Overview

Amazon can shut down a seller account instantly when its internal systems detect a breach of the platform’s Code of Conduct. The danger grows for merchants who skip regular health audits, ignore product‑compliance rules, or fail to notice atypical activity on their accounts. Checking the five most common risk areas today can keep a store online and protect its earnings.

Key Points

• Order Defect Rate Threshold — Accounts that record an Order Defect Rate (ODR) above 1 % within any 30‑day span are automatically placed under review; a seller with a 1.2 % ODR was suspended for two days last month.
• Restricted Claim Usage — Listings that contain prohibited terms such as “organic” on products without certification triggered a 2023 crackdown that resulted in more than 2,000 suspensions in a single week.
• Performance Alerts Timing — Ignoring a “Policy Violation” notice in the Performance tab for longer than 72 hours upgrades the alert to a “Final Warning,” which can lock the account within the next 24 hours.
• Proof of Authenticity Deadline — Brands that do not submit invoices for brand‑registered items within the 14‑day window face “Product Authenticity” holds; 15 % of sellers hit this snag in Q1 2024.
• Sudden Traffic Spikes — A 300 % surge in orders from a new IP address over a 48‑hour period often trips Amazon’s fraud engine and leads to an immediate account hold.

How to Perform the Five Checks

1. Scan the Account Health Dashboard — Open Seller Central, go to the “Account Health” page, and compare every metric against Amazon’s limits (e.g., ODR > 1 %). A vendor selling roughly 500 units each month should keep returns under five per month to stay safely below the threshold.
2. Audit Listings for Policy Alignment — Export all active listings to a spreadsheet, then review titles, bullet points, and images for disallowed language such as “FDA approved” on supplements. One seller discovered 12 offending phrases in a catalog of 250 SKUs and removed them before Amazon issued a notice.
3. Check Performance Notifications Daily — Each morning, open the “Performance” tab and filter for “Policy Violation” or “Account Health” alerts. If a notice reads “Potentially Inaccurate Product Information,” correct the listing within the next 24 hours; delays beyond 48 hours have historically escalated to full suspensions.