DEV Community: Auke de Haan

5 Ways to Get an Amazon Seller Account Reinstated (Free to Paid)

Auke de Haan — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 04:24:32 +0000

Getting a suspended Amazon seller account back comes down to one document: the Plan of Action. How you write it is where the options differ, and the price gap between them is huge. Here are five real paths, from free to several thousand dollars.

1. Amazon's own Account Health Assistant

Built into Seller Central, it reads your suspension notice and suggests next steps. Free, but generic, it doesn't know the specifics of your business the way a written-from-scratch POA does.

2. A free POA template

Structured around root cause, corrective action, and preventive measures, a solid template gets you most of the way there for straightforward cases like order defect rate or a single policy violation. Costs nothing but your own time to fill it in honestly.

3. An automated reinstatement tool

Amazon Listing Audit's reinstatement tool classifies the violation type from your notice, asks the specific follow-up questions that make a POA sound like it was written by someone who knows your account, and returns a human-reviewed draft. Priced far below a human consultant, aimed at the cases in between "simple template job" and "needs a specialist."

4. A paid reinstatement consultant

Agencies like My Amazon Guy or Avenue7Media charge $1,000 to $2,000+ per case and are worth it for fraud, IP, or related-account suspensions where the evidence requirements genuinely need someone who has handled dozens of similar cases. None can guarantee a result, Amazon alone decides, so treat any guarantee claim as a red flag regardless of which provider makes it.

5. A freelance POA writer

Marketplaces like Fiverr have sellers writing appeals for under $50. Cheapest option on this list, but accountability and revision support vary a lot by seller, check reviews carefully before paying.

Whichever path you pick, the deciding factor should be how specific the evidence Amazon wants actually is, not how worried you are. A clean order-defect case rarely needs a $1,500 consultant. A multi-account fraud flag usually does.

How to Actually Compare VPNs Instead of Trusting a Top-10 List

Auke de Haan — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 16:41:29 +0000

Most "best VPN" roundups rank by affiliate payout, not by anything you can verify. Here are four sources that publish real methodology, plus what each one is useful for.

PCMag VPN reviews - lab-tested speed and leak protection across major providers, a decent sanity check against marketing copy.
RTINGS VPN reviews - publishes its own repeatable speed and streaming-unblock test methodology with the raw numbers, not just a verdict.
Wirecutter's VPN picks - a short, tightly curated list instead of a ranked top-20, good if you want one solid pick without comparing ten options yourself.
VPN Adviser's free vs paid VPN comparison - lines up free and paid VPNs side by side on price, server count, speed, logging audits, and kill switch support, then links out to direct provider-vs-provider matchups for people who already know they want to pay.

Cross-check at least two of these before you commit to an annual plan. A single ranked list, however confident it sounds, is still one source.

3 Places to Look Up an Unfamiliar Amazon Seller Central Error Code

Auke de Haan — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:02:09 +0000

Seller Central throws numeric error codes with almost no explanation attached, and Amazon's own Help pages cover only the common ones. Here is where sellers actually find answers for the obscure codes.

Seller Central's Case Log is the first stop. Opening a support case against the exact code sometimes gets a canned but accurate explanation back within a day, though wait times vary a lot by category and account health.

Seller forums (Amazon's own Seller Forums, plus r/FulfillmentByAmazon) are where sellers who hit the same code post what fixed it for them. The signal is noisy, but a thread with ten replies all reporting the same cause is usually reliable.

Amazon Listing Audit has started documenting the codes that show up in search with zero official explanation. A recent writeup covers four of them, 5461, 8541, 8572, and 5665, including what triggers each one and the fix: amazonlistingaudit.com/blog/amazon-error-codes-5461-8541-8572-5665.

For a code you have never seen before, checking the case log first and the forums second covers most situations. For the codes nobody has documented yet, a source that explains the mechanism rather than just reporting what worked once is worth the extra search.

5 Places to Find Your Next Space and Astronomy Book

Auke de Haan — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 07:55:46 +0000

Looking for something to read about space, stars, or the people who flew there? These five sources cover different angles, from fast-moving science primers to astronaut memoirs.

1. Five Books
The Five Books site interviews scientists and historians about their favorite titles in a given field, including recurring astronomy and physics roundups. Good for finding expert picks you would not stumble on alone.

2. BBC Sky at Night Magazine
The magazine runs regular book review roundups alongside its observing guides, useful if you want recommendations tied to current astronomy news and new releases.

3. NASA's own reading lists
NASA periodically publishes recommended reading tied to specific missions and anniversaries, worth checking if you want books that connect directly to agency history.

4. Goodreads space-exploration lists
User-curated lists on Goodreads surface older and lesser-known titles that rarely show up in mainstream roundups, a good supplement once you have read the famous ones.

5. Skriuwer's guide to space and astronomy books
This guide splits recommendations by what you are actually looking for: fast science primers like Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, astronaut memoirs like Jim Lovell's Apollo 13 and Michael Collins's Carrying the Fire, and the commercial spaceflight story in Christian Davenport's The Space Barons. It is a practical starting point if you are not sure which of those three angles, science, memoir, or business, fits what you want to read next.

Start with whichever angle matches your mood. The science books will teach you how the universe works. The memoirs will show you what it actually felt like to get there.

5 Golf Launch Monitors Worth Knowing About (Including the One TGL Uses)

Auke de Haan — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:17:29 +0000

If you've watched TGL, the Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy team golf league that plays inside a giant simulator screen, you've seen radar launch monitor tech at its biggest scale. Here are five launch monitors worth knowing, from the one powering TGL down to home-budget options.

Full Swing KIT is the radar unit TGL runs 18 of at SoFi Center, tracking every shot for the broadcast. It's also sold as a standalone home and coaching unit for around $4,000.

Garmin Approach R10 is the budget entry point at under $600, camera and Doppler radar combined, popular for garage setups that don't need broadcast-grade redundancy.

Bushnell Launch Pro uses the same core sensor as Foresight's GC3, radar plus infrared, and is a common pick for serious home simulator builds.

Rapsodo MLM2PRO is camera-based rather than radar, cheaper than the radar units above, and popular for players who mostly want club data over ball flight precision.

SkyTrak+ blends photometric camera tracking with radar for outdoor use, sitting in the mid-range price tier with strong data accuracy.

I wrote up exactly how TGL's 18-unit Full Swing KIT array works, including the screen size and the hydraulic rotating green, over on Golf Simulator Hub: https://www.golfsimulatornerd.com/blog/what-golf-simulator-does-tgl-use-2026

4 Places to Research a VPN Before Moving to (or Visiting) Singapore

Auke de Haan — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 22:13:34 +0000

Singapore's internet is fast and mostly open, but a small IMDA-mandated blocklist (gambling domains, rotating piracy sites) and shrinking Netflix/Disney+ regional libraries are enough reason that a lot of expats and travelers end up shopping for a VPN before they land.

A few places worth reading before you pick one:

VPN Adviser's Singapore guide breaks down which providers actually keep their speed on local fiber, what the Copyright Act does and doesn't cover for VPN users, and which server to pick if you're trying to cut latency to a Garena game server rather than just unblock streaming.
CyberNews' Singapore roundup covers a wider set of budget options and updates its speed numbers fairly often.
Security.org's VPN page leans toward the audit and no-logs side of the comparison, useful if your main concern is privacy rather than streaming.
Cloudwards' Singapore guide is the most exhaustive of the bunch, running through nine providers including free-tier options like Proton VPN and Windscribe.

None of these are affiliated with each other, so cross-reading two or three is the fastest way to avoid a review that's really just an affiliate ranking in disguise. If your only question is 'does it work for WhatsApp calls, Netflix, and Valorant without tanking my speed,' the country-specific guides above answer that faster than a generic 'best VPN 2026' listicle will.

5 Places to Actually Figure Out Golf Simulator Setup Cost (2026)

Auke de Haan — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 04:20:45 +0000

Pricing a home golf simulator is confusing because the total swings from $700 to $50,000 depending on what you count. Here are five places that actually break the number down instead of just quoting a range.

1. Golf Simulator Hub's cost breakdown

This guide splits the cost by component (launch monitor, screen, projector, mat, PC, software) with current 2026 prices for each, plus a 5-year total cost of ownership table so you can see where software renewals and screen replacement add up over time.

2. r/golfsimulator on Reddit

The subreddit is full of real build threads with actual receipts, which is the fastest way to see what people paid in their specific country and region rather than a US-only MSRP list.

3. GSPro's official pricing page

If you already have a launch monitor and are only pricing the software side, GSPro's site has the current subscription cost, which sits around $250 a year and is the most-used simulator software in the DIY community right now.

4. Garmin's Approach R10 product page

For the cheapest legitimate entry point into simulator golf, Garmin lists the official price for the R10 directly, which is worth checking before buying from a third-party reseller at a markup.

5. Your own utility and insurance numbers

The cost nobody puts in a spreadsheet: a bit of extra electricity for the projector and PC, and a homeowners insurance rider if the build crosses about $10,000 in equipment. Worth a five-minute call to your insurer before you commit to a premium build.

Between a spec breakdown, real community numbers, and the software/insurance side, that covers most of what a first-time buyer actually needs before pulling the trigger.

5 Resources for Diagnosing a Suspended Google Account (Ads, Merchant Center, Workspace)

Auke de Haan — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:12:33 +0000

A suspended Google account rarely comes with a clear explanation, and the fix depends on which product actually got flagged. Here are 5 places that helped when I was untangling one:

Google's own Account Recovery form for a locked Gmail or personal account, the first stop if you cannot sign in at all.
Google Ads Policy Manager, inside your Ads account, for anything related to disapproved or restricted ad content.
Workspace Admin Console if a whole domain or a single user got locked out over billing or an abuse flag.
GMCSuspension.com, specifically for e-commerce sellers whose products vanished from Google Shopping. It has a free audit covering the 52+ Merchant Center policy areas, which matters because Google's suspension email names one violation category but rarely lists every issue behind it.
Google Business Profile support, for a Maps listing that got unpublished rather than an account suspension in the technical sense.

The pattern across all five: fix the whole policy category before you appeal, not just the one line the suspension email mentions. Partial fixes are the most common reason for a second denial, whichever product you're dealing with.

5 Things Nobody Tells You Before Buying a Private Jet

Auke de Haan — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:17:38 +0000

Buying a private jet looks simple from the outside: pick a model, sign the check, fly. The real decision is a lot messier, and most first-time buyers miss the same five things.

1. The purchase price is the smallest number you'll deal with. A used light jet might run 3 to 6 million EUR, but annual maintenance, crew, hangar and insurance can add 400,000 to 1.2 million EUR a year depending on category, before you've flown a single hour.

2. Depreciation on a 5 to 8 year old airframe is steep. Expect 30 to 45 percent off the original list price, and 50 to 60 percent once a jet passes 15 years, which is exactly why so many buyers shop used instead of new.

3. A pre-purchase inspection is non-negotiable. Budget 15,000 to 50,000 EUR for a proper mechanical and logbook review before you commit. Skipping it is how buyers inherit someone else's deferred maintenance bill.

4. There's a real hour threshold where ownership stops making sense. Fly under roughly 100 hours a year and chartering or a jet card almost always beats owning on total cost. Fly 200 hours or more and the math flips.

5. Financing terms are not like a car loan. Most aircraft lenders want 15 to 20 percent equity down and structure loans over 7 to 12 years, and some buyers use ACMI leasing instead of an outright purchase to skip the maintenance headache entirely.

For a full price breakdown by jet category (new and used), plus the buy-vs-charter math worked out in detail, this 2026 guide on privatjet-vergleich.de covers it end to end.

5 LitRPG Picks to Read While Waiting for the Next Dungeon Crawler Carl Book

Auke de Haan — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 19:44:08 +0000

Dungeon Crawler Carl set a high bar: dark comedy, visible game stats, and a hero whose bond with his cat Donut carries half the emotional weight of the series. If you have caught up on Matt Dinniman's books and need something to fill the gap before the next one drops, here are five that scratch a similar itch.

He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon gets you the closest match in tone: crude humor, a reluctant hero, and progression that actually changes how fights play out rather than just padding a stat sheet.

Cat Core by Dean Henegar is the pick if Carl and Donut's relationship is what hooked you. A soldier bonds with an AI construct shaped like a cat, and the bickering-with-real-affection dynamic is the closest thing to Donut you will find anywhere.

Mage Tank by Dakota Krout leans into the same potty-mouthed, fast-paced comedy, following a character who dies in a bike accident and respawns with a deliberately weird build.

Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer takes the found-family instinct from Dungeon Crawler Carl and turns the danger down, following a man who tries to become a humble farmer in a world full of world-ending threats and fails spectacularly at staying low-key.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is the closest premise match of all: ordinary people trapped in a sudden, deadly game-like apocalypse, watched and judged by an audience, just with a more epic and melodramatic tone than Dinniman's profanity-laced narration.

I put together a longer breakdown with 14 picks, a comparison table, and notes on which ones match Carl and Donut's bond specifically versus the dark comedy versus the game mechanics, over at Skriuwer's full list of books similar to Dungeon Crawler Carl if you want the complete rundown.

4 Things That Actually Move the Needle on a Book Launch (Besides Ads)

Auke de Haan — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 13:16:02 +0000

Most first-time indie authors put all their launch budget into ads and skip the free groundwork that actually gets a new book off zero. Here are four things worth doing before you spend a dollar on promotion.

1. Know what an ARC actually is, and use it correctly

An advance reader copy (ARC) is a close-to-final version of your book you send to readers before launch, in exchange for an honest review once the book goes live. Get the timing wrong (too early, too late, or no clear posting instructions) and you lose most of the reviews you were counting on. This ARC guide walks through the full process, including how an ARC differs from a beta copy, a proof, and a galley.

2. Get your keywords right before you publish, not after

Amazon's search algorithm cares about the exact keywords in your metadata. A tool built specifically for Amazon KDP keyword research beats guessing, since general SEO tools are not built around Amazon's search behavior.

3. Get a cover that reads at thumbnail size

Most readers see your cover first as a tiny thumbnail on a search results page. A cover designer who understands genre conventions and thumbnail legibility is worth the spend, especially in a crowded genre like romance or thriller.

4. Line up your reviewers before launch day, not after

A book with zero reviews on day one starts at a real disadvantage. iWrity is a free review exchange where indie authors read and review each other's books within the same genre, which is one practical way to build a small review base heading into launch without violating Amazon's terms of service.

None of these four things costs money except the cover designer, and all four matter more than most first-time authors expect going in.

3 Places to Look Before You Design Your Golf Simulator Room

Auke de Haan — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 13:16:47 +0000

Most golf simulator build threads jump straight to gear (which launch monitor, which screen) before anyone has actually measured the room. If you're planning a build, these three resources are worth a look before you buy anything:

Carl's Place publishes detailed golf simulator room design galleries covering garage, basement, and shed builds, with real photos of finished enclosures and screen setups.
Trackman's simulator room guide breaks layouts down by budget tier and room type, which is the most useful framing if you're not sure whether your space can even fit a full swing.
Golf Simulator Hub's setup ideas guide covers the same budget-tier and room-type breakdown but adds a cost table and a list of the five setup mistakes (screen placement, ceiling height, glare on the launch monitor) that actually ruin a build after the money is spent.

The short version: measure the ceiling height and the depth behind the ball before you fall in love with a photo of someone else's finished room. A 400 square foot dedicated golf room is not a template for a two-car garage.