How to Avoid Merch by Amazon Rejections: 10 Common Mistakes

Why Do Merch by Amazon Listings Get Rejected?

Amazon reviews every listing submission against its content policies. Most sellers assume rejections are about design quality, but the vast majority stem from policy violations in metadata — your title, brand, bullets, and description.

Repeated rejections can slow your tier progression and, in severe cases, lead to account termination. Understanding what triggers rejections is the fastest way to protect your account.

Key takeaway: Fix your metadata compliance first. Design quality matters for sales, but policy violations are what cause rejections.

10 Common Mistakes That Get Listings Rejected

1. Using Trademarked Phrases You Don’t Own

What it is: Including brand names, slogans, or catchphrases that belong to someone else in your title, bullets, or design.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy prohibits using trademarks without authorization. Rights holders actively file takedown requests, and Amazon’s automated systems flag known trademarks.

How to fix it:

• Search USPTO TESS before using any phrase you’re unsure about
• Avoid pop culture references, sports team names, celebrity names, and viral catchphrases
• When in doubt, leave it out — a rejected listing is worse than a less catchy one

2. Prohibited Content in Designs or Text

What it is: Designs or listing text containing violence, hate speech, sexually explicit content, or content promoting illegal activities.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon’s Content Policy explicitly bans offensive and harmful content across all product categories.

How to fix it:

• Review Amazon’s Content Policy before designing
• Consider how your design could be interpreted out of context
• Avoid humor that relies on shock value or edgy references

3. Misleading Claims and Superlatives

What it is: Using phrases like “best quality,” “#1 seller,” “guaranteed to last,” or “premium material” in your listing text.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon prohibits unverifiable claims and superlatives. You cannot guarantee product attributes you don’t control (Amazon handles printing and fulfillment).

How to fix it:

• Remove superlatives: “best,” “greatest,” “#1,” “top-rated”
• Avoid guarantees about print quality, durability, or materials
• Focus on describing the design, audience, and occasion instead

4. Exceeding Character Limits

What it is: Submitting a title over 200 characters, brand over 50, bullet over 256, or description over 2000.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon enforces hard character limits on every field. Even one character over the limit triggers an automatic rejection.

How to fix it:

• Know the limits: 200 (title) / 50 (brand) / 256 (bullets) / 2000 (description)
• Count characters before submitting — including spaces
• See our complete character limits reference for recommended lengths

5. Keyword Stuffing

What it is: Cramming comma-separated keywords into your title or bullets instead of writing natural sentences.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon’s content policy requires “readable, natural language” in listing text. Keyword lists are flagged as manipulative.

How to fix it:

• Write titles that read like product names, not search queries
• Weave keywords into natural sentences in your bullets and description
• One well-written listing outperforms a keyword-stuffed one in search anyway

6. Using Prohibited Special Characters

What it is: Including characters like <>, {}, |, ~, ^, or \ in any listing field.

Why it gets rejected: These characters are reserved for system use and get flagged automatically.

How to fix it:

• Stick to standard letters, numbers, and basic punctuation (commas, periods, hyphens, apostrophes)
• Watch for hidden characters when copy-pasting from word processors — smart quotes and em dashes can cause issues
• See the prohibited characters table for the full list

7. Promotional Language

What it is: Including pricing information, shipping details, “limited time,” “sale,” “discount,” or “free shipping” in your listing.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon prohibits promotional language in product metadata. Pricing and shipping are handled by Amazon, not the seller.

How to fix it:

• Remove any mention of price, discounts, sales, or shipping
• Don’t reference Amazon-specific features (“Prime eligible,” “Free returns”)
• Focus your text on the product itself, not the transaction

8. Low-Resolution or Improperly Formatted Images

What it is: Uploading designs with resolution below Amazon’s requirements or outside the safe zone.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon has minimum resolution requirements and a printable area (safe zone) for each product type. Content outside the safe zone gets cut off or causes print issues.

How to fix it:

• Use the correct template dimensions for each product type
• Keep critical design elements within the safe zone
• Export at the resolution specified in Amazon’s upload guidelines (typically 300 DPI)
• Avoid upscaling low-resolution images

9. Copying Existing Amazon Listings

What it is: Duplicating or closely paraphrasing listing text from other sellers’ products.

Why it gets rejected: Amazon flags duplicate content across listings. Even if the original listing isn’t trademarked, copied text can trigger rejection.

How to fix it:

• Write original listing text for every design
• Use competitor listings for inspiration on structure, not wording
• Tools like MerchMuse’s listing generator create unique text from your actual design image

10. Using a Trademarked Brand Name

What it is: Setting your brand name to a term that’s already trademarked by another entity.

Why it gets rejected: The brand field is checked against known trademarks. Using a registered brand name you don’t own is treated as IP infringement.

How to fix it:

• Search USPTO TESS for your intended brand name before using it
• Choose unique, invented brand names rather than common phrases
• Keep a consistent brand name across your catalog

Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submitting any listing, verify each item:

• Title is under 200 characters and reads naturally
• Brand is under 50 characters and not trademarked by someone else
• Both bullets are under 256 characters each
• Description is under 2000 characters
• No trademarked phrases in text or design (search USPTO if unsure)
• No prohibited special characters
• No superlatives, guarantees, or promotional language
• No pricing or shipping references
• Design meets resolution and safe zone requirements
• All listing text is original

For a more detailed version of this checklist organized by category, see the MBA compliance checklist.

Key takeaway: Most rejections are preventable. Run through this checklist before every submission, and use MerchMuse’s compliance checker to automatically scan for banned phrases, character limits, and formatting issues.

FAQ

How many rejections before Amazon terminates my account?

Amazon does not publish a specific number. However, repeated rejections — especially for IP violations — escalate quickly. A pattern of trademark infringements can lead to account suspension even after a small number of rejections. Content policy violations (formatting, character limits) are less severe individually but still count against you.

Can I resubmit a rejected listing after fixing the issue?

Yes. You can edit the listing and resubmit it. Make sure you address the specific reason for rejection before resubmitting. If the rejection was for an IP claim filed by a rights holder, do not resubmit the same or a similar design — that could trigger an account review.

Does MerchMuse catch all of these issues?

MerchMuse scans for banned phrases, character limits, and policy violations — helping reduce rejection risk for content-related issues. However, trademark searches require checking USPTO TESS yourself, and image resolution depends on your source files. MerchMuse helps reduce rejection risk but does not cover everything Amazon reviews.

What is the difference between a rejection and a takedown?

A rejection happens during submission review — your listing never goes live. A takedown happens after a listing is already published, usually because a rights holder filed an IP complaint. Takedowns are more serious than rejections and carry heavier weight toward account suspension.