Overview

Error 18893 appears in Seller Central when Amazon cannot retrieve or validate the image linked to a product listing. The issue typically surfaces after a change in image hosting, a broken URL, or a copyright flag, and it stops the listing from showing its photos. Sellers must address it quickly because missing images dramatically reduce traffic and sales.

Key Points

• Hotlink protection blocks Amazon — When an image resides on a third‑party server that denies external embedding, Amazon’s crawler receives a 403 response and logs error 18893.
• Copyright detection rejects unlicensed photos — Amazon’s automated checks flag images that match copyrighted material owned by another seller or brand, causing the same error.
• Hosting policy updates can invalidate URLs — A provider that suddenly disables direct linking or changes its terms will break existing image URLs, triggering the error even if the file was previously accepted.
• Deleted or private files cause failures — If the source image is removed, set to private, or taken down for policy reasons, the link returns a 404 or access‑denied message, resulting in error 18893.
• Third‑party image services increase risk — Relying on external image hosts gives sellers limited control over availability, making them more vulnerable to this error than those who upload directly to Amazon.

How to Resolve Error 18893

1. Download the original file — Locate the current image on your computer or request the original from your photographer; for example, save “product‑A‑front.jpg” from your local archive instead of using the remote URL.
2. Verify Amazon’s image standards — Check that the file is in JPEG or PNG format, at least 1000 px on the longest side, and has a pure white background; a 1200 × 1200 px JPEG of a kitchen gadget meets these criteria.
3. Upload through Seller Central — Use the “Add Images” button in the inventory edit screen to attach the verified file; the system will store the image on Amazon’s CDN, eliminating external dependencies.