have a previous ticket open and want to add more information, state the serial number. - IPR Information
Upload relevant documents of your IPR that can help prove your ownership. Example documents are your IPR registration, country of trademark registration, and even a letter from an attorney. - Identity Verification
Upload information that proves you are the person that is lodging the complaint.
Once all the fields are filled out and uploaded, just hit submit to report the unauthorised seller.
Through this method, you won’t have to register for an account on Alibaba’s platform.
However, the next method will require you to have an account.
IPP Platform
If you click this link, you will be taken to a page that looks like the image below.
Before you can do anything, you will need to register an account first.
Before registering, it’s best to have the following documents ready to support your case:
- Proof of Identity (if you are doing it yourself)/Proof of Authorisation (if you are acting on someone’s behalf)
- Proof of IPR
- Name of trademark(s)
- Registration number of trademark(s)
- The registrant of the trademark(s)
- The expiry date of the trademark(s)
- Class(es) of goods/services of the trademark(s)
- Brand related to the trademark(s)
The upside of having an account on the IPP platform is that you will only need to upload all of these once, and you won’t have to repeat the process again.
This is great if you find yourself having to report many unauthorised sellers.
Once you are done registering, you can now submit your reports.
For every report, you will need to prepare proof(s) of infringement.
Once that is prepared you will just need to fill in the following details later:
- The domain where you found someone listing your products without permission
- Choosing the IPR type
- Choosing the type of complaint you are submitting
- Choosing the reason for your report
- Listing out all the URLs of your unauthorised listings that you have found
Once you have submitted your report, Lazada will get back to you and notify you if your report has been accepted.
When your report is accepted, all unauthorised listings that were submitted will be removed from the platform.
Now that you know how to report unauthorised sellers, you should also understand why you NEED to do it.
Why You Should Report Unauthorised Sellers
The main reason you should report unauthorised sellers on Lazada is that they will reduce your sales.
They can do it in 3 different ways, which are:
Creating Price Wars
Unauthorised sellers most likely can get away with a lower margin in their sales.
Because of that, they are willing to sell your products at a cheaper rate than you.
This will force you to reduce your prices as well, and eventually will lead to a price war that will make your products lose a lot of their value.
Damaging Your Brand Reputation
Whether they mean to or not, unauthorised sellers don’t care as much about your products or your customers.
So they may make errors on key information in product details, or even exaggerate claims about what your products can do for people.
When this happens, your customers will never have their expectations met, and they will blame your brand for providing them with faulty products.
Taking Your Rankings
Losing your rankings is probably the worst way to lose your sales.
Imagine someone searching for your brand, only to find unauthorised sellers being found before you for your own brand name.
This directly takes away the purchase that you were supposed to get and gives it to the unauthorised seller.
Takeaways
You’ve learned 3 main things in this article, which are
- Who is an unauthorised seller
- How do you report them
- Why you should report them
With these, we hope that you can keep your brand protected.
If this feels like a lot to do while managing your online store, then we can help reduce your burden.
We help do the tedious work of managing your online stores on Lazada so that you have more time to focus on other aspects of your business.
If you are interested to understand how this works, contact us here for a free consultation.
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