Seller Code of Conduct

The code of conduct is an operating standard

Amazon’s seller conduct expectations are not a checklist to read only after an enforcement notice. They are the behavioural boundary for how a business creates listings, sources inventory, communicates with customers, handles orders, uses marketplace information and responds to problems. A team can have good products and still create account risk through shortcuts that undermine buyer trust or marketplace integrity.

For management, the practical question is: can every routine action be explained honestly to a buyer, Amazon and a brand owner using the actual records? If an activity depends on hidden relationships, misleading presentation, artificial feedback, manipulated traffic, false documents or an attempt to bypass a control, it should stop and be reviewed before it becomes an account event.

Why conduct issues rarely stay isolated

Conduct failures often begin as small operational choices: a rushed listing edit, an unapproved customer message, a review request with an incentive, a product source that is not documented, or a decision to reuse an account, image or document. When those choices repeat across employees, agencies or marketplaces, they become a pattern. Account-health action may focus on one event while the underlying process continues elsewhere.

The safest response is to fix the control, not merely the visible incident. A business should know who can publish content, approve supplier documents, contact customers, change fulfilment settings, access accounts and respond to notices.

Core operating principles

• Be accurate: product identity, condition, price, availability, delivery promise and claims must match the actual offer.
• Be traceable: maintain records for inventory, suppliers, product files, customer interactions and material listing changes.
• Do not manipulate trust signals: do not use incentives, undisclosed relationships, artificial activity or misleading communications to influence reviews, rankings, traffic or buying decisions.
• Respect marketplace boundaries: use customer and account information only through appropriate authorised processes and do not divert transactions outside the intended marketplace flow.
• Respond honestly: do not create, alter or backdate evidence; do not make promises about corrective action that the business has not completed.

Put conduct controls into daily operations

1. Define approval owners. Assign owners for catalogue publication, pricing, customer communication, supplier onboarding, account access and policy responses.
2. Use release checklists. Verify product facts, asset rights, claims, variation accuracy and required documents before a listing goes live.
3. Control customer-contact templates. Review automated messages, support scripts and post-purchase communication for accuracy and policy fit.
4. Log material decisions. Keep an internal record of significant listing, supplier, inventory and appeal actions with date and owner.
5. Train partners as well as staff. Agencies, prep centres and contractors can create risk; define what they may and may not do on the business’s behalf.

Activities that should trigger a pause

Pause and escalate when someone proposes to offer compensation for feedback, ask a customer to change or remove a review, create activity that is not genuine, use another seller’s information or account, contact buyers outside permitted channels, hide a product condition or claim, submit non-matching records, move an unresolved issue to a new listing or account, or use a third party to do any of these actions. The fact that a tactic is common in a private group is not evidence that it is allowed.

Managing people and access

Give employees and external providers role-appropriate access and review it periodically. Use a named owner for shared workflows and remove access when a relationship ends. Written instructions should explain escalation paths, not just prohibited actions: staff need to know what to do when a supplier cannot provide a file, an order has a defect signal, a customer asks for an exception or a policy notice arrives.

Monitor for patterns, not only single mistakes. Repeated cancelled orders, customer contacts, listing suppressions, review-related language, supplier document gaps or account notices can reveal that a team’s normal process needs repair.

If a conduct notice is received

Preserve the notice and the relevant records before changing anything. Identify the account, marketplace, ASIN, order, message, user or workflow involved. Establish known facts, stop any continuing activity and investigate connected listings or team members. A response should state the confirmed cause, the action completed and the concrete control that prevents recurrence. It should not blame a contractor without showing how the business changed its own control.

Use the current official process and be truthful. Serious account risk, legal concerns or complex policy issues may require qualified professional advice.

Important boundary

This guide is an internal governance framework, not a substitute for Amazon’s current seller policies or legal advice. The account owner remains responsible for ensuring that all people and providers acting for the business follow the applicable rules.