Account Health
What is Amazon account health and why does it matter?
Account health is Amazon's measure of your reliability as a seller, tracked through performance metrics on order fulfilment, customer service, and policy compliance. A healthy account keeps your listings visible and your selling privileges intact; a poor one brings warnings, category restrictions, reduced visibility, or suspension. Treat it as your reputation on the platform, because functionally, it is.
Understanding the Account Health Dashboard
Found under Performance > Account Health in Seller Central, the dashboard uses a traffic-light system, green for healthy, yellow for at risk, red for critical, broken down by metric, with links to remediation steps for anything below Amazon's thresholds. It updates daily or weekly depending on the metric and shows customer metrics across 30, 90, and 180-day windows. Check it weekly rather than waiting for a warning to land.
What metrics does Amazon track?
Order Defect Rate (ODR) counts negative feedback, A-to-Z claims, and chargebacks, and needs to stay below roughly 1%, it's the single most important metric. Late Shipment Rate should stay below roughly 4% for FBA. Cancellation Rate should stay below roughly 2.5%. Return Rate has no hard threshold but is flagged if well above the category average. Feedback Rating should sit at 4.5-plus stars. Valid Tracking and on-time delivery matters mainly for FBM sellers, since Amazon handles this for FBA.
How to maintain a healthy seller account
Keep listings accurate to what's actually shipped, since mismatched expectations are the leading cause of negative feedback and returns. Use a reputable prep partner so packaging and condition are consistent every time. Keep inventory forecasts accurate to avoid overselling and cancellations. Respond to customer messages within 24 hours and resolve problems before they escalate to a claim. Set handling times you can consistently hit rather than the fastest possible. Check your dashboard weekly and act on any downward trend immediately, early fixes are always cheaper than account recovery.
Fighting IP (Intellectual Property) Complaints
What is an IP complaint on Amazon?
An IP complaint is a claim from a trademark, copyright, or patent holder that your listing infringes their rights, commonly alleging counterfeit goods or unauthorised use of a brand name or logo. Amazon removes the listing immediately on receipt and investigates; a valid complaint can end your ability to sell that product, and repeated complaints risk suspension. These are legal claims from third parties, not customer disputes, and Amazon treats them accordingly.
What to do when you receive an IP complaint
Don't ignore it, but don't panic either. Respond within Amazon's deadline (typically around 20 days) or you lose automatically. Read the complaint to establish exactly which right is claimed and against which listing. Gather proof of your right to sell, invoices from the brand or an authorised distributor, wholesale certificates, or a letter of permission. Be honest in your response; misrepresenting your source puts your whole account at risk.
How to appeal an IP complaint, step by step
In Seller Central, go to Performance > Account Health, find the complaint, and select Reply to Notice. Assemble an evidence file: invoices showing legitimate purchase, any brand authorisation letter, and a clear explanation of your sourcing. Write a concise, honest appeal letter and submit it well before the deadline. Amazon typically responds within 10–20 business days; if approved the listing is reinstated, if denied you'll get an explanation and no further appeal through Amazon. Prevention beats cure: buy only from authorised distributors, avoid unclear liquidation lots, and keep every invoice.
IP brand appeals, when and how to submit them
If you believe a brand filed a complaint in error, and you genuinely are an authorised reseller or rights holder, you can contact the brand directly and ask them to withdraw it or confirm your status to Amazon, or ask Seller Support to reach out on your behalf. You'll need real proof, a reseller agreement, contract, or an invoice direct from the brand. Realistically, most brand appeals fail without that paperwork; brands protect their distribution channels closely, and if they won't support you, Amazon won't override them. Moving to different products is often the more productive path.
How to avoid IP complaints in the first place
Source only from authorised distributors and demand clear invoices, treat unclear liquidation lots as high risk. Verify authenticity before launching a product, especially where major brands already sell it. Only use a brand name in your title where necessary for discoverability, never create your own branded listing without rights. Keep every invoice and communication for several years. If a listing gets pulled, investigate why rather than repeatedly appealing into the same brand. Long-term, sourcing your own unique or private-label products avoids the issue entirely.
Other Claims & Issues
Fighting counterfeit claims on Amazon
A counterfeit claim is among the most serious accusations you can face, risking suspension and, depending on the product, legal exposure. If a claim is unfounded, respond with your original invoice, authenticity evidence, and proof your supplier is authorised, and offer a refund to the customer if unsatisfied, many withdraw the claim once refunded. If a supplier genuinely deceived you, stop sourcing from them immediately, inform Amazon, take responsibility, and refund affected customers, this limits the damage even if a temporary suspension still follows. Never knowingly sell counterfeit stock.
Understanding A-to-Z guarantee claims
The A-to-Z Guarantee is Amazon's buyer protection scheme, letting customers claim within 90 days if an order didn't arrive, arrived damaged, wasn't as described, or wasn't resolved by the seller. Amazon investigates and, if upheld, refunds the customer from your account, and it counts against your ODR. The burden of proof sits with the seller; claims stay on record for 180 days, and exceeding roughly 2% of orders risks account warnings.
How to respond to A-to-Z claims effectively
You get around 10 days to respond, ignoring it is an automatic loss. Read the claim to understand exactly what's alleged, then usually offer a refund or replacement first, resolving quickly protects your ODR better than fighting does. Only contest a claim if you have solid evidence (delivery confirmation, condition photos) and the amount is meaningful, most small disputes aren't worth fighting. Stay professional and empathetic in your response, and follow up once resolved, many customers withdraw the claim once made whole.
Dealing with negative feedback, removal and response strategies
Amazon will only remove feedback that breaches policy (threats, profanity, contact info), is unrelated to product quality, or is proven fraudulent, not simply because it's negative. Request removal via Performance > Feedback. Respond publicly and professionally without being defensive, invite the customer to contact you directly, and offer a refund, replacement, or credit, many customers update their rating once the issue is resolved. Prevention, accurate listings, quality control, and proactive communication, does more than any removal request ever will.
International & Sales
Should you turn off international sales?
By default your listings are eligible for international sale through Amazon Global. It can meaningfully expand revenue, but adds customs and VAT complexity, longer shipping times, and cross-timezone customer service. For FBA sellers, keeping it enabled is usually worth it since Amazon handles the logistics. For FBM sellers, weigh actual shipping costs and margin, healthy margins (50%+) generally justify it, thin margins (under 30%) often don't.
How to turn off international shipping
In Seller Central, go to Inventory > Manage Inventory, edit the product, and adjust the Shipping section. For FBA, disabling a marketplace removes the listing from it entirely, not just the shipping option. For FBM, you can restrict shipping to UK-only without removing the listing. This is a business decision and doesn't affect account health, though it does shrink your addressable market.
Using PPC to lift sales
Amazon PPC is bid-based advertising, you pay when a customer clicks your ad, which gives new listings immediate visibility while organic ranking builds. Start with a modest daily budget (roughly £10–20 for a new product), track performance daily, and scale up what converts. Success is usually measured via ACoS (advertising cost of sale as a percentage of ad-driven revenue), a healthy range is roughly 15–25%, above 40% generally means the campaign isn't working.
Understanding Amazon PPC basics for sellers
Sponsored Products (search and product-page ads) are the standard starting point; Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display suit more established catalogues. Dynamic bidding, where Amazon adjusts your bid based on conversion likelihood, is the sensible default for beginners over fixed bidding. Build out negative keywords early to stop budget leaking to irrelevant searches. Review performance weekly, pausing keywords that spend without converting, and expect to run PPC harder for the first 30–60 days of a launch before easing off as organic ranking takes over.