Overview

Amazon enforces a set of performance standards that all brands must meet in order to continue selling through its marketplace. These standards are designed to protect the customer shopping experience and apply to brands, manufacturers, and their authorized representatives. Sellers who fail to meet these benchmarks risk losing key selling privileges or even their ability to operate on the platform entirely.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Customer experience is the priority — Amazon measures seller performance across several dimensions including stock availability, delivery quality, competitive pricing, and catalog completeness. Brands must consistently meet these benchmarks.
• Retail exclusivity rules may apply — If Amazon already sells a brand's products through its own retail channel, the brand may be restricted from also selling those same products as a third-party seller. This is intended to prevent customer confusion.
• Privileges can be revoked — Sellers who fall below Amazon's standards may lose the ability to win the Buy Box (having offers featured on product detail pages) or may lose their selling privileges on the platform altogether.
• Amazon provides tools to help — The company offers inventory management tools, automated pricing features, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), and brand protection services like Brand Registry to help sellers stay compliant.
• Wholesale to Amazon remains an option — Even if a brand loses its third-party selling privileges, it can still offer to sell products directly to Amazon for resale through Amazon's retail operations.

Who This Policy Applies To

This policy covers a broad range of sellers. It applies not only to brands and manufacturers selling directly on Amazon but also extends to their agents, licensees, and any other authorized representatives operating on their behalf. This means that if you are selling products in the Amazon store under a licensing agreement or as an authorized distributor for a brand, you are equally subject to these performance standards. The policy is designed to ensure that every entity representing a brand on the platform upholds the same level of customer experience, regardless of the specific business relationship involved.