Amazon suspension appeal: how to write a plan of action

A deactivation notice is a horrible email to open, and the urge is to answer it within the hour. Please don't. The appeals that work answer exactly what Amazon flagged, with proof, and that takes a few hours of reading and digging before you write a word.

This guide is for resellers of genuine, brand-name goods. It covers how Amazon's appeal works, how to write each part of a plan of action, which documents fit which kind of deactivation, the mistakes that get appeals turned down, and when to pay for help. If you haven't been suspended and want to know why accounts get suspended in the first place, start with our account health guide instead.

Everything below about Amazon's process comes from Amazon's own US help pages, an Amazon staff post on Seller Forums and the Business Solutions Agreement. The help pages and the agreement need a Seller Central sign-in, and someone signed in has not yet rechecked their current wording for this version of the page. Amazon changes these pages, so the links in the Sources list are the final word, and your own Account Health page comes first. Our editorial policy explains how we check them. This is general information, not legal advice.

How the appeal works

Suspended, deactivated, or just one listing?

Sellers say "suspended." Amazon's help pages mostly say "deactivated," and its contract says "suspend or terminate." For you they mean the same thing: the account can't sell until Amazon reinstates it. A listing removal is narrower. One product comes down, the rest of the account keeps selling, and you appeal it from a different place.

The power to deactivate comes from the Term and Termination section of the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement, the "Section 3" people talk about. It also says Amazon will tell you the reason and any options to appeal, unless it believes that would hinder an investigation into deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity. So the section number is rarely the answer you need. The specific violation in your notification is, and our guide to Section 3 violations unpacks what usually sits underneath it.

Not deactivated yet? You may have three days

Amazon's Account Health Rating FAQ says a critical violation drops your score to zero and starts a three-day grace period to address it before the account is deactivated. An Account Health specialist may try to call you in that time, so check the phone number under Emergency notifications in your Notification preferences. Address the violation in time and, Amazon says, the account won't be deactivated. Everything below applies, only faster.

The steps, in order

1. Read the notification twice

   Find it on your Account Health page and under Performance Notifications. Write down the policy Amazon names, the date, and every ASIN it lists. Amazon's appeal guidance points out that the list of products under review is at the bottom of the original notification. Note any timeframe it gives for documents, too.

2. Talk to Account Health Support before you write

   Amazon's Account Health Support FAQ says every professional seller has a Contact us button on the Account Health page, and in the Amazon Seller app. You enter your phone number and a specialist calls you, seven days a week. If you don't understand why a violation was triggered, Amazon says to ask the specialist to explain the policy. Note who you spoke to, when, and what they said.

3. Decide whether you're appealing or disputing

   These are different requests, and Amazon treats them differently. A dispute says the violation was detected in error, and you provide the evidence. An appeal accepts that the policy was broken and asks Amazon to forgive it because it wasn't intentional. Pick the one that's true. If you believe an Amazon system caused the problem, Amazon's support FAQ says to mention that specifically and provide evidence of the error.

4. Gather the documents for every ASIN

   Collect what the violation needs for every product in the notification, inside the timeframe it gives. The section on documents by suspension type, below, maps the common cases.

5. Write the plan of action

   Root cause, corrective actions, preventive measures. The next section walks through each part, with an annotated outline.

6. Submit it from Account Health

   For a deactivated account, Amazon's appeal help page says to go to Account Health, click Reactivate your account at the top, and follow the instructions, which may ask you to fill in a questionnaire, acknowledge a violation, complete a quiz or upload documents. Then click Submit. For a single listing, look under the Product Policy Compliance tab first, then among inactive listings in Manage Inventory. If the appeal buttons are grayed out, Amazon's Account Health Support FAQ suggests a different browser or a cleared cache, the Seller app, or the Contact us button.

7. Watch your email, and answer follow-ups inside the same appeal

   Amazon's appeal page says to expect a reply within two days. If Amazon asks for more information, click View Appeal from Account Health and add it there rather than starting over. Keep a dated copy of everything you send.

While you wait: your money and your inventory

Your money. Section 2 of the Business Solutions Agreement lets Amazon withhold payments for as long as it judges there's a risk of returns, chargebacks, claims or policy violations. Its funds disbursement eligibility policy adds the detail that matters during an appeal:

• If your account is reinstated on appeal, Amazon says withheld funds are released on your normal disbursement schedule.
• If the appeal fails, or you choose not to appeal, you can separately appeal for the withheld funds by emailing disbursement-appeals@amazon.com at any point after 60 days from the date your account was deactivated.
• Amazon may ask for information about your identity, your financial instruments or your supply chain during that review, and it says it may permanently withhold payments if it finds deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, or can't confirm who you are.

Your inventory. We could not find an Amazon help page that says plainly what happens to FBA inventory while an account is deactivated, so we won't guess. What Amazon does say: its anti-counterfeiting policy allows it to dispose of inauthentic products in its fulfillment centers at your expense, and the funds policy lists inventory removal costs among the things withheld funds can cover. Ask Account Health Support what you can do with your units and what they'll cost you while the appeal is open.

The three parts of a plan of action

Amazon's help pages present the appeal as a form on the Account Health page, so you may never see a box labeled "plan of action." The substance hasn't changed. An Amazon staff guide on Seller Forums, Account Deactivation: Prevention and Reinstatement Guide, says to submit a plan of action with three parts: a root cause analysis (what went wrong), corrective actions (what you've already done to fix it) and preventive measures (how you'll keep it from happening again).

Amazon's guidance on completing an appeal asks for the same things in more detail: be clear, concise, "factual and direct," without emotive language; explain every issue and the root causes behind it; give specific actions, dates and documents; and include evidence for every product under review, with the part that matters highlighted.

Root cause: what actually went wrong

The root cause is the gap in your process, not the event that exposed it. "A buyer complained" is the event. "We bought this product from a supplier we hadn't confirmed was authorized for the brand" is a root cause. Amazon's own examples are unverifiable suppliers, inventory management issues and quality control issues.

Write one root cause per issue, because Amazon notes that some deactivations combine several. Name the step that failed: buying, receiving, prep, listing, or the messages you send buyers. And own it. Even when someone else played a part, the question Amazon is asking is what you'll change, so don't blame the buyer, the brand, the carrier or Amazon.

Corrective actions: what you've already done

These are finished actions, in the past tense, each with a date. For a reseller they often look like this: closed the affected listings, created a removal order for the units in question, stopped buying from a supplier, checked every other product from that supplier against its invoices, or changed the prep instructions that caused a labeling mix-up. Attach a document where one exists, such as a removal order ID.

If you haven't done anything yet, do the fixes first and then write this part. A corrective action that starts with "we will" is really a preventive measure.

Preventive measures: why it won't happen again

This is the part people skip, and it answers the question behind every appeal: will this happen again? Good preventive measures are specific and ongoing: what you'll now do, who does it, and how often.

For supplier problems, Amazon's invoice requirements page suggests checks before you buy from a new supplier: review business documents such as licenses, verify a physical location, check the company's credibility, and verify its web presence through government resources, brand websites and business directories. Writing those checks into your buying process, and into your plan, answers Amazon's own suggestions. Our wholesale suppliers guide covers vetting a distributor, and our guide to the letter of authorization covers proof that you're allowed to sell a brand.

For paperwork problems, the strongest measure is a records habit: file every supplier invoice with its purchase order the day it arrives, so you can find it by ASIN. Our account health guide lists the records to keep from every order.

An annotated outline

Here's the skeleton we'd start from, with a note on each line saying which part of Amazon's guidance it answers. It's an outline, not a form letter: every bracket needs your own facts, and because Amazon asks for specifics, copied wording works against you.

Notification of [date]: [policy, exactly as Amazon named it]. ASINs: [every ASIN listed].

Root cause. [What went wrong in our process. One short paragraph per issue.]

Corrective actions taken.

1. [Date]: [what we did]. [Document attached, if any.]
2. [Date]: [what we did].

Preventive measures.

1. [What we now do], [who does it], [how often].
2. [What we now do], [who does it], [how often].

Attached. [File name]: [what it shows, for which ASIN, and the lines highlighted].

[One sentence asking Amazon to reinstate the account or listing.]

A made-up example

To show what specifics look like, here's an illustration we invented. It isn't a real case, and the right answer for your account depends on what your notification says.

Say a buyer reported that a skin care product wasn't authentic. You'd bought it from a wholesaler that, it turns out, was buying from other resellers rather than from the brand or an authorized distributor, and you can't trace the units any further back.

A weak appeal sounds like this: "We only sell genuine products and our customers love us. The buyer must be mistaken. Please reinstate our account quickly because this is our main income." It argues, blames the buyer, leans on emotion and proves nothing.

A stronger one says what happened and what changed:

• Root cause: we bought this ASIN from a supplier without confirming it was authorized by the brand, so we couldn't trace the units to the manufacturer.
• Corrective actions: on [date] we closed every listing we had stocked from that supplier; on [date] we created a removal order for the remaining units (ID attached); on [date] we stopped buying from that supplier; by [date] we had checked every other ASIN in our catalog against invoices from the brand or an authorized distributor.
• Preventive measures: before a first order from any new supplier, [name] checks its business license and physical address and asks for proof it's authorized for each brand we plan to buy; every invoice is filed with its purchase order on the day it arrives.

Notice what the stronger version doesn't do. It doesn't claim the product was genuine when the seller can't show that. When you can't prove where units came from, the credible appeal is the one that takes them off sale and fixes how you buy.

Documents to gather, by suspension type

Amazon says each type of violation has its own appeal steps, and that your Account Health page gives the specific guidance for yours. Use the table as a map, then follow what your page asks for.

Every row but the last comes from Amazon's Account Health Support FAQ, its intellectual property policy, its seller performance review page, its Account Health Rating FAQ, its code of conduct or the Business Solutions Agreement. The last row is our suggestion, because the Amazon pages we read don't list documents for it.

Invoices: the rules that trip people up

Amazon says that to address many policy violations, you must send copies of your suppliers' invoices, and its invoice requirements for appeals are specific. The ones that catch sellers out:

• The date window. The issue date must fall within the 365 days before you received the notification.
• The quantity. Your invoices must cover your sales and in-stock inventory of each ASIN in the notification over the past 365 days, so include every reorder, not just the first order. Amazon also asks for sales records for each ASIN.
• A finished sale, from the supplier. No quotes, no pro forma invoices, nothing you issued yourself or from a supplier that appears to be the same business as you.
• The format and the route. PDF or image files of 10 MB or less, uploaded through Seller Central. Not by email, and not as Excel or Word files.
• Pricing may go, nothing else. You can remove prices and highlight the line in question. Everything else stays visible.

Amazon says it may contact your supplier to verify an invoice, and keeps your supplier's details confidential. Our account health guide has the full list. These are not the same rules as the invoices you send to get approved in a category, which our guide to ungating invoice requirements covers.

If your invoices don't cover what the notification asks for, for example because a product appears only as the distributor's own item code, with no product name, model number or UPC, call Account Health Support and ask what they can accept in your case before you submit. A short call costs less than a rejected appeal.

Mistakes that get appeals denied

Amazon doesn't publish its reasons for rejecting appeals, so this list is ours, with each item tied to what Amazon's guidance asks for.

1. Answering the wrong problem. Explaining a late shipment when the notification is about an authenticity complaint gets you nowhere. Quote the policy Amazon named, and answer that.
2. Leaving out ASINs, or using the wrong dates. Amazon asks for evidence for every product under review, inside the timeframe it gives.
3. Blame, emotion and your business story. Amazon asks for factual writing without emotive language, focused on what led to the issue rather than on your product, business or customers. Your reviews and years on Amazon don't answer the violation.
4. Promises without actions. "We will be more careful" isn't a corrective action. Amazon asks for specific actions, dates and documents.
5. Documents Amazon won't accept. Pro forma invoices, files sent by email, editable spreadsheets and anything altered. The last one can make things much worse.
6. Mixing in other issues. Amazon asks you to leave out other questions and references to ongoing support cases.
7. Submitting again and again. Amazon's seller performance review page says not to resubmit documents before Amazon has had time to review your appeal, or to keep sending inaccurate ones. A rejected appeal sent back with new wording and the same substance rarely does better.
8. Disputing something that did happen. A dispute claims Amazon made an error. If the violation was real, appeal it.
9. Opening another account to keep selling. Amazon's code of conduct allows one selling account per region unless you have a legitimate business need and all your accounts are in good standing, and says that if any account is not in good standing, Amazon may deactivate all of them.

If Amazon says no

A rejection isn't always the end. Read the decision email and your Performance Notifications for the reason; when invoices are rejected, Amazon says the notifications identify why. Then call Account Health Support and ask what was missing. Amazon's staff guide says to revise your plan of action based on the feedback and resubmit, so change what the feedback points at, whether that's the root cause, a missing document or a measure that was too vague.

Two other routes exist, and both are narrow:

• Seller Challenge. Amazon's Seller Challenge FAQ describes an enhanced review for US-based sellers in its Account Health Assurance program, after several attempts to resolve an issue, and only for eligible listing-level enforcements. Amazon says it aims to decide within 48 hours. It isn't a route for a deactivated account.
• Arbitration. Section 20 of the Business Solutions Agreement sends disputes with Amazon to binding arbitration rather than court, with a few exceptions. If you're thinking about it, that's a conversation for a lawyer.

The funds appeal described above stays open separately, whatever happens to the account appeal.

When to get professional help

Plenty of sellers write their own appeal, and for a single, clear issue with clean invoices, you're often the best person to write it, because you know what happened. Amazon's guidance is public, and nobody outside Amazon can see anything in your account that you can't.

Paying for help makes sense when the stakes or the legal questions go up:

• An IP complaint you believe is wrong, especially a patent or copyright claim. Amazon's IP policy says plainly that it isn't legal advice and suggests a lawyer for specific questions, and a copyright counter-notice includes a statement made under penalty of perjury.
• Funds that Amazon says it will keep, or a large amount of inventory at stake.
• A deactivation that alleges fraud or related accounts, or one with no reason given.
• Two or more rejected appeals for the same issue.
• Arbitration, under Section 20 of the agreement.

For legal questions, that means a lawyer who handles marketplace or intellectual property matters. For drafting, appeal writers and consultants exist. Either way, a few rules protect you:

• Be wary of promises. Amazon makes the decision. Anyone who promises reinstatement, or a timeline, is promising something they don't control.
• Never pay for an "inside contact." In 2020, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle announced an indictment alleging that consultants to Amazon sellers paid bribes to Amazon employees and contractors, in part to get suspended accounts and products reinstated.
• Every fact in the appeal has to be yours. Don't let anyone write a root cause that isn't what happened, or "fix" a document. You submit it through your account, and you're the one Amazon holds to it.
• Keep your login to yourself. If someone needs to work in your account, add them as a user in Seller Central with their own login and only the permissions they need, rather than sharing your password.

Once you're selling again

Reinstatement isn't the finish line. Amazon's Account Health Rating FAQ says a violation removed after a successful appeal, where you didn't dispute that it happened, may still count toward the repeat-violation limit for 180 days. The preventive measures you promised are now how you run the business.

Our account health guide covers the numbers Amazon watches and the records to keep from every order, and our rule changes log for resellers tracks the Amazon policy changes that affect accounts like yours.