Why is My Amazon Listing Suppressed?

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Aug 16, 2022

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11 min read

Sellers are not permitted to utilize a "set it and forget it" approach on Amazon. Suppressed Listing  Source: freepik Do you know what "Suppressed Listing" on Amazon means? You may have heard the term before. If not, don't fret—you are not alone. Most sellers are unaware of this phrase in and of itself until they get a notification from Amazon saying that one of their listings has been removed. All Amazon listings must be continuously watched over, revised, and maintained. If Amazon determines that your listing is against its policies, it may suppress, cancel, or temporarily suspend your account while the problem is fixed. Keep track of any issues with your listing to avoid unpleasant surprises like Amazon Suppressions. Whether you are a first-time or seasoned Amazon Marketplace user, you know the challenges of creating a productive seller account, particularly if a few of your listings aren't truly listed. An Amazon listing that is suppressed is a frequent issue that many merchants encounter. This occurs when your product listing is insufficient, inadequately structured, doesn't adhere to marketplace standards, or lacks the information necessary by Amazon's policies. Because of suppressed listings, you could lose out on purchases without realizing it, costing you thousands of dollars in sales in only a few hours! Even though it's a simple problem to resolve, your sales goals could suffer significantly if you don't have Amazon Seller Software to alert you to such changes.

Contemplate it. What do you look for when you need to find a new product?

You probably visit the Amazon marketplace, type the most relevant search, and then click. From there, you have access to a huge number of products or items. Given that many product searches start on Amazon, companies have realized they must use it if they want to reach new markets, boost sales, and cultivate a following of devoted customers. However, many retailers neglect the necessity of routinely updating Amazon product pages. Setting up the platform and then ignoring it is not a good idea if you want to succeed. A tonne of preparation is required before a seller can list a product on Amazon, and there is still a tonne of work to be done once the listing is live. Because Amazon will eventually remove or deactivate listings whose details don't conform to the company's standards, it's imperative that you keep your Amazon storefront up-to-date at all times. If your listing is suppressed on Amazon, potential buyers won't be able to see it using the site's search bar. This implies missed sales as soon as the problem is discovered and for as long as it remains unresolved.

What Does it Mean When an Amazon Listing is Suppressed?

Amazon claims that a listing is suppressed when they believe it violates the marketplace guidelines. Your listing won't appear in the search results on Amazon in that situation. According to Amazon, listings with complete product information—including photos, category or item type, titles, and price per unit—and less than 80 characters for categories like apparel, shoes, and luggage and 130 characters for all other types—produce superior shopping experiences. Customers will have an easier time finding, evaluating, and purchasing goods. Listings from non-media sources that don't fit certain requirements will therefore be hidden or suppressed from search and browsing. A suppressed Amazon listing is not visible to customers, hidden from product searches, and completely inaccessible to the general public. Listings that do not adhere to Amazon's standards or policies are removed. As a result, even a listing for a popular item could be taken down for several reasons. A listing on Amazon can be confined but not removed. The restricted listings might be made available once the issues have been resolved. However, you will need to redesign the problematic product page or, in some situations, start over when creating a brand-new listing. In Seller Central, you can check whether any of your listings are hidden. Select Manage Inventory from the Inventory tab. If you see a link for suppressed listings at the top, clicking on it will reveal the items marked as inappropriate. You are clear and safe if you don't see this listing tool choice.

Why is My Amazon Listing Suppressed?

Amazon does remove items for various other reasons, including customer complaints, policy violations, inventory reviews, pricing difficulties, and inaccurate product information. It frequently happens that Amazon sellers are not contacted when their listings are taken down from the Amazon website. Hence, proactive measures by sellers to regularly check and monitor their listings are strongly advised. Amazon will remove a product listing if it disobeys one of its rules. On the other hand, some offenses happen more frequently than others. Pay particular attention to the following factors that might have caused your Amazon listing to be deleted:
  • The provided listing photos do not adhere to the specifications.
  • No predetermined categories for listed items.
  • Improper data is entered for the product.
  • There is a lack of detail in the product description.
  • There is already a listing with a similar title on Amazon.com.
  • The item itself is exclusive to Amazon.
You can correct most of these problems. However, selling illegal goods will result in the immediate removal of the listing. You should check your actions against Amazon's Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct to ensure you are honest. Image compliance is the most common reason for Amazon listings to be taken down. There are stringent guidelines dictating what is and isn't allowed in Amazon's picture requirements, which may grow quite comprehensive. Understandably, businesses will occasionally forget something, but it's ideal to do everything right first to avoid having to retake costly photo shoots.

What Can You Do to Avoid Having Your Amazon Listings Removed?

As you can see, quality control is a major concern in this situation. For obvious reasons, Amazon is particularly protective of its environment. If your product listings jeopardize the quality of that ecosystem, you face the danger of having your Amazon listing suppressed. Because a product doesn't fulfill Amazon's minimal standards for approval, listings are frequently suppressed for this reason. There are several potential causes, so let's look at the primary ones.

The Main Image is Missing

The bare minimum information is often available when you first establish a product listing to generate the ASIN. Therefore, leaving the primary image empty when starting an Amazon seller listing is the most common reason for a suppressed listing. For apparent reasons, Amazon won't permit a listing without a primary image to appear on the website. To resolve this problem, a placeholder image of your product is always an option; however, you can alter it later.

Object Does Not Meet Requirements

An unsatisfactory primary image is another frequent cause of Amazon blocked listings. Rules indicate that major pictures only feature the goods against a white background. You can also show the product's package and contents, but you shouldn't include any additional graphics or accessories that aren't necessary. Navigate to the managed images area of the Inventory menu and upload legitimate product images to resolve suppressed listings with this issue. It's best to attempt and abide by Amazon's guidelines to prevent suppressed listings, even when you may see competitors pushing the envelope with their primary graphics.

Too Long Title

Amazon has every right to be picky about the content retailers on its marketplace choose to publish. This means that character limits for areas like "product title" must be rigorously followed. You won't be able to save a listing with a lengthy title when generating a new ASIN through Amazon Seller Central. However, you may get Amazon suppressed listings if the title is too long when uploading products using inventory files. To reinstate entries with long titles that were suppressed, reduce the title length below the category requirement. Amazon updates its style guide frequently; however, these updates typically only contain 200–250 characters. This can be as few as 80 characters in some unusual categories, such as apparel.

Assigning a Promotional Title

Amazon forbids certain terms and phrases for vendors to use in their titles. You won't be allowed to use marketing buzzwords like "currently on sale" and "special launch offer" and not utilize inappropriate language. Additionally, employing evaluative terms like "best" and "top-rated" will typically result in listings being hidden on Amazon. Be sure to read the terms of service and ensure your language complies with what is permissible before fixing names containing forbidden words.

Multiple Entries

It's simple to make a mistake while utilizing the "Create a Product" link to add your goods to the online retailer's catalog as an Amazon seller and wind up with many listings for the same item. Most sellers utilize this URL instead of listing goods in the record because doing so takes time. Do not fall into the trap of assuming that going a small distance would not cost you anything. Amazon may suppress listings if they discover duplicate (or potentially duplicate) listings on your website while you investigate the situation. Most of the time, this is an error, and contacting Amazon will resolve the problem. You can remove one of the listings from the Manage Inventory page if you have produced multiple listings.

Missing Characteristics

Certain fields may be marked as empty when creating new listings or when Amazon updates its system. The most common solution for this is to add an input for the highlighted field, which is typically something tiny like unit count. Go to Inventory, choose Manage Inventory, and then select the Suppressed Listings menu at the top of the page to swiftly fix Amazon's suppressed listings with this problem. Direct editing of the fields is possible from that page. You may avoid repeating these errors by being proactive, providing a complete product description that covers all important product attributes, and filling in all required fields.

How to Check if Your Amazon Listings Have Been Removed?

Sellers frequently are unaware that Amazon has taken their products off of listings since the company doesn't alert them when it does so. In reality, Amazon's monitoring services aren't included if you are a seller on Amazon. As a result, Amazon sellers must keep a close eye on their product listings and frequently check to see if any of their items have been taken off the market. Even if the product is still in stock at your business, buyers will no longer be able to purchase it if Amazon removes the product listing from its site. Your responsibility as an Amazon seller is to stay abreast of any changes Amazon makes to its policies. It will be much simpler to keep your product listings from being suppressed by Amazon if you are familiar with all of the specific standards that Amazon has established for the listings. As an Amazon seller account holder, you have options beyond simply checking for suppressed product listings regularly. Given that you are operating a business on the eCommerce platform, you should think about investing in trustworthy Amazon seller software, which will not only discover your suppressed product pages for you but also save you time that you can devote to other crucial business duties and activities. With the use of Amazon seller software, you can easily find the listings that have been removed by going to the "Inventory" section of Amazon Seller Central and clicking "Manage Inventory." When you go to "Manage Inventory," you will get information about your existing hidden ads. You may identify product listings that have been suppressed on the platform by the presence of a "Suppressed" button in the primary menu bar. And if you don't currently have any suppressed product listings on your account, the suppressed button won't appear in the software's control panel.

What Role Can Amazon Suppressed Listings Play in Your Company's Success?

Following all guidelines is the only foolproof approach to prevent Amazon listing suppression. You can manage your Amazon product compliance from Seller Central to check for any missing documents if you have problems staying on top of what's permitted. Another great resource is the Amazon Listing Quality Dashboard, which shows at-risk listings and outlines what needs to be added before suppression is about to happen. You must adhere to the guidelines established by the eCommerce giant if you don't want to lose sales for any of your products because they are disregarded. If Amazon decides to conceal one of your listings, it will no longer appear in search results or be visible to customers. And you are well aware that if a product doesn't appear in the search results, it won't draw in the target market and generate no sales. Your online store's financial health and customer acquisition and retention capabilities will suffer if Amazon decides to remove listings from its database. If a customer in this market needs a product you don't offer, it will damage your brand and reduce your sales.

Never Miss Amazon Listing Error with Saffron Edge!

The process doesn't end after an Amazon listing is published. Listing suppression is one of the most frequent problems that might occur. Make sure you do everything you can to compensate for that lost ground once your suppressed Amazon listing has been restored. We have covered many strategies for improving your Amazon product listings, but remember that you don't have to implement them all at once. Start by considering your titles after your stellar product images. At that point, you can start coming up with your descriptions. Simply proceed incrementally. As with everything else in marketing, keep testing your adjustments so you can monitor their beneficial effects. Amazon goods sales are challenging. Sellers have a lot on their plates between marketing initiatives, logistics, and case management, especially when they manage their brand. It can be intimidating to factor in the ongoing Amazon product listing monitoring and battle against unlicensed sellers. Working with a reputable Amazon Wholesale Seller or Amazon Seller Consultant can help reduce the stress of marketing, logistics, and continuous maintenance and upkeep of your listings regarding selling on the site. Saffron Edge takes the work out of managing Amazon sellers so that brands can concentrate on developing profitable products and enterprises. Have a query or require more details regarding the offerings of Saffron Edge? Contact us right away to streamline and enhance your Amazon business.