Key Takeaways
- Definition: Amazon seller feedback rates you as a seller, not your product: shipping, packaging, delivery and customer service, with one to five stars.
- The window: Buyers have 90 days from the order date. They can remove feedback but not edit it.
- The impact: Negative feedback counts as an order defect. Amazon requires an order defect rate below 1 percent over 60 days.
- Removal: Only in clearly defined cases, requested in Feedback Manager within 90 days of the feedback.
- Building it: One request per order, 5 to 30 days after delivery, plus clean fulfillment. Amazon prohibits paid feedback and feedback swaps.
Amazon seller feedback is the rating a buyer leaves about the seller after an order, not about the product. It consists of one to five stars and an optional comment, covers shipping, packaging, delivery and customer service, and appears as an average next to your seller name. Negative feedback feeds directly into your order defect rate, the metric Amazon uses to decide whether you can keep selling.
Three rules from Amazon's own documentation show why this belongs in daily operations: buyers can leave seller feedback up to 90 days after the order (source: Amazon customer service, amazon.de), Amazon requires an order defect rate below 1 percent over 60 days (source: Amazon guide to customer service performance, Seller Forums, April 6, 2023), and removal requests must be submitted within 90 days of the feedback (source: Amazon team post, European Seller Forums, June 12, 2026).
Seller feedback or product review: what is the difference?
Seller feedback rates the seller, a product review rates the item. They look similar but run in separate systems with their own rules, display and account impact.
| Seller feedback | Product review | |
|---|---|---|
| What is rated | The purchase experience with you as a seller | The product itself |
| Where it appears | As an average next to your seller name | On the product detail page |
| Counts toward the order defect rate | Yes, negative feedback is a defect | No |
A comment like "The product is smaller than expected" is a product review in the wrong place, and Amazon may remove it from seller feedback. How to build product reviews is covered in our post on building Amazon reviews, which reviews can be removed in the post on removing Amazon reviews.
How buyers leave seller feedback
Buyers rate you via Your Orders within 90 days of the order date. It can take up to three days after the order is completed or cancelled before the button appears.
- Only real buyers: Only customers who bought from you on Amazon can leave feedback.
- Focus on the purchase: Amazon asks buyers about packaging, shipping, on-time and correct delivery, customer service and whether they would buy again.
- Star-only ratings: Buyers can now leave seller feedback without a comment. Amazon announced this at the end of July 2025 (source: PPC Land, July 30, 2025).
- Remove, not edit: Buyers cannot edit feedback, only remove it, and cannot leave new feedback for that order afterwards.
Why seller feedback drives your order defect rate
Negative seller feedback is one of three defects in the order defect rate (ODR): the share of orders with at least one defect among all orders in a 60-day period. Amazon's policy is that the ODR stays below 1 percent for you to sell on Amazon.
An order counts as defective if it has:
- negative seller feedback,
- an A-to-z Guarantee claim that was not denied,
- a chargeback. You are responsible for service-related chargebacks, Amazon for payment fraud.
Two details matter: Amazon assigns negative feedback to the order date, not the feedback date, and the limit is a share, so with 400 orders in 60 days four defective orders already reach 1 percent. Amazon reports the ODR separately for Fulfillment by Amazon and seller-fulfilled orders. What a high ODR means for your account is covered in our post on Amazon account suspensions, the link to the featured offer in our post on the Buy Box.
When Amazon removes negative feedback
Amazon removes seller feedback only in defined cases: obscene or abusive language, personal data such as email addresses, full names or phone numbers, comments that are entirely a product review, promotional content, comments about price, and manipulated feedback. A comment that mixes a product review with criticism of your service stays.
Two cases are struck through instead of removed:
| Case | What Amazon does |
|---|---|
| Fulfillment by Amazon order, the entire comment is about delivery | Strikes it through with a note that Amazon fulfilled the order and takes responsibility |
| Seller-fulfilled order shipped on time with a Buy Shipping label, the comment is only about a late or missing delivery | Strikes it through with a note that the issues were not caused by the seller |
Star-only ratings are assessed automatically on submission and show no removal option in Feedback Manager. They are removed only if confirmed abusive or if the order was fulfilled by Amazon or shipped via Buy Shipping. For other abusive feedback, use Report a violation in Seller Central.
How to request removal in Feedback Manager
- Open Feedback Manager: Performance, then Feedback Manager in Seller Central.
- Find the order: locate the order ID in the Recent Feedback table.
- Request removal: select Request removal in the Actions column, within 90 days of the feedback.
Requests usually fail for three reasons: mixed comments, missed deadlines and harsh but legitimate criticism.
What to do when the feedback stays
Fix the cause first, then talk to the buyer. Amazon recommends identifying what caused the negative experience and working with the buyer via Feedback Manager or Buyer-Seller Messaging. A refund is part of solving the problem, never a trade for better feedback: Amazon prohibits feedback in exchange for financial compensation, and only the buyer decides whether to remove it. Recurring causes belong in your processes, from packaging to clearer product pages. Our post on reducing returns shows how to analyse return reasons.
How to get more positive seller feedback
Use the Request a Review button once per order, 5 to 30 days after delivery. Amazon sends its own email asking for a product review and seller feedback. The Selling Partner API offers the same request, limited to one such request or free-form proactive message per order. On top of that: ship on time with tracking, pack carefully, reply quickly and set the right expectations on the product page. Which fulfillment model fits your range is compared in our post on FBA vs. FBM.
Prohibited: feedback in exchange for financial compensation, feedback from people with a financial interest or close personal relationship, and positive feedback traded for positive feedback. In Germany, submitting or commissioning fake consumer reviews is also always unlawful under the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG, annex to section 3 (3), no. 23c).
Feedback tools: what they do and where the limit is
Tools automate review requests and monitor new feedback. Amazon provides a report with negative and neutral feedback (one to three stars) including comment and order ID. No tool may send more than one request per order or collect feedback in exchange for an incentive.
When support makes sense
Support makes sense when negative feedback arrives faster than you can handle it or your ODR approaches 1 percent. For us, account health is part of ongoing management alongside strategy, advertising and content, on Amazon in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. See how that works as an Amazon marketplace agency or in full-service management. We work with fixed fees and no percentage of ad spend.
Sources
- Amazon customer service: Comments, feedback and ratings about sellers
- Amazon customer service: Leave seller feedback
- Amazon customer service: Remove seller feedback
- Amazon team, European Seller Forums: Feedback removal requests (June 12, 2026)
- Amazon guide to customer service performance, Seller Forums (April 6, 2023)
- Amazon Seller Central Help: Order defect rate
- Amazon team, Seller Forums: Request a Review (January 6, 2023)
- Amazon Selling Partner API: Performance reports
- Amazon Selling Partner API: Product review and seller feedback solicitation
- PPC Land: Amazon introduces star-only seller feedback system (July 30, 2025)
- German Act against Unfair Competition (UWG), annex to section 3 (3)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between seller feedback and a product review on Amazon?
Seller feedback rates the seller: shipping, packaging, punctuality and customer service, with one to five stars and an optional comment. A product review rates the item and appears on the product page. According to Amazon, comments that only review the product do not belong in seller feedback and are removed.
How long can a buyer leave seller feedback on Amazon?
Buyers have 90 days from the order date. It can take up to three days after an order is completed or cancelled before the feedback button appears in Your Orders. Submitted feedback cannot be edited, only removed, and after removal the buyer cannot leave new feedback for that order.
When does Amazon remove negative seller feedback?
Amazon removes feedback with obscene language, with personal data such as email addresses, full names or phone numbers, and comments that are entirely a product review. If a comment on an FBA order is only about delivery, Amazon strikes it through and takes responsibility. You request removal in Feedback Manager within 90 days of the feedback.
How does negative feedback affect the order defect rate?
Every order with negative feedback counts as a defect, as do orders with an A-to-z Guarantee claim that was not denied or a chargeback. Amazon requires an order defect rate below 1 percent over 60 days. The order date counts, not the feedback date. With 400 orders in the period, four defective orders already reach the limit.
How do I get more seller feedback on Amazon?
Use the Request a Review button for every order: Amazon then sends its own email asking for a product review and seller feedback, once per order, 5 to 30 days after delivery. Add on-time shipping, careful packaging and fast replies. Amazon explicitly prohibits feedback in exchange for financial compensation.