Most new Amazon sellers don't open their Account Health dashboard until something turns red. By then, they're already typing "amazon account suspended" into Google at 11pm.
Here's the truth: Account Health is one of the few places Amazon actually shows you the score before you fail the test. Use it that way.
Where to Find It
In Seller Central, go to Performance → Account Health. You'll see a score at the top — your Account Health Rating (AHR) — and below it, three sections that feed into that score.
Your AHR is a number between 0 and 1,000. Amazon wants it above 200. If it drops below 100, your account is at risk of deactivation. Check it at least once a week.
The Three Sections That Matter
1. Customer Service Performance
This is the one that bites beginners most often. It tracks your Order Defect Rate (ODR) — the percentage of your orders that had a problem.
An order counts as "defective" if any of these happen:
- A buyer files an A-to-Z Guarantee claim
- A buyer leaves negative feedback (1–2 stars)
- A charge is disputed via credit card
Amazon's threshold: ODR must stay below 1%. That sounds easy — until you have 20 orders and one A-to-Z claim.
On a small account, even a single problematic order can spike your ODR. This is why new sellers need to respond to customer messages fast and resolve issues before they escalate to A-to-Z claims.
If a customer messages you with a problem, respond within 24 hours and offer a replacement or refund. One resolved issue costs you almost nothing. One A-to-Z claim that counts against your ODR can hurt your account for 60 days.
2. Shipping Performance
This section only applies if you're selling FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) — if Amazon is doing the shipping via FBA, Amazon handles this and it won't count against you.
For FBM sellers, watch these two numbers:
- Late Shipment Rate — must stay below 4%. This measures orders shipped after the expected ship date.
- Pre-Fulfillment Cancel Rate — must stay below 2.5%. This is when you cancel orders before shipping them, usually because you ran out of stock.
If you're FBA-only right now, you can mostly ignore this section. But if you ever add FBM listings, set shipping templates conservatively and never list something you can't ship on time.
3. Policy Compliance
This is the section most beginners completely overlook — until they get a notice. Policy Compliance tracks warnings Amazon sends you about:
- Listing violations (wrong category, restricted claims, unapproved keywords)
- Intellectual property (IP) complaints from brands
- Restricted product violations
- Review manipulation flags
Each violation has a "points" value that reduces your AHR score. Some violations expire after 180 days. Others are serious enough to trigger immediate deactivation.
The most common beginner trap: sourcing a product from Alibaba that turns out to be a counterfeit or uses a trademarked design — and getting hit with an IP complaint before they even realize there was an issue. Always verify what you're listing is yours to sell.
What "At Risk" Actually Means
Amazon color-codes your Account Health:
- Green (200+): Healthy. Keep doing what you're doing.
- Yellow (100–199): At Risk. You have open issues that need attention. Amazon may reach out.
- Red (below 100): Deactivation is imminent unless you resolve violations fast.
If you ever hit red, Amazon's Account Health Support team can be reached directly from the dashboard. Use it — they can sometimes hold a deactivation while you're actively working on a plan of action.
One Habit That Protects Your Account
Set a weekly reminder to open Account Health. Scroll through all three sections. Look for anything yellow or red and deal with it that week, not when it becomes a crisis.
Most sellers who get suspended didn't wake up one day to a random shutdown. They had warnings they ignored for weeks.
Your account is your business. The Account Health dashboard is the only place Amazon shows you exactly what they think of how you're running it. Read it like a report card — every single week.
Your action for today: Open Seller Central, go to Performance → Account Health, and take 5 minutes to read every metric. If everything's green, great. If not — you now know exactly what to fix.
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