Amazon Listing Requirements 2026: The Complete Compliance Guide

Amazon’s listing requirements are not optional guidelines — violate them and your listing gets suppressed, your product disappears from search, and your sales stop. Understanding exactly what Amazon requires for every element of your listing is fundamental to staying live, staying indexed, and staying profitable.

This guide covers every listing element Amazon polices: titles, images, bullet points, descriptions, and backend keywords — with the exact rules, the common violations, and how to fix them.

Title Requirements

The title is the most important listing element for both SEO and compliance. Amazon polices titles more aggressively than any other field.

Character limits by category

Amazon’s standard title limit is 200 characters including spaces. However, many categories have stricter limits:

• Clothing & Accessories: 80 characters
• Shoes: 80 characters
• Jewellery: 80 characters
• Most other categories: 150–200 characters

Always check your category’s specific style guide in Seller Central under “Product page style guides”.

What Amazon requires in your title

• Brand name
• Product name / type
• Key features (size, colour, quantity, material where relevant)
• Capitalise the first letter of each word (Title Case) — do not write in ALL CAPS

What Amazon prohibits in titles

Image Requirements

Images are the single biggest driver of conversion rate. They are also one of the most heavily audited areas by Amazon’s compliance team. Non-compliant images get suppressed fast.

Main image (hero image) rules

• Pure white background only: RGB 255,255,255. Not off-white, not grey — pure white. Any other background triggers suppression.
• Product must fill at least 85% of the image frame. Excessive whitespace around the product = suppression risk.
• No text, logos, watermarks, or graphics overlaid on the main image.
• No lifestyle elements in the main image (props, people, scenery) — secondary images only.
• Minimum 1,000 pixels on the longest side (recommended: 2,000px+) to enable the zoom function, which significantly lifts conversion rate.
• JPEG format preferred; PNG and TIFF also accepted. GIF not accepted for main image.
• No accessories not included in the product should appear in the main image.

Secondary image rules

Secondary images (images 2–9) have more freedom but must still follow these rules:

• No false claims, misleading comparisons, or before/after imagery
• Lifestyle images allowed — show the product in use
• Infographics allowed — dimensions, features, how-to-use diagrams
• No offensive or inappropriate content
• No Amazon branding, logos, or imagery
• No competitor product images

Bullet Point Requirements

Bullet points (Amazon calls them “key product features”) are your primary conversion copy. Amazon allows up to 5 bullets with these rules:

• Maximum 500 characters per bullet (some categories: 150–255 characters — check your style guide)
• Start each bullet with a capital letter
• Do not end bullets with a full stop (Amazon style guide preference)
• No promotional language: no references to price, seller name, shipping times, or promotional offers
• No HTML formatting in bullets (no bold tags, no line breaks)
• No shipping or company information
• No contact information of any kind
• No claims that are medical, health, or environmental unless pre-approved for your category

Product Description Requirements

The product description sits below the fold on desktop and gets less traffic than bullets, but it still matters for SEO indexing and for buyers who read everything before purchasing.

• Maximum 2,000 characters
• Basic HTML formatting is allowed in descriptions: <b>bold</b>, <br> for line breaks, <p> for paragraphs. Lists with <ul> and <li> work in most categories.
• No promotional content, pricing, or seller information
• No false or misleading claims
• Brand-registered sellers: your description is typically replaced by A+ Content which displays instead of the plain text description

Backend Keywords (Search Terms)

Backend search terms are invisible to buyers but critical for organic discoverability. Amazon indexes these fields and uses them to determine which searches your product appears for.

• Maximum 250 bytes (not characters — some special characters count as multiple bytes)
• Use spaces to separate terms — do not use commas, semicolons, or other punctuation
• Do not repeat keywords already in your title or bullets — Amazon indexes those separately, repetition wastes space
• Include synonyms, alternative spellings, and common misspellings
• Do not include competitor brand names — this violates Amazon’s trademark policy and can get your listing removed
• Do not include misleading terms unrelated to your product
• Do not include promotional claims (“best”, “cheapest”, etc.)

Why Listings Get Suppressed: The 8 Most Common Reasons

How to Find and Fix Suppressed Listings

Amazon notifies you of suppressed listings in Seller Central but the notifications are easy to miss. Here is how to find and fix them:

1. Go to Inventory → Manage All Inventory in Seller Central
2. Click the “Suppressed” filter at the top of the inventory table
3. Amazon shows the suppression reason for each listing — click “Edit” to fix it
4. For image suppression: re-upload a compliant image. Amazon’s image review typically takes 24–72 hours.
5. For attribute suppression: fill in the missing required fields via the listing editor or by uploading a corrected flat file
6. For policy violations: edit the offending content, save, and submit. Most violations clear within 24 hours once corrected.

Category-Specific Compliance Notes

Beyond the universal rules above, several categories have strict additional requirements:

Health, Beauty & Personal Care

Cannot make drug claims (“treats”, “cures”, “prevents”, “reduces” symptoms) without FDA/MHRA approval. Claims like “clinically proven” require documented clinical evidence. Ingredient lists must be accurate and complete for ingestible or topical products.

Supplements & Food

Gated category requiring prior approval. Must comply with food safety labelling regulations. No health claims not substantiated by scientific evidence.

Electronics

Must include safety certifications where applicable (CE, FCC, UL). Battery products must comply with lithium battery transport regulations for FBA.

Toys & Children’s Products

Must include age-appropriateness information. Products for children under 14 may require UKCA or CE safety marking documentation.

Clothing & Shoes

Must include material composition, care instructions, and accurate size information. Strict 80-character title limit applies.