Merch by Amazon Character Limits and Formatting Rules

What Are the MBA Character Limits?

Every Merch by Amazon listing has strict character limits enforced at submission. Exceeding them means your listing gets rejected — no exceptions.

Field	Maximum Characters	Recommended Length
Title	200	60–80 (for search visibility)
Brand	50	Keep it short and memorable
Feature Bullet 1	256	150–200 (scannable)
Feature Bullet 2	256	150–200 (scannable)
Description	2000	500–1000 (detailed but focused)

Key takeaway: The technical maximums are 200/50/256/2000. Many sellers report a “60-character title limit” — this likely refers to the visible portion in Amazon search results, not the enforced maximum.

Prohibited Characters

Amazon rejects listings containing certain special characters. Avoid these in all fields:

Character	Name	Why It’s Blocked
< >	Angle brackets	HTML injection risk
{ }	Curly braces	Template syntax
|	Pipe	Data delimiter
~	Tilde	Reserved character
^	Caret	Reserved character
\\	Backslash	Escape character

Stick to standard alphanumeric characters, basic punctuation (commas, periods, hyphens, apostrophes), and common symbols like & and %.

Formatting Best Practices by Field

Title

• Do: Front-load with primary keywords, describe the design clearly
• Do: Use natural language that reads well to humans
• Don’t: Stuff keywords separated by commas
• Don’t: Use ALL CAPS (Amazon may reject or suppress)
• Don’t: Include promotional language (“Best Seller”, “Top Rated”)

Brand

• Do: Use a consistent brand name across your catalog
• Don’t: Use trademarked terms you don’t own
• Don’t: Include generic descriptors (“Cool Shirts Brand”)

Feature Bullets

• Do: Highlight key selling points (audience, occasion, use case)
• Do: Use both bullets — empty bullets waste ranking potential
• Don’t: Repeat the title word-for-word
• Don’t: Include pricing, shipping, or promotional claims

Description

• Do: Expand on the design’s appeal, materials, and fit information
• Do: Include relevant keywords naturally
• Don’t: Use HTML tags (Amazon strips them)
• Don’t: Include external URLs or contact information

Common Mistakes That Cause Rejections

1. Exceeding character limits — Even by one character. Always count before submitting.
2. Using prohibited characters — Copy-pasted text from word processors often contains hidden characters like smart quotes or em dashes.
3. ALL CAPS titles — Amazon’s content policy discourages excessive capitalization.
4. Keyword stuffing — Comma-separated keyword lists instead of natural phrases.
5. Promotional claims — Words like “best,” “guaranteed,” or “#1” in any field.

Optimal vs. Maximum: How Long Should Your Listings Be?

Field	Maximum	Sweet Spot	Why
Title	200	60–80	Visible in search results without truncation
Brand	50	15–30	Memorable and distinct
Bullets	256 each	150–200 each	Detailed enough to sell, short enough to scan
Description	2000	500–1000	Covers key points without losing the reader

Longer isn’t always better. Amazon shoppers scan — they don’t read paragraphs. Front-load the most important information in every field.

FAQ

Does the 60-character title limit exist?

The 60-character figure is widely cited in the MBA seller community, but the enforced maximum is 200 characters. The 60-character convention likely refers to the visible portion in Amazon search results. Titles longer than ~60 characters get truncated in search, so front-loading keywords in the first 60 characters is smart — but you can use the full 200.

Do character limits include spaces?

Yes. Character limits include all characters: letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation. A space counts as one character.

Are the limits the same for all product types?

Character limits apply to all Merch by Amazon product types (t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, etc.). The fields and limits are consistent across the catalog.

What tool can check my character counts automatically?

MerchMuse checks character limits automatically during listing generation. It flags any field that exceeds the 200/50/256/2000 limits before you submit to Amazon.