Amazon Plan of Action (POA): Template and Examples

An Amazon plan of action is a short, factual appeal that explains why a policy violation happened, what you have already fixed and what you have changed so it cannot happen again.

This guide gives you a template you can copy, worked examples for the five suspensions we see most, what the Account Health team actually checks, and what to do after you submit. It reflects how Seller Central works in October 2026.

What Is an Amazon Plan of Action?

A plan of action is the appeal you write when Amazon deactivates your selling account, removes a listing or restricts an offer for a policy or performance violation.

Amazon does not call it a POA everywhere. In Seller Central you will see "appeal", "reactivate your account" or "submit a plan", but the reviewer reads the same three things.

You need one when a performance notification says your account is deactivated or at risk, or when a listing shows under Product Policy Compliance on the Account Health page. Some issues only need a document upload or a checkbox acknowledgment. Anything that asks you to explain what happened needs a real plan.

The process is set out in Amazon's help page on how to appeal an account deactivation or listing removal. Read the notice first, because it names the policy, the ASINs and sometimes the exact documents required.

What Amazon's Account Health Team Expects

Amazon publishes its own guidance on completing an appeal, and it is more specific than most templates online. It asks for four things.

• Be clear and concise. Stick to the facts and events that caused the issue. Don't introduce your brand, don't reference other support cases and avoid emotive language.

• Explain all the issues. A deactivation is often several problems at once. Find the root causes, such as unverifiable suppliers, inventory management or quality control, and give specific actions with dates.

• Send evidence for everything. Cover every ASIN listed at the bottom of the notification, inside the timeframe it asks for. Some products need invoices from the last 365 days.

• Highlight what matters. Circle or highlight the ASIN, the supplier name or the relevant clause in each document.

In the accounts we have helped reinstate, rejections almost always trace back to the first two rules. Plans that were too long, too vague or too apologetic came back with a request for more information.

How Much Time You Have Depends on Your Account Health Rating

The Account Health Rating (AHR) is a score from 0 to 1,000. You lose points when Amazon detects a new violation and win them back when you resolve it.

A score of 200 or more is Healthy, 100 to 199 is At Risk, and 99 or lower means the account is eligible for deactivation or already deactivated. Fraudulent, deceptive or harmful activity can still bring immediate deactivation at any score.

Sellers who hold an AHR of 250 or more for six months, with no more than 10 days below it, and keep a verified emergency contact number, are enrolled in Account Health Assurance. Amazon then keeps the account active as long as you work with its team within 72 hours of being contacted.

Under Account Health Assurance you can also submit a plan for resolving the issue from the Account Health page instead of taking the call. The same three-part plan below is what that submission should contain.

How to Write an Amazon Plan of Action, Step by Step

1. Read the Notification Line by Line

Copy the notice into a document and mark the policy named, every ASIN or order ID, the date range and any document Amazon lists. Those are your checklist.

Then pull the data behind it. For a performance suspension that means the orders behind the metric. For an authenticity complaint it means every unit you bought and sold of that ASIN in the last year.

2. Find the Real Root Cause

The root cause is the process that broke, not the metric that flagged it. "Our late shipment rate was high" is a symptom; Amazon already knows that.

Keep asking why until you reach something you can change: a supplier you never vetted, a handling time that did not match your warehouse days, a listing a freelancer copied from a competitor.

Own it plainly. Blaming a carrier, a buyer or Amazon tells the reviewer the problem will come back, because you have not said what you will do differently.

3. List the Corrective Actions Already Taken

Corrective actions are what you have already done to fix the damage, written in the past tense with dates. They deal with the affected listings, inventory, orders and customers.

Removing the listing, opening a removal order, refunding affected buyers or correcting a detail page are typical. If a step is not done yet, it belongs in preventive measures or it should wait until it is done.

4. Commit to Preventive Measures

Preventive measures change the process that failed so the violation cannot repeat. Each one needs an owner, a frequency and something a reviewer could imagine checking.

"We will be more careful" is not a measure. "Our operations lead reviews the Account Health page every Monday and every new supplier is checked against the brand's authorized distributor list before we raise a purchase order" is.

5. Gather and Mark Up Your Evidence

Evidence carries most appeals, and invoices carry most authenticity appeals. Amazon's invoice requirements are strict: supplier contact details, a date within 365 days of the notice, quantities that cover your sales and stock, and clear product identifiers.

You may hide prices, but nothing else. Amazon's anti-counterfeiting policy treats edited or misleading documents as a violation in their own right.

6. Submit Through Account Health

Go to Account Health in Seller Central. For an account, click "Reactivate your account"; for a listing, open the issue under Product Policy Compliance.

Follow the form. Amazon may ask you to answer a questionnaire, acknowledge the violation, complete a short quiz or upload documents, and you should complete all of it in one submission.

Amazon Plan of Action Template

Copy this structure and fill every bracket with specifics. Keep the finished plan to roughly one page; the reviewer is checking facts, not reading a letter.

Opening

• Dear Seller Performance team,

• We are writing about the [deactivation of our account / removal of ASIN X] for [policy named in the notice], received on [date].

• We have investigated the issue, identified the root cause and taken the actions below.

Root cause

• [One to three bullets. Name the process that failed, who or what was involved and when it started.]

• [If several issues were cited, give each its own root cause.]

Corrective actions taken

• On [date], we [removed listing / opened removal order for X units / refunded Y buyers / corrected the detail page].

• On [date], we [action], which addresses [root cause 1].

• [Repeat for every ASIN or order named in the notice.]

Preventive measures

• [New process], owned by [role], checked [daily / weekly / per shipment].

• [Supplier, system or training change], in place since [date].

• [How you will monitor the metric or policy going forward.]

Supporting documents

• [Document 1: supplier invoices for ASINs X and Y, highlighted]

• [Document 2: letter of authorization / rights owner retraction / updated SOP]

Closing

• We take our responsibility as a seller seriously and ask that you reinstate our [account / listing].

• [Your name, role, store name, merchant token]

Two rules make this template work. Every claim in the plan has a date or a document, and every ASIN in the notice appears somewhere in it.

Amazon Plan of Action Examples

The structure never changes. What changes is the root cause you are likely to find and the proof that carries the appeal. Names, dates and figures in these examples are illustrative.

1. Counterfeit or Inauthentic Item Complaint

Inauthentic complaints usually start with buyers saying an item "seems fake" or with a test buy. The root cause is nearly always sourcing: a wholesaler you did not verify, or FBA stock that was commingled.

Root cause: "We purchased 400 units of ASIN B0XXXXXXX from [wholesaler] in March 2026 without confirming it was an authorized distributor of [brand]."

Corrective actions: "On [date] we closed all offers on the ASIN, created a removal order for the 212 units at Amazon fulfillment centers and stopped buying from this supplier. We attach invoices from [authorized distributor] covering 1,400 units, the volume we sold and stocked in the last 365 days."

Preventive measures: "Every supplier is now verified against the brand's published distributor list before a purchase order. We buy brand-restricted products only with a letter of authorization, and we have switched these SKUs to stickered inventory."

Amazon's anti-counterfeiting policy allows it to withhold payments and dispose of inauthentic units in its fulfillment centers at your expense. Amazon says it seized and disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products in 2025, according to its Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report, so expect these appeals to be read closely.

If you are a brand owner dealing with the other side of this, our guide to removing unauthorized Amazon sellers covers Brand Registry and test buys.

2. Intellectual Property Complaint

An IP complaint means a rights owner reported your listing for trademark, copyright, patent or design infringement. Amazon's intellectual property policy sets out what you can do, and the route depends on the complaint.

• The complaint is valid: remove or edit the listing, then write the POA around how the brand name, image or design got onto your page.

• You sell genuine goods: upload an invoice through Account Health showing the product is authentic.

• You have a license or agreement: ask the rights owner for a retraction. Amazon may reinstate the content when it receives one.

• You never listed the product: reply to the notification and say so.

Root cause: "Our listing for ASIN B0XXXXXXX used [brand]'s trademarked name in the title and bullet points to describe compatibility, and a contractor copied two images from the brand's listing."

Corrective actions: "On [date] we removed the brand name from the title and bullets, replaced both images with our own photography and contacted [rights owner], who sent the attached retraction."

Preventive measures: "All new listings are reviewed against a checklist of protected brand names before upload, and contractors may only use images we shot ourselves."

Repeat infringement is what ends accounts. Amazon says it terminates the accounts of repeat infringers "in appropriate circumstances", so the preventive section matters more here than anywhere.

3. Order Defect Rate or Late Shipment Rate

Performance suspensions are the easiest to fix because the numbers tell you where to look. Amazon's Order Performance policy sets the targets: Order Defect Rate under 1% over 60 days, pre-fulfillment Cancellation Rate under 2.5% and Late Shipment Rate under 4%.

Export the orders behind the metric and group them. Late shipments that cluster on weekends point to settings; defects that cluster on one SKU point to that product or its packaging.

Root cause: "Our handling time was set to one day, but our warehouse does not ship on Saturdays or Sundays. 61% of our late shipments in the 30-day window were weekend orders."

Corrective actions: "On June 3 we set handling time to two days, removed weekend operating days and contacted the 38 buyers with late orders. We also moved our five fastest-selling SKUs to FBA."

Preventive measures: "Our operations lead checks Late Shipment Rate and Order Defect Rate on the Account Health page every Monday and Thursday. Weekend Prime orders are covered by a Saturday shift from July 1."

For high-defect SKUs, damaged items are often a packaging problem. Our guide to Amazon packaging requirements and our comparison of FBA and FBM help when you decide how to fulfil them.

4. Related Accounts

Amazon's seller code of conduct allows one selling account per region unless there is a legitimate business need. If any of your accounts is not in good standing, Amazon may deactivate all of them.

Related-account suspensions start when Amazon links your account to a deactivated one through a shared person, address, device, bank account or IP. The link might be an old account of yours, a family member, a former partner or a virtual assistant who worked for both.

Root cause: "Our account was linked to [account name], a store previously operated by our co-founder. That account was deactivated in 2024 for [reason] and was never reinstated or closed."

Corrective actions: "Our co-founder has no remaining role in [account name]. We attach the dissolution documents for that business and confirmation that the account has been closed. The shared office address was changed on [date]."

Preventive measures: "No person, device, address or payment method is shared with any other selling account. Our VA agency now works for us exclusively under the attached contract."

The usual outcome is one of two. Either the other account gets reinstated, or you show convincingly that you no longer own or control it.

5. Section 3 Deactivation

"Section 3" refers to the Term and Termination section of the Business Solutions Agreement. It lets Amazon suspend immediately if your account was used for deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, or if your use of the services has harmed, or might harm, others.

These are the hardest appeals because Amazon often says little about what triggered them. Common causes are review manipulation, offering incentives for reviews, misleading listings, price gouging or a service provider doing something on your behalf.

Root cause: "We hired [agency] in January 2026 for 'launch services'. We have learned it offered free products to buyers in exchange for reviews on ASINs B0XXXXXXX and B0YYYYYYY, which breaks Amazon's review policy."

Corrective actions: "We terminated the agency on [date] and attach the termination letter. We have stopped every review program except Amazon Vine and asked Amazon to remove any reviews connected to the agency."

Preventive measures: "Every service provider now signs a compliance clause that bans review incentives, and our founder approves any marketing activity touching reviews. Our team completed training on Amazon's customer product reviews policy on [date]."

If you are rebuilding reviews after a Section 3 appeal, stay inside Amazon's own programs. Our guide on getting Amazon reviews lists the ones that are allowed.

What Changed for Appeals in 2025 and 2026

Three changes matter for anyone writing a plan of action this year. All three move enforcement from the whole account toward the single listing or offer.

• Seller Challenge (November 2025). Amazon announced Seller Challenge for Account Health Assurance members. After standard appeals are exhausted, you can ask for a deeper review of an eligible listing-level decision three times every 180 days, and Amazon aims to decide within 48 hours.

• FBM offer-level deactivation (August 31, 2026). Amazon now deactivates a single Fulfilled by Merchant offer that fails Cancellation Rate, Late Shipment Rate, Order Defect Rate or On-Time Delivery Rate, instead of putting the whole account at risk, as PPC Land reported from Amazon's announcement. A warning email comes first.

• More automated detection. Amazon's 2025 report describes AI systems that block infringing listings before brands report them. Expect more first decisions to be automated, which makes a precise, evidence-backed appeal more important, not less.

Seller Challenge covers listings only. An account-level deactivation still goes through the standard appeal on the Account Health page.

What to Do After You Submit Your Plan of Action

Amazon says to expect a reply to an account appeal within two days, by email and on the Account Health page. Don't send a second appeal while the first is open. It does not speed up the review and can muddy the record.

1. If You Are Reinstated

Deliver the preventive measures you promised, because the next reviewer may check. Then confirm every listing is active and buyable before you spend a dollar on ads.

2. If Amazon Asks for More Information

Click View Appeal on the Account Health page. Answer only what was asked, add the missing document and keep the rest of the plan consistent with what you sent.

3. If the Appeal Is Denied

Read the reply for the part Amazon did not accept. It is usually the root cause, so go one level deeper rather than rewording the same explanation.

For a listing-level decision, Account Health Assurance members can use Seller Challenge once standard appeals are used up. For an account, Account Health Support is reachable through "Call me now" on the Account Health page.

How a Suspension Hits Your Amazon Ads

A deactivated account takes your advertising down with it. Sponsored Products only serves for products that are eligible for the featured offer, and a deactivated account or removed listing has no buyable offer.

Campaigns usually stay "enabled" but stop delivering. Meanwhile competitors keep bidding on your branded keywords and your product pages, and your organic rank slides because sales have stopped.

Listing-level removals are sneakier. One ASIN goes inactive, its ads stop, and if it was a hero product the account's sales and TACOS move before anyone notices why.

While you wait on the appeal, do three things:

• Export your campaigns and search term data so you have your last known good bids, targets and negatives. Our search term report guide explains what to keep.

• Watch your brand terms. Share of voice tracking shows who took your placements, which tells you where to bid first when you return.

• Fix the listing. Use the time to check images, titles and product descriptions against policy, since a second removal right after reinstatement is the worst outcome.

How to Restart Campaigns After Reinstatement

Switching every campaign back on at old bids is the common mistake. Paid traffic lands on listings with no stock, no Buy Box or suppressed details, and the first week's spend is wasted.

We bring accounts back in three stages.

1. Days 1 to 3: check, then defend. Confirm stock, Buy Box and listing status for every advertised ASIN; our guide to winning the Buy Box covers the usual blockers. Restart brand defense campaigns first.

2. Days 4 to 10: rebuild the winners. Turn on exact-match targets that converted before, at the last known good bid. Compare conversion rate with your pre-suspension baseline before raising budgets.

3. Day 11 onward: scale. Reopen auto and broad discovery, Sponsored Brands and retargeting. Judge recovery on TACOS and organic rank, not on the first week's ACOS.

If conversion rate stays well below the old baseline, slow down and check reviews, price and stock before adding spend. A quick Amazon PPC audit after a long break also catches settings that drifted, such as placement modifiers or expired campaigns.

Mistakes We See in Plans of Action

• Writing a letter, not a plan. Long background on your brand, your family or your customers makes the reviewer hunt for the facts.

• A symptom as the root cause. "Our ODR was over 1%" restates the notice. Say what made it go over.

• Promises in the corrective actions. "We will" belongs in preventive measures. Corrective actions are done and dated.

• Missing ASINs. If the notice lists twelve ASINs and your evidence covers nine, expect a request for more information.

• Edited invoices. Hiding prices is allowed. Changing anything else can turn a listing issue into an account issue.

• Blaming Amazon or the buyer. Even when it feels unfair, the plan has to show what you control and what you changed.

• Restarting ads at full budget. Reinstatement is not recovery. Spend follows listing health, not the other way round.

Where Adbrew Fits

Adbrew can't write your plan of action, and no software should promise to. What it can do is keep a policy issue from turning into a wasted-spend problem.

Adbrew is an agentic retail media management platform for Amazon and Walmart. Its retail-aware automation pauses ads when an ASIN goes out of stock or loses the Buy Box, and resumes them when the listing is healthy again, so a removed listing stops spending on the day it happens.

After reinstatement, rulesets can run the staged restart above with your thresholds, and share of voice tracking shows hour by hour whether you are winning your brand terms back.

Get Back to Selling, Then Get Back to Growing

A plan of action is a short document that proves you understand what broke and have fixed it. Write it with facts, dates and evidence, and most accounts come back.

When yours does, the next job is getting sales and rank back without wasting the first month's ad spend. If you would like help planning that restart, book a demo with our team and we'll walk through your account with you.