Amazon badges: which ones you can apply for, and which ones you have to earn

An Amazon badge is a small label that appears on a product in search results or on its detail page. It gives the shopper a quick reason to trust or choose the product: it is the top seller in its category, Amazon recommends it for a search, it arrives fast with Prime, or it comes from a small business or meets a sustainability standard.

Amazon badges fall into two groups. Performance badges, such as Best Seller, New Release and Amazon's Choice, are assigned automatically and can come and go as sales and ratings change. Program badges, such as the Prime badge, Small Business and Climate Pledge Friendly, come from joining a program or holding a certification.

One naming clash to clear up: shoppers also earn badges on their Amazon profiles for reviews and contributions. Those customer profile badges are a different system from the product badges sellers care about.

The orange Best Seller badge is awarded from Best Sellers Rank. Amazon's Sales Rank FAQ says best seller badges go to ASINs featured as #1 in a featured category with at least 100 products, and that there are also ordering thresholds, which differ by store. Because it follows sales rank, the badge can move between products as sales change.

Two details catch sellers out. The badge is category level, so a product can be #1 in a narrow subcategory while ranking lower in its department. And Amazon says it does not show Best Seller badges in stores where child ASIN orders are assigned to the parent and a sales rank is generated for the parent.

Amazon's customer FAQ describes Amazon's Choice products as highly rated, well priced and available to ship immediately, and says they are, on average, delivered faster and returned less often than alternatives. It considers what customers say matters most: ratings, price, popularity, product availability and fast delivery. As preferences change, so do the products highlighted.

Amazon is explicit that brands and selling partners cannot pay to have products highlighted as Amazon's Choice, or apply to have them considered. Products sold by third party sellers can receive it. Because it is tied to searches, a product can carry the badge for one search term and not another.

Amazon's Sales Rank FAQ says new release badges go to ASINs that are the #1 best seller among the new releases in a category, and that the definition of new release varies from category to category. Amazon's Seller Forums guide to badges adds that the badge is earned within the first 90 days of a listing, and that the recipient updates hourly.

The practical rule from Amazon is to make sure release dates, publication dates and product site launch dates are accurate, since they decide whether a product counts as new. The window also makes a launch plan matter: traffic from ads and a complete listing in the first weeks is what a new product needs to reach #1 among new releases.

The Prime badge tells shoppers a product is eligible for fast, free shipping through Prime. There are two ways to get it. Products fulfilled by Amazon through FBA carry it once the inventory is received. Products you ship yourself can carry it through Seller Fulfilled Prime, after prequalifying on performance and passing a 30 day trial.

Amazon's Seller Fulfilled Prime page says the Prime badge helps increase your likelihood of becoming the Featured Offer, which is why it is often the badge with the most direct effect on sales.

The Small Business badge shows shoppers that a product comes from a small business, and Amazon says small businesses can also be included in special events and promotions. In the US, Amazon follows Gartner's definition: fewer than 100 employees and less than $50 million in annual revenue. The brand must be headquartered in the US, and participation is free.

One badge works the other way round: the Available at Amazon badge is for your own website, ads and packaging, to tell people your product can be bought on Amazon. Amazon's guide says sellers can use it if they follow Amazon's trademark usage guidelines, which our guide to Amazon brand guidelines walks through.

The performance badges cannot be requested, but the things Amazon says it weighs can be improved. They overlap heavily: sales drive Best Seller and New Release, and ratings, price, availability and delivery speed drive Amazon's Choice. Work on the inputs, and the badges follow or not.