How long do policy violations stay on your Amazon account?

Policy violations on Amazon can range from low level offences, such as pricing issues, to a more serious violation, such as counterfeit goods or paying for reviews. Depending on the offence, policy violations can stay on your account for a set period of time or indefinitely. In this article, we’ll discuss the different types of policy violation and how long they stay on your seller account.

Account Health Dashboard

In addition to receiving a performance notification about any issue, Amazon sellers also have the Account Health Dashboard and Account Health Rating that displays the complaint and violation issues. If you receive too many of these violations you could get your account suspended. Violating selling policies, listing policy violation or receiving an IP complaint are some examples of violations your account could receive.

Types of Policy Violation

There are two main types of policy violation on Amazon: those that result in an immediate suspension of your account and those that do not. Some product listing or account violations are so serious, or your account health is so poor that they cause suspension and you risk losing the ability to sell on Amazon. Let’s look at these:

Immediate Removal of Selling Privileges

Immediate suspensions are typically reserved for the most serious offences, such as selling counterfeit products or paid reviews, which are strictly prohibited. If you receive an immediate suspension, it is typical that you can appeal for reinstatement of your selling privileges. However, depending on the severity of the offense, you may not be approved and the violation will remain in your account forever, it will have to be successfully appealed for you to ever sell again. Generally speaking any violation can cause suspension, but most common are issues with violation of community guidelines, Section 3 of the Business Solutions Agreement, intellectual property infringement and some product detail page violations. If you do receive this type of issue, then look at our blog post: ‘What to do if you are suspended on Amazon‘. You’ll need to explain the root cause and provide proof that you didn’t violate Amazon policy or provide preventative steps to address how you will prevent this happening again, to protect your account health and Amazon customers.

Non-Immediate Policy Violation

Non-immediate policy violations are more common and typically result in a warning from Amazon and/or a removal of your listing’s visibility. These types of violations are typically less serious than those that result in an immediate suspension and usually only stay on your account for a set period of time, such as 180 days. However, if you accumulate multiple policy violations, even if they are non-immediate, Amazon may take action against your account. Rights owner complaints are a common complaint you could see in your account health dashboard. It’s common to get multiple of these rights owner complaints at the same time, if you have multiple products of the same brand, for example.

These violations can be removed if you successfully appeal them inside your account. Seller Assurance provides support to helps sellers manage and appeal their policy violations and may be a good idea for you if you are worried by policy violations. If you’re struggling to comply with Amazon’s request you may see in your account health that your account is ‘At Risk. Learn more about that here: How long does an Amazon Seller Account stay ‘At Risk’?

Conclusion: Policy violation on Amazon can have serious consequences for your account. Depending on the offense, you may receive anything from a warning to a suspended account. If you accumulate multiple violations, even if they are non-immediate, Amazon may take action against your account. It’s important to familiarise yourself with Amazon’s policies and make sure you are in compliance at all times to avoid any penalties.