An Amazon Plan of Action, or POA, is the written appeal you send Amazon to get a deactivated account or a removed listing back. It explains what went wrong, what you’ve already fixed and how you’ll stop it happening again. (If you searched “Amazon POA” and meant Power of Attorney, that’s a different legal document. This guide is about appeals.)
A good POA is short, factual and backed by documents. A bad one is long, emotional and vague, and Amazon rejects it. This guide walks through when Amazon asks for one, what Amazon says a good appeal contains, a fill-in template, the evidence to attach for each type of violation, and why appeals get rejected.
When Amazon Asks for a Plan of Action
Amazon says missing performance targets or breaking policy can lead to “temporary deactivation of your account, removal of listings, or limitations” on seller-fulfilled shipping. You’ll typically need a POA for:
- Account deactivation, from performance problems, policy violations or a related account
- Listing removals, such as intellectual property complaints, authenticity or safety concerns, and restricted products
- Critical violations, such as review manipulation, harming another seller or manipulating search rank. Amazon sets your Account Health Rating to 0 and gives you a three-day grace period to fix the issue before deactivation.
Performance problems are measured against published targets:
| Metric | Target | Measured over | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order Defect Rate | Under 1% | 60 days | All orders |
| Cancellation Rate | Under 2.5% | 7 days | Seller-fulfilled orders |
| Late Shipment Rate | Under 4% | 10 or 30 days | Seller-fulfilled orders |
Where to Submit Your Appeal
- Account deactivations: go to Account Health and choose Reactivate your account. Amazon may ask you to fill in a questionnaire, acknowledge the violation, complete a quiz or upload documents. If Amazon asks for more information, reply through View Appeal.
- Listing removals: check the Product Policy Compliance tab in Account Health, inactive listings in Manage Inventory, and Performance Notifications.
- Amazon says to expect a reply within two days.
Before you write anything, decide whether to appeal or dispute. In Amazon’s terms, you dispute when you believe Amazon made a mistake, and you appeal when the violation happened but wasn’t intentional.
What Amazon Says a Good Appeal Contains
Amazon’s own guidance boils down to four rules:
- Be clear and concise. Stick to facts, avoid emotional language, don’t introduce your business, and don’t refer to other support cases.
- Explain every issue. Identify the root causes and give specific actions, the dates you made changes and your documents.
- Provide evidence for every ASIN listed in the notification, within the required timeframe.
- Highlight the key parts of your documents, such as ASINs, the supplier name and relevant clauses.
Amazon staff have described the structure the same way on the Seller Forums: root cause, corrective actions and preventive measures, with dates. They also warn that vague or generic replies are unlikely to be accepted. Amazon does not require a specific template, so structure matters more than wording.
Amazon Plan of Action Template
This is a fill-in structure, not a finished example. Replace every bracket with your own facts, and delete anything that doesn’t apply. Copying someone else’s POA word for word is one of the fastest ways to get a generic-sounding appeal rejected.
Account: [store name] | Merchant token: [token] | Violation: [exact name from the notification] | ASINs: [list every ASIN in the notification]
Root cause
1. [What caused the issue, in one or two sentences, tied to the notification]
2. [A second cause, if there is one]
Corrective actions already taken
1. [Action] | completed [date] | evidence: [document name]
2. [Action] | completed [date] | evidence: [document name]
Preventive measures
1. [New process or control] | owner: [role] | started [date] | checked by: [how and how often]
2. [New process or control] | owner: [role] | started [date] | checked by: [how and how often]
Supporting documents
1. [File name]: [what it proves, and which part is highlighted]
[One factual closing sentence confirming the changes are in place. No emotional appeals.]
What Evidence to Attach, by Violation Type
- Authenticity or supply chain. Supplier invoices for a completed purchase, issued within 365 days before the notification, showing the supplier’s name, phone number, address and website. The quantities must cover 365 days of sales plus the inventory you hold, for each ASIN. Amazon accepts PDF, JPG, PNG or GIF files up to 10MB. You may remove prices. It rejects quotes, pro formas, self-issued invoices, editable files and invoices sent by email. Amazon may contact your supplier.
- Intellectual property complaints. If you have a license, ask the rights owner for a retraction. For trademark or counterfeit claims, provide an invoice or order ID. For a listing-content complaint, change the detail page and then appeal. A letter of authorization or license agreement counts; a forwarded email does not. Amazon terminates repeat infringers, so treat these seriously.
- Performance. Show the process change behind the metric, such as handling times, carrier setup or inventory accuracy. Since June 29, 2026, seller-fulfilled SKUs must have accurate handling times, so check those settings first.
- Related accounts. Appeal the account that caused the problem first, in each regional store. Then appeal each related account, citing the reinstated account’s name and reactivation date. Amazon says opening a new account to avoid a violation leads to automatic deactivation of your related accounts.
Why Plans of Action Get Rejected
- Vague or generic language that could fit any seller
- Root causes that don’t match the notification
- Missing evidence for some of the listed ASINs
- Invoices that don’t meet Amazon’s requirements
- Leaving out one of the issues Amazon raised
Before you submit, check each ASIN in the notification against your evidence list. If one is missing, the whole appeal can fail.
Account Health Rating, Assurance and Seller Challenge
Your Account Health Rating runs from 0 to 1,000. Accounts are healthy from 200 up, at risk from 100 to 199 and unhealthy at 99 or below. New sellers start at 200. Violations cost points, and repeat violations can double the hit. Amazon allows at most five infringement violations and two restricted-product violations in 180 days before it deactivates. An account deactivated because of its rating comes back once the score reaches 100.
Two programs help established sellers:
- Account Health Assurance. Professional sellers with a rating of 250 or higher for six months, and a verified emergency contact, can enroll. Amazon won’t deactivate an enrolled seller who works with it within 72 hours.
- Seller Challenge. For US sellers enrolled in Account Health Assurance, this lets you challenge listing-level enforcement after standard appeals. You get three challenges, and Amazon aims to decide within 48 hours.
Prevention beats any appeal. Our account management team monitors the rating and warning signals continuously, so issues get fixed before enforcement.
Plan of Action Questions, Answered
How Long Does Amazon Take to Review a Plan of Action?
Amazon says to expect a reply within two days. Seller Challenge decisions aim for 48 hours.
Should I Appeal or Dispute?
Dispute if Amazon made an error. Appeal if the violation happened but wasn’t intentional.
Which Invoices Does Amazon Accept?
Supplier-issued invoices for completed purchases, dated within 365 days, as a PDF or image. No quotes, pro formas or self-issued invoices.
What Happens After a Critical Violation?
Your Account Health Rating drops to 0 and you have a three-day grace period to fix the issue before deactivation.
Can I Open a New Account While Suspended?
No. Amazon says doing so leads to automatic deactivation of your related accounts.
If your account or a key listing is down, speed and accuracy matter more than word count. Our Brand Management team writes plans of action for Velocity clients, and we work with a partner attorney on intellectual property cases. See our Amazon account reinstatement service, or book a free Amazon audit to talk through your case.
Sources: Amazon Seller Central help, “Appeal an account deactivation or listing removal”, “Complete an appeal questionnaire to reinstate selling privileges”, invoice requirements, “Intellectual Property Policy”, “Order Performance policy”, “Account Health Rating”, “Account Health Assurance” and “Seller Challenge” FAQs (checked September 27, 2026); Amazon Seller Forums guidance from Amazon staff; Amazon announcement on related-account appeals (2026). Enforcement rules change, so check the notification and help pages in your own Seller Central.
