Overview

Amazon Handmade enforces a strict set of rules for listing artwork, requiring every piece to be the creator’s own original work and to follow Amazon’s broader selling policies. Sellers must understand these requirements to keep their listings active and avoid penalties.

Key Points

• Originality required — Only art that the seller personally designs or crafts may be listed; mass‑produced prints or resale items are prohibited.
• Outsourced printing permitted with limits — Artists can contract a third‑party printer for items such as canvas prints, but the seller must retain ownership of the design and manage final packaging and shipment.
• IP compliance enforced — Any artwork that infringes on existing copyrights, trademarks, or patents—such as fan art of protected characters or unlicensed logo reproductions—will be removed and may trigger account actions.
• Full policy alignment — Listings must also satisfy Amazon’s general product restrictions, category‑specific rules, and standard listing guidelines in addition to Handmade‑specific criteria.
• Production method disclosure — Sellers are obligated to state their printing or manufacturing approach in the “Production Method” field of their artisan profile.
• Consequences for non‑compliance — Violations can lead to immediate delisting, temporary suspension, or permanent account closure, depending on severity and recurrence.

How Amazon Handmade Artwork Guidelines Work

1. Design ownership verification — When a seller creates a digital illustration of a botanical pattern, Amazon’s system checks that the seller’s account is listed as the creator; the seller must be able to prove the design was not sourced from a stock library.
2. Third‑party printer approval — If the same artist hires a printing service to produce 200 canvas prints, Amazon requires the artist to retain the original high‑resolution file and confirm that the printer only reproduces the artist’s file, not any external content.
3. Packaging and fulfillment responsibility — After printing, the artist must personally pack each canvas, affix the correct Amazon shipping label, and ship the order, ensuring the final product reaches the buyer directly from the seller’s control.