Overview

Taking a break from a seller‑fulfilled Amazon store without proper safeguards can quickly degrade key performance metrics. The Vacation Status setting in Seller Central lets you temporarily hide self‑shipped listings, stopping new orders while you’re away. Activating it before any time off protects your Order Defect Rate, Late Shipment Rate and other health indicators, saving you from costly remediation later.

Key Points

• Vacation Status hides merchant‑fulfilled listings — When turned on, your products disappear from search results and detail pages, so customers cannot place new orders during the specified period.
• FBA inventory remains active — The feature only affects seller‑fulfilled stock; Fulfilled‑by‑Amazon items continue to sell and ship normally, so you must verify which SKUs are in each fulfillment channel.
• Metrics are calculated on a rolling basis — Even a short, two‑day gap can generate late shipments or pre‑fulfillment cancellations that push your Order Defect Rate or Late Shipment Rate above Amazon’s thresholds.
• Recovery requires a Plan of Action — Exceeding health thresholds typically forces sellers to submit a remediation plan and wait days or weeks for Amazon’s review, delaying revenue and increasing stress.
• Holiday support windows are shorter — During major holidays the Account Health Support team works reduced hours, meaning urgent issues may take longer to resolve if you’re not prepared.
• Proactive preparation saves weeks of work — Setting Vacation Status, clearing pending orders, and pausing related processes before you leave can prevent the cascade of penalties that would otherwise require extensive follow‑up.

How Vacation Status Works

1. Access the Vacation Settings page — Log into Seller Central, go to Settings → Account Info, and click the “Vacation Settings” link. For example, a seller planning a three‑day trip on March 15‑17 would open this page on March 12 to begin configuration.
2. Toggle the status and define dates — Switch the vacation toggle to “On” and enter the start and end dates. In the same scenario, the seller selects March 15 as the start date and March 17 as the end date, ensuring the system automatically hides listings on the morning of the 15th.