Amazon Selling Policy Updates for 2025
Amazon sellers holds to high standards to ensure a safe and trustworthy marketplace. If you violate policies, Amazon can suspend or permanently deactivate your seller account. This can result in a significant loss of revenue and customer base. Following the rules helps protect your account from these penalties. Amazon operates globally, and each region has its own set of rules and regulations. Compliance with Amazon’s policies ensures that sellers are also meeting local legal requirements. This could include product safety standards, taxes, consumer protection laws, and more. Failure to comply with these could lead to fines or other legal consequences.
Here are some important updates to Amazon selling policies for 2025 that sellers should be aware of:
Enhanced Brand Content and A+ Content Guidelines
Amazon has tightened the guidelines for Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) and A+ Content. Sellers must ensure that the content they submit is high-quality, relevant, and adheres to Amazon’s updated standards. This includes stricter rules on claims and wording, as well as the need to ensure that all product images, text, and multimedia meet Amazon’s guidelines.
Changes to Product Review and Rating System
Amazon has made further refinements to its review and rating system to combat fake reviews and increase transparency. Sellers are now more strictly prohibited from incentivizing or manipulating reviews. Additionally, product reviews must now be linked more directly to actual product sales to be counted in the overall rating.
New Restrictions on Certain Categories
Some product categories, including electronics and personal care, now have stricter documentation requirements. Sellers in these categories may need to submit additional certifications or pass stricter compliance checks before product listings.
Increased FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) Fees
Sellers using FBA should expect some fee increases in 2025. Amazon has adjusted fees for storage and fulfillment, particularly during peak seasons. Sellers should factor these into their pricing strategies to maintain profitability.
Stricter Return and Refund Policies
In 2025, Amazon is tightening its policies around returns and refunds. Sellers are now required to handle customer complaints and return requests more efficiently. Failure to comply with these updated processes could result in penalties or suspension of selling privileges.
Product Compliance and Safety Standards
Sellers must be more vigilant about product compliance. Amazon is enforcing stricter product safety standards, particularly for items that could pose safety risks to children or consumers in certain industries. Non-compliant products may be removed from the platform, and violators could face serious repercussions.
Changes to Seller Performance Metrics
Amazon has refined its performance metrics for sellers, including updated targets for order defect rates, late shipment rates, and customer feedback. Sellers must ensure they stay within the acceptable ranges for these metrics to avoid penalties and maintain their selling privileges.
International Sales Compliance
For those selling in multiple countries, Amazon has updated its international selling rules. Sellers will need to ensure they are meeting all regulatory requirements in each region, including taxes, product safety standards, and import/export regulations.
Prohibited Seller Practices
Amazon has updated its prohibited seller practices list, with new prohibitions against specific types of fraudulent activity, misleading product information, and selling counterfeit goods. Sellers caught violating these new terms could face immediate account suspension.
Sustainability Requirements
As part of Amazon’s commitment to sustainability, sellers are now encouraged to provide more information about their products’ environmental impact. This includes packaging details, carbon footprint, and eco-friendly certifications. In 2025, there may be increasing pressure for sellers to meet these sustainability standards in order to stay competitive on the platform.
Updates to Advertising Rules
Sellers using Amazon Ads should be aware of changes to advertising policies. There are now tighter restrictions on certain types of ads, particularly around targeting and messaging, to prevent misleading or inappropriate advertisements. Sellers will also need to adjust ad campaigns to comply with new data privacy regulations.
Sellers on Amazon.com must stay proactive and adjust to these evolving policies to avoid penalties and ensure a smooth operation. It’s crucial to read through Amazon’s official policy updates regularly and incorporate the changes into your business practices.