Overview

Amazon has released new guidance that dispels three common myths surrounding its Account Health Rating (AHR) system. The clarification matters because many sellers have been chasing an unattainable perfect score or deleting flagged listings, actions that do not actually protect their accounts from deactivation.

Key Points

• Score threshold is low — An AHR above 200 out of 1,000 is considered safe, so sellers do not need to maintain a flawless 1,000 score to avoid risk.
• Violations stick to the account — Removing a product that triggered a policy alert does not erase the violation; the infraction remains attached to the seller’s account until it is formally resolved.
• Sales volume is not a deactivation trigger — A dip in orders over the last 180 days may lower the rating slightly, but only unresolved policy issues can push the score beneath the 200‑point safety line.
• Severe infractions bypass the score — Amazon can shut down an account instantly for activities it deems fraudulent, deceptive, or illegal, regardless of the numeric rating.
• Minor infractions are tolerated — Low‑severity violations can coexist with a healthy rating as long as the seller addresses them promptly, demonstrating responsiveness to Amazon’s compliance expectations.
• Weekly monitoring is recommended — Checking the Account Health dashboard at least once a week helps catch new alerts early and keeps the rating comfortably above the threshold.

How the Account Health Rating Works

1. Score calculation — Amazon aggregates all policy‑related events linked to a seller and assigns a numeric value from 0 to 1,000; for example, a seller with two medium‑severity warnings and one low‑severity notice might receive a score of 350.
2. Severity weighting — Each violation is categorized as critical, high, medium, or low, and the system applies heavier weight to more serious infractions; a single critical breach can drop the rating by several hundred points, whereas a low‑severity issue might only shave off a few dozen.