Overview

Amazon has issued fresh guidance that clears up long‑standing confusion about its Account Health Rating (AHR). The update explains which score range actually matters, confirms that removing a flagged listing does not erase the underlying violation, and clarifies how sales volume influences the rating. Sellers who have been obsessing over their AHR should now be able to focus on the actions that truly protect their accounts.

Key Points

• 200‑point floor is decisive — Any AHR above 200 is considered safe; dropping below that number signals an immediate risk of deactivation.
• Deleting a flagged listing won’t fix the problem — The violation stays on the account until it is resolved through the Account Health dashboard.
• Low sales alone won’t breach the 200 threshold — A dip in order volume may lower the score, but only unresolved policy issues can push it under 200.
• Amazon can deactivate regardless of score — Accounts involved in fraudulent, deceptive, illegal, or harmful activity can be shut down even with a high AHR.
• Severity tiers shape score impact — Critical violations drag the rating down sharply, while low‑severity issues have a modest effect.
• Response speed matters — Quickly addressing new flags helps keep the rating higher than it would be for sellers who let issues linger.

How the Account Health Rating Works

1. Score calculation — Amazon aggregates policy violations, their severity, and the seller’s order volume from the past 180 days into a single number ranging from 0 to 1,000. For example, a seller with two critical violations and a month‑long sales dip might see the score settle around 180.
2. Color‑coded display — The dashboard shows the rating in green (200‑1,000), yellow (100‑199), or red (0‑99), giving a quick visual cue of account status. A seller with a score of 750 will see a green bar, indicating no immediate threat.
3. Violation persistence — Once a policy breach is logged, it remains on the account until the seller follows the prescribed resolution steps on the Account Health page. Deleting the offending listing, such as removing a product flagged for counterfeit claims, does not erase the record.