An Amazon plan of action (POA) is the written appeal you send Amazon after a listing or your selling account is deactivated. It explains three things: the root cause of the problem, the actions you have already taken to fix it, and the steps you have put in place so it does not happen again. Amazon’s own deactivation notices ask for exactly those three, and Amazon staff in the Seller Forums describe the same three-step format. Get the structure right and your appeal is readable. Get the root cause right and it has a chance.
I’ve built this guide as a workflow: identify what was deactivated, find the real cause, write the three parts, submit in the right place, and follow up. A worked example sits in the middle.
Step 1: what exactly was deactivated?
The path splits here, so check before writing anything. When you skip this, you risk appealing the wrong thing.
- One listing (ASIN) was removed. Your account is fine. You appeal that ASIN, using the Appeal button next to it in Account Health. Common reasons: an intellectual property complaint, a safety concern, a restricted product, or an authenticity question.
- Your whole account was deactivated. Go to Performance > Account Health and use Reactivate your account at the top of the page. This is the higher-stakes case.
- A warning, not a deactivation. Fix the issue now. A short POA-style note with your fix can still help if the matter escalates.
If your account is new and was suspended at verification, the problem is usually identity documents, not performance; our guide to a newly created account suspended on Amazon covers that route.
Step 2: find the real root cause
Read Amazon’s notice twice. Then match it to one of these branches. I’d copy the exact wording into your draft so you answer what was asked.
Performance metrics. Amazon staff list the targets as: Order Defect Rate below 1%, Late Shipment Rate below 4%, Pre-fulfillment Cancel Rate below 2.5%, and Valid Tracking Rate above 95%. Account Health Rating bands run from Healthy (200 to 1,000) through At Risk (100 to 199), and below 100 an account is eligible for deactivation. Here the root cause is operational: a carrier, a stock system, a staffing gap. In practice, the numbers usually point straight at it.
Policy violations. IP complaints, inauthentic claims, restricted products, listing policy breaches. Here the root cause is a sourcing, listing or compliance gap, and Amazon usually wants documents: invoices, authorization letters, test reports. For IP cases, read our guide on fixing trademark infringement on Amazon first.
Amazon got it wrong. It happens. Amazon staff say sellers can appeal by providing evidence that the enforcement was incorrect, or that the business has changed its practices. If you believe the decision was a mistake, your POA becomes an evidence file, not a confession. Don’t invent a fault to fit the format.
My test for a real root cause: could someone outside your business read it and understand exactly what broke? “Shipping delays” fails. “Our 3PL missed handover cutoffs on 41 orders during a warehouse move” passes.
Step 3: write the three parts
Part 1: Root cause. One or two short paragraphs. Specific, factual, no excuses. Name the system or decision that failed. My advice: write this part last, once the fixes are clear.
Part 2: Actions taken. What you have already done, in the past tense. Refunds issued, listings corrected, inventory removed, a supplier dropped, documents obtained. Attach evidence where it supports the claim.
Part 3: Preventive steps. What changes for good. A new check, a new supplier standard, a new tool, a named person responsible. This is the part Amazon reads most carefully, in my view, because it tells them whether the problem comes back.
Amazon staff advice for the writing itself is plain: be clear and concise, keep it factual and direct, explain every issue raised, and avoid emotive language, vague terms and statements that contradict each other. Bullet points help. Long apologies don’t. I’d cut every sentence that doesn’t add a fact.
A worked example (illustrative)
This is a made-up case to show the format, not a template to copy. Amazon reads hundreds of copied POAs; yours should describe your business.
Root cause. Our Late Shipment Rate rose to 6.2% between March 3 and March 24 because our fulfillment partner moved warehouses and missed carrier pickup cutoffs on 58 orders. We did not monitor daily shipment confirmations during the move, so we caught the problem late.
Actions taken. We moved all orders to a second fulfillment partner on March 25. We contacted every affected buyer, and refunded shipping on orders that arrived late. We confirmed shipment for all open orders within 24 hours.
Preventive steps. We now review the late shipment report every morning. Our handling time is set to two business days to give a buffer. Any order not confirmed by 2 p.m. triggers an alert to our operations lead. We added a backup fulfillment partner with a signed agreement, so a single warehouse problem cannot stop shipping again.
Notice what it does: numbers, dates, named fixes, no blame on buyers or on Amazon. That’s the standard I’d hold any POA to.
Step 4: submit and follow up
- Where: the Appeal button for listings, or Reactivate your account for the account, both in Account Health.
- What Amazon may ask for: a questionnaire, an acknowledgment, a short quiz, or supporting documents.
- How long: Amazon staff say to expect a reply within about two days.
- The 17-day window: for some deactivations, Amazon staff say you have 17 days to appeal before the account becomes permanently deactivated, though you can still appeal after that. Don’t let the window run out while drafting. When you’re unsure, submit a solid version early rather than a perfect one late.
- Don’t open a new account while yours is under review. Amazon staff warn against it, and it creates a related-accounts problem on top of the first one.
If Amazon replies asking for more information, answer exactly what it asks. Resending the same POA with small changes rarely helps, in my view; I’d rewrite the part they questioned.
Writing a counterfeit POA (inauthentic item complaints)
Counterfeit and inauthentic complaints are the cases where a plan of action lives or dies on documents. Amazon’s Account Health Rating policy treats a rights owner’s valid infringement notice, or customer reports of counterfeit products, as a high severity violation. A product confirmed as counterfeit through a test buy is critical: your rating drops to zero and you get three days before deactivation.
To appeal, open Account Health and select submit appeal next to the violation. Amazon says each violation has its own appeal flow, and it typically asks for invoices or a letter of authorization.
The invoice rules Amazon publishes:
| Requirement | What Amazon asks for |
|---|---|
| Issuer | Your supplier, with name, phone number, address and website |
| Date | Issued within the 365 days before the notification |
| Quantity | Enough to cover your sales and in-stock inventory of each cited ASIN over the past 365 days |
| Product match | Product names, model numbers or UPC/EAN, plus variation details that match the listing |
| Format | PDF, JPG, PNG or GIF, up to 10 MB, uploaded in Seller Central |
| Edits | You may remove prices; any other edit is treated as a violation |
Amazon also lists what it won’t accept: sales quotes and pro forma invoices, self-issued invoices, editable files such as .xlsx or .docx, and invoices sent by email instead of through Seller Central. Amazon may contact your supplier to confirm the invoice is real.
A shop receipt isn’t a supplier invoice, and Amazon lists receipts from online or physical retailers among the documents it won’t accept as a letter of authorization. So if you bought stock at retail, be honest about it in the root cause rather than presenting the receipt as proof of a supply chain.
What goes in each part of a counterfeit POA:
- Root cause: usually the supply chain. Amazon’s own examples of root causes include unverifiable suppliers, inventory management issues and quality control issues.
- Actions taken: invoices uploaded, inventory checked or removed, any doubtful supplier dropped, listings corrected.
- Preventive steps: buy only from the brand or its authorized distributors, keep invoices for every unit, and check new suppliers before ordering. Amazon suggests checking business licenses, a physical presence and the supplier’s web presence.
Honestly, if the invoices don’t exist, no wording will save the appeal. I’d spend the time getting proper documents from the supplier, not polishing paragraphs.
Your rights in the EU, UK and under Amazon’s agreement
Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement lets Amazon end an account for convenience with 30 days’ notice, and suspend immediately in cases such as an Account Health Rating below its published threshold, with notice of the reason and any options to appeal. These notice rules date from July 2019, when Amazon changed its terms worldwide after an investigation by Germany’s competition authority.
In the EU, the Platform-to-Business Regulation (2019/1150) requires platforms to give a statement of reasons when they restrict or suspend a seller (Article 4(1)), 30 days’ notice before terminating an account (Article 4(2)), a chance to clarify the facts (Article 4(3)), and a free internal complaint system (Article 11). If you sell in the EU, ask for the specific facts behind the decision; the regulation entitles you to them.
Prevention: Account Health Assurance
Amazon’s Account Health Assurance program, launched in November 2022, protects eligible sellers from deactivation: as long as Amazon can reach you within 72 hours and you work with them to resolve the issue, your account will not be deactivated. To qualify, a Professional seller must keep an Account Health Rating of 250 or higher for at least six months (with no more than 10 days below 250) and have a valid emergency contact number on file. Honestly, this is the cheapest insurance on Amazon. Check your rating now, and don’t forget the emergency contact number.
Mistakes that get appeals denied
In my view, these are the mistakes that most often weaken an appeal. They are judgment, not Amazon rules:
- Generic templates with no specifics.
- Blaming buyers, carriers or Amazon. Even when partly true, it reads as a business that will not change.
- Admitting to things that did not happen to “sound cooperative”.
- Promising fixes without proof that they are already running.
- Sending many near-identical appeals instead of one strong one.
If the account is your livelihood and the case is complex (authenticity, related accounts, repeated denials), specialist help is often worth it. Our listing reinstatement service handles root-cause analysis and POA writing, and an Amazon account audit can catch problems before Amazon does. For the bigger picture, see our guides on an Amazon seller account suspended and Amazon seller account reinstatement.
FAQ
What is a POA (plan of action) on Amazon?
The appeal document a seller submits after a listing or account deactivation. It sets out the root cause, the actions already taken, and the steps that will prevent a repeat.
How long should an Amazon plan of action be?
Amazon has not published a length limit. Aim for clear and concise: usually a page, with bullet points, covering every issue Amazon raised.
Where do I submit a plan of action?
In Seller Central under Performance > Account Health. Use the Appeal button for a listing, or Reactivate your account for a deactivated account.
How long does Amazon take to respond to a POA?
Amazon staff say to expect a reply within about two days, though complex cases can take longer and may involve follow-up questions.
What do I need for an Amazon counterfeit POA?
Supplier invoices dated within the 365 days before the notice, covering your sales and stock of each cited ASIN, uploaded in Account Health. Then a root cause, the actions you took and how you’ll prevent it, usually centered on your supply chain.
What if my plan of action is rejected?
Read the reply closely, answer exactly what Amazon questioned, and strengthen the root cause or evidence. Rewriting the weak part works better than resubmitting the same document.
Can I still appeal after 17 days?
According to Amazon staff, yes. The 17-day mark is when a deactivation becomes permanent, but appeals remain possible afterward. Acting early is still better.
Last updated: October 15, 2026. Amazon guidance here comes from Seller Central help pages, official Amazon staff posts in the Seller Forums and Amazon’s published agreement. Policies change; check your Account Health page and notices. Sources: Amazon Seller Forums, staff guidance on POA format; Amazon Seller Forums, reactivating your account; Amazon Seller Forums, account health targets; Amazon Seller Forums, Account Health Assurance; Bundeskartellamt, Amazon terms changes (2019); EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2019/1150; Amazon, Anti-Counterfeiting policy; Amazon, invoice requirements for appeals; Amazon, letter of authorization requirements; Amazon, Account Health Rating FAQ; Amazon, appeal questionnaire guidance.
