Keeping an Amazon account healthy, and fixing it when it is not
This section covers Amazon account health: the Account Health Rating and the targets behind it, what leads to a suspension and how to appeal, the reimbursements Amazon owes FBA sellers, and how to get reviews without breaking Amazon's rules. Every rule comes from Amazon's own pages.
How Amazon account health works
Amazon account health is Amazon's measure of whether a seller follows its policies and serves customers well. The Account Health page in Seller Central shows it in three areas: customer service performance, policy compliance, and shipping performance for orders you ship yourself. At the top sits the Account Health Rating, a single score for each store you sell in.
Amazon describes the Account Health Dashboard as the place that helps sellers monitor the status of the selling account based on adherence to its selling policies, and the rating, often shortened to AHR, as a near real-time status of your risk of deactivation in each store.
Amazon's Account Health Rating runs from 0 to 1,000. Amazon says new sellers start at 200, that you lose points for new policy violations and regain them when violations are addressed, and that the score reflects the last 180 days. 200 and above is Healthy; 100 to 199 is At Risk; 99 or lower means the account is eligible for deactivation or already deactivated.
Customer service performance rests on the order defect rate: the share of orders in 60 days with negative seller feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or a service chargeback, which Amazon requires to stay under 1%. Amazon says you have 48 hours to respond to issues a buyer raises in a claim, 30 days to appeal a claim decided against you, and seven calendar days to respond to a chargeback.
Chargebacks deserve a note of their own. Amazon says you are responsible for credit card chargebacks filed for service reasons, such as an item that never arrived, while Amazon is responsible for payment fraud chargebacks, such as stolen cards. Only service chargebacks count toward the order defect rate, or ODR.
Policy compliance covers everything from product authenticity and intellectual property to listing accuracy and customer reviews. Violations carry points by severity, repeats cost more each time, and Amazon can deactivate immediately if it suspects fraud or harmful activity, whatever the score.
Shipping performance applies to seller fulfilled orders: late shipment rate under 4%, cancellation rate under 2.5%, valid tracking over 95%, and an on-time delivery rate of at least 90%. With FBA, Amazon ships the orders, so these metrics move to Amazon.
That is the thread through every guide in this section. A healthy account comes from sourcing you can prove, listings that tell the truth, customers who are looked after, and the discipline to check the Account Health page before a warning becomes a deactivation.
Amazon account health: the numbers that matter
| Measure | Target or band | Window | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account Health Rating | 200 to 1,000 Healthy; 100 to 199 At Risk | 180 days | All sellers |
| Order defect rate | Under 1% | 60 days | Seller fulfilled orders |
| Cancellation rate | Under 2.5% | 7 days | Seller fulfilled orders |
| Late shipment rate | Under 4% | 10 and 30 days | Seller fulfilled orders |
| Valid tracking rate | Over 95% | 30 days | Seller fulfilled orders |
| On-time delivery rate | At least 90% | Tracked items | Seller fulfilled orders |
Amazon also awards Account Health Rating points to sellers with seller fulfilled orders for buyer contact rate, response time and buyer dissatisfaction, and says it will not restrict selling privileges for below-average performance on those three.
Keep your emergency contact number current: Amazon says it may call to offer support when account health degrades. The details above were read on the date at the top of this page.
What changed: automatic reimbursements, handling times and invoices
Reimbursements changed first: Amazon now reimburses most fulfillment center losses automatically, shortened manual claim windows, and from March 10, 2025 reimburses pre-order losses at sourcing cost. Since January 1, 2026, unprepped units in new FBA shipments are not eligible for reimbursement if damaged or untraceable.
For orders you ship yourself, Amazon's Order Performance policy now requires handling times that match how fast you actually ship, from June 29, 2026. When you will be away and cannot ship at all, vacation mode takes those listings off sale instead. And for appeals, Amazon's invoice rules are explicit: invoices dated within 365 days before the notification, covering your sales of each cited product, submitted through Seller Central.
The one line of math every seller should know
order defect rate = orders with a defect / all orders, over 60 days
A defect is negative seller feedback, an A-to-z claim or a service chargeback. At 200 orders in 60 days, three defects make 1.5%, already over Amazon's 1% target.
The order to keep an account healthy
Check the Account Health page
Amazon's guidance is to check it daily; violations show with a red marker and their count.
Respond on time
48 hours for A-to-z claim issues, seven days for chargebacks, and quick answers to buyer messages.
Fix violations by severity
Address the highest Account Health Rating impact first, with an appeal where Amazon requires one.
Keep documents ready
Supplier invoices within 365 days, with contact details, for every product you sell.
Watch shipping metrics
For orders you ship: late shipments, cancellations, tracking and on-time delivery.
Collect what you are owed
Check reimbursements monthly; manual claim windows are as short as 60 days.
Earn reviews the approved way
Request a Review and Vine only; review manipulation is a violation.
How to tell whether account health is improving
Account health is a trend, not a single reading. Five numbers, checked each month, show which way it is going:
| Number | Where it is | What a change means |
|---|---|---|
| Account Health Rating | Account Health page | Whether violations are rising or being resolved |
| Open violations | Account Health page | Work still to do, by severity |
| Order defect rate | Customer service performance | Service problems reaching customers |
| Reimbursements received | Reimbursements report | Whether losses are being recovered |
| Review rating trend | Detail pages | Whether product problems are fixed |
To improve account health, work on the metric that is closest to its limit first. For the order defect rate, that usually means faster answers to buyers and fixing the product or listing behind negative feedback. For policy violations, it means addressing each one on the Account Health page, with an appeal where Amazon asks for one, starting with the highest impact on the rating.
To maintain it, build the checks into the week: customer complaints and messages daily, the dashboard at least weekly, and supplier documents filed as stock arrives rather than when a notification asks for them. Account health problems are much cheaper to prevent than to appeal.
A falling rating with no new violations usually means repeat violations of the same policy, which Amazon says cost more each time. A steady order defect rate with rising negative feedback points to a product or listing problem, not shipping.
Account health guides
When something goes wrong
- Amazon account suspended
Why accounts are deactivated, the Account Health Rating, and appeals.
- Amazon reimbursement
What Amazon owes FBA sellers, the windows, and how to claim.
Reviews and feedback
- Get Amazon reviews
Request a Review, Vine, and what Amazon prohibits.
Related
- Amazon FBM
Seller fulfilled performance targets in detail.
- Amazon dropshipping
The Drop Shipping Policy and its account health risks.
Sources first, then the example
- Rules come from Amazon. Every limit, requirement and prohibited term is taken from Seller Central help and linked, with the date it was last read.
- Examples are marked. Worked examples use illustrative products and say so. No client data appears in a guide.
- Dated, and revisited. Amazon changes listing rules and fees. Each guide shows when it was last verified, and fee and policy pages are reviewed at least once a year.
- Corrections are public. If a guide is found to be wrong, it is fixed and the change is noted at the bottom of the page.
Amazon account health FAQ
What is Amazon account health?
Amazon's measure of whether a seller follows its policies and serves customers well, shown on the Account Health page as customer service performance, policy compliance, shipping performance and the Account Health Rating.
What is a good Account Health Rating?
200 to 1,000 is Healthy. 100 to 199 is At Risk, and 99 or lower means the account is eligible for deactivation or already deactivated.
What score do new sellers start with?
Amazon says all new sellers start with an Account Health Rating of 200.
What counts as an order defect?
Negative seller feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim, or a service chargeback on an order. Amazon requires the order defect rate to stay under 1% over 60 days.
How fast must I respond to an A-to-z claim?
Amazon says you have 48 hours to respond to issues raised by the buyer, and 30 days to appeal a claim granted against you.
How do I appeal a suspension?
From the Account Health page, click Reactivate your account and follow the instructions; Amazon says to expect a reply within two days.
Does FBA protect my account health?
It moves shipping metrics to Amazon, since Amazon ships the orders. Policy compliance, product authenticity and reviews still count.
Can Amazon deactivate an account with a healthy rating?
Yes. Amazon says it may deactivate immediately if it suspects fraudulent, deceptive, illegal or harmful activity, regardless of the score.
How long do I have to claim FBA reimbursements?
60 days for fulfillment center claims, 60 to 120 days after a refund for customer returns, and 15 to 75 days for removals lost in transit.
Can asking for reviews hurt my account?
Only outside Amazon's approved routes. Request a Review and Vine are allowed; incentives, friends and family reviews and review clubs are prohibited.
Sources
- Account Health Rating, Seller Central helpLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Order Performance program policy, Seller Central helpLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Appeal an account deactivation or listing removal, Seller Central helpLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Account Health Dashboard intro series: customer service performance, Amazon Seller ForumsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- FBA inventory reimbursement policy, Seller Central helpLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Invoice requirements for appealing a policy violation, Seller Central helpLast verified September 24, 2026.