As one of the most trusted brands, Amazon can give you an edge in earning customer confidence and increasing sales. If you’re interested in starting your selling journey with Amazon, it’s important you understand and adhere to Amazon’s seller policies. Doing so can help you avoid potentially costly interruptions to your business.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- The importance of understanding Amazon seller policies
- Key aspects of product compliance and safety
- Seller account performance and health guidelines
- What to know about handling shipping and fulfillment
- Advertising and marketing requirements
What are Amazon seller policies?
Amazon seller policies are rules and requirements that sellers must follow to ensure a fair and trustworthy shopping experience for customers. These policies cover various aspects of selling in the Amazon store, including product listings, customer interactions, shipping and fulfillment, advertising, and more.
Why it’s important to follow Amazon seller policies
Amazon prides itself on providing a safe and reliable experience for customers. Adhering to Amazon policies can help you maintain a positive reputation and gain customer trust.
However, failing to comply with policies can negatively affect the customer experience and have serious consequences for your business. Ignoring or breaking these rules may result in account deactivation, loss of Featured Offer eligibility, withholding of funds, negative reviews from customers, or other actions.
Key Amazon seller policies you need to know
Let’s review some of the most critical Amazon seller policies to help you navigate resources effectively and avoid potential pitfalls. We’ll go over product compliance and safety, seller account performance and health, shipping and fulfillment, and advertising and marketing.
Product compliance and safety
Understanding product compliance and safety policies helps ensure your products meet necessary standards and customer expectations.
Start by familiarizing yourself with restricted products to avoid listing items that can’t be sold. And follow product compliance guidelines to ensure your products adhere to legal and safety standards.
Some categories and products require approval before listing, so review relevant policies to determine if your items are affected. And refer to the condition guidelines to accurately classify listings.
Respect intellectual property by understanding the intellectual property policy to prevent any infringement issues. Also, adhere to the Amazon brand name policy to ensure correct brand representation.
Lastly, manage your product’s reputation through the customer product reviews policies, ensuring reviews are genuine and comply with Amazon standards.
Seller account performance and health
Keeping your Amazon account in good shape is important, and it’s essential to understand key policies like the account health rating and order defect rate (ODR).
The account health rating offers a snapshot of your account’s risk of deactivation based on compliance with Amazon policies. It’s a color-coded score, ranging from 0 to 1,000, and helps you quickly assess your account status. In basic terms, address policy violations promptly to maintain a healthy score.
The order defect rate (ODR) is another important metric. It reflects your ability to provide a good customer experience. In general, keep your ODR under 1% to avoid restrictions on your selling privileges.
Shipping and fulfillment
When selling with Amazon, understanding the shipping and fulfillment policies for both Fulfilled by Merchant and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) will help you maintain a healthy account and ensure smooth operations.
Fulfilled by Merchant policies
With Fulfilled by Merchant, you handle the storage, packing, and shipping of your orders. However, you need to maintain a low late shipment rate (LSR) , ideally under 4%, to avoid deactivation of your seller-fulfilled offers. Confirm shipments promptly and provide accurate tracking information to ensure customers can track their orders.
Cancellation rate (CR) is another critical metric. Keep your cancellation rate below 2.5% to prevent deactivation. Cancellations often occur due to stock-outs, so it’s vital to manage your inventory effectively.
Other rates to track are valid tracking rate (VTR) and on-time delivery rate (OTDR) . You might also review the drop shipping policy if this is a fulfillment method you want to pursue.
Fulfillment by Amazon policies
With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Amazon handles the storage, packing, shipping, and returns for your orders, but you must follow specific policies to ensure everything runs smoothly. It’s also essential to understand how customer feedback is managed. For example, negative feedback related to Amazon’s fulfillment or customer service may be removed, protecting your seller reputation.
We use the customer returns policy to determine if a purchased FBA item is eligible for return. But you may be eligible for reimbursement if a return is accepted due to fulfillment issues. Learn more about our FBA customer returns policy.
If your inventory is lost or damaged while under Amazon’s care, you could also qualify for a reimbursement. It may cover damages by partnered carriers, within fulfillment facilities, or during delivery.
Also, be mindful of FBA product restrictions. Some products require approval or have specific requirements before they can be sold with FBA. Ensuring your products meet inventory requirements for labeling, packaging, and shipping is also vital to avoid complications.
Advertising and marketing
When advertising with Amazon, you must adhere to certain guidelines.
Start by familiarizing yourself with Amazon ads guidelines and acceptance policies, which cover everything from submission requirements to content standards.
If you use sponsored ads, the sponsored ads guidelines and acceptance policies offer specific instructions on how to craft effective campaigns. These guidelines cover ad content, targeting, and overall campaign management, ensuring your ads align with Amazon expectations.
Creating visually appealing and brand-aligned content is key, so be sure to review the brand creative guidelines. These guidelines provide insights on designing creatives that engage customers and reflect your brand’s identity.
Lastly, maintaining a strong brand presence requires adherence to brand profile content guidelines and acceptance policies. These policies ensure that your brand profile accurately represents your business and aligns with Amazon standards.
Additional resources for Amazon sellers
As an Amazon seller, you have access to a variety of resources through Seller Central help pages. You’ll find detailed guidance on a wide range of topics, from program policies to managing orders.
Seller University also offers a wealth of training and tutorials. This resource is packed with videos and courses tailored to help you navigate the intricacies of selling in the Amazon store, from beginner tips to advanced strategies.
Remember, you’re an essential part of providing a trustworthy and delightful shopping experience for customers. This means adhering to the policies is not only crucial for your success, but also the overall reputation of the store.
