In the fiercely competitive landscape of Amazon selling, product listings are prime real estate. When one seller spends time, money, and effort crafting a great product listing, it becomes a valuable asset. Unfortunately, that asset can be targeted by competitors or counterfeiters who attempt to hijack it—often taking over the Buy Box and leeching off another seller’s hard work. While Amazon’s Brand Registry provides a solution to this problem, not all sellers have access to it, especially those who are just starting out or don’t meet the requirements. Yet many sellers found clever, non-conventional ways to protect their listings long before enrolling in Brand Registry was even possible.
TLDR:
Sellers without access to Amazon’s Brand Registry faced listing hijackers by using creative tactics such as product bundling, creating unique UPCs, and watermarking images. These methods helped establish their listings as distinct and harder to duplicate. Although not foolproof, these strategies offered a strong frontline defense against unauthorized listing changes. Understanding these tactics reveals how sellers innovated under pressure and adapted to platform limitations.
Understanding Listing Hijacking
Before diving into the methods used by sellers, it’s important to understand what listing hijacking is. Listing hijacking occurs when another seller jumps on an established product listing—often one they didn’t create—and starts selling a similar or counterfeit product under the same ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number).
Sellers with generic or private-label products are especially vulnerable. Hijackers will often undercut prices, leading Amazon to hand over the Buy Box to the cheaper seller. This can cause massive revenue loss, negative reviews due to poor-quality knockoffs, and damage to a brand’s reputation.
The Limitations of Not Having Brand Registry
Amazon’s Brand Registry is a powerful tool. It allows you to control your product detail pages, report infringing activity, and protect your intellectual property. However, getting registered requires a verified trademark, which can take months to obtain and is often expensive to acquire.
Before Brand Registry became widespread—or for those who couldn’t justify the investment—many sellers had to resort to grassroots protection methods. These techniques were not officially endorsed by Amazon, but they were effective in deterring copycat sellers.
Strategic Methods Used to Prevent Listing Hijacking
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1. Bundling Products to Create Unique Listings
Sellers began bundling their main product with small, inexpensive complementary items—such as a pouch, instructional guide, or cleaning cloth. This created a unique offer that competitors couldn’t easily replicate.
For example, instead of selling just a phone stand, a seller would create a bundle comprising the stand, a mini screwdriver, and a microfiber cloth. This way, if a hijacker tried to share the ASIN while selling only the phone stand, customers would receive a different product package and leave negative reviews—something hijackers tried to avoid at all costs.
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2. Using Unique or Custom UPC Codes
Sellers frequently used GS1 barcodes or obtained legitimate UPCs that were not associated with any generic retailer. This ensured that their products had a unique identity. During the listing setup, the UPC was tied directly to the seller’s offer, making it harder for others to overwrite or change the information.
While not a foolproof method, these custom codes made it less likely that other sellers would create a near-identical match that could qualify under the same listing.
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3. Custom Packaging and Logos—even without a Trademark
Though it wasn’t enough to qualify for Brand Registry, some sellers went ahead and printed generic packaging with a unique logo or brand-styled name. These logos weren’t trademarked but were unique designs to visually differentiate the product.
By featuring these visibly prominent identifiers in product images and packaging, hijackers could be discouraged, as matching the imagery accurately would be challenging and time-consuming.
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4. Watermarking Product Images
One of the smartest moves sellers made was watermarking their images with their brand name or logo. While Amazon discouraged the use of logos or watermarks in image thumbnails, many sellers placed brand identifiers in secondary images or lifestyle shots.
These images made it more difficult for hijackers to replicate the listing exactly. Buyers could visually confirm they didn’t receive what was shown, which encouraged unhappy reviews for inauthentic sellers and reported complaints through Amazon support.
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5. Creating Highly Specific Bullet Points
Another tactic was to create product detail elements—such as bullet points and descriptions—that referenced specific elements of the bundled item or packaging. For example: “Includes a uniquely designed instruction manual with bonus tips only accessible via QR code in the packaging.”
This made it more obvious when the hijacker was not delivering what was promised. It gave affected customers stronger grounds for returns and disputes.
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6. Leveraging Customer Reviews and Feedback
Savvy sellers often encouraged verified buyers to leave reviews that mentioned specific elements of the full product package or experience—such as the quick-start guide or bonus gift. These clues, once embedded in the review section, made it easier to identify and report hijackers who couldn’t provide the full offering.
Amazon could use this discrepancy as a basis for investigating and possibly removing unauthorized sellers from the listing.
Proactive Monitoring as a Critical Defense
Even with these creative strategies in place, the battle wasn’t over. Sellers had to vigilantly monitor their listings for any unusual changes. Many used software tools like Helium 10, Keepa, or Amazon alerts to track who was selling under their listings and whether the Buy Box had shifted hands.
Some even created test accounts where they’d periodically “buy” their own product anonymously to make sure no substitutions were being shipped by bad actors. If anything unauthorized was discovered, these sellers would compile detailed evidence—photos, shipping labels, discrepancy reports—and submit them aggressively to Amazon Seller Support.
Lessons from a Pre-Brand Registry World
While Amazon has built more robust protections through Brand Registry and Project Zero in recent years, the practices pioneered by early sellers remain relevant. Many still use bundling, specialized imagery, and tight product-detail control even after achieving Brand Registry, because these preventative measures act as additional layers of defense.
These grassroots methods underscore a larger lesson about selling on Amazon: adaptability is key. When the system fails to offer direct protection, resourceful sellers find ways to shield their hard work using creativity and persistence.
Moving Forward: Layering Protection is Key
If you’re a new seller or someone still navigating the process of getting a trademark, don’t despair. Implement several of the tactics above together to create a multi-layered defense strategy. Here’s what that might look like:
- Create a high-quality, bundled product with at least one unique component.
- Use unique GS1-verified UPCs.
- Watermark non-primary listing images with your logo or design.
- Describe packaging elements in your bullet points.
- Regularly monitor the Buy Box and listing contributors.
- Document everything and be ready to report abuse with evidence.
These steps, while manual and sometimes tedious, significantly increase how difficult it is for hijackers to piggyback on your success. Until you secure Brand Registry—or even after you do—these tactics will serve as your listing’s best defense.
