You’ve long been selling on Amazon. Still, you get into trouble with your listing because of image-related issues.
After all, Amazon’s behind-the-scenes system is getting smarter by the day, and that’s the reason you have to deal with Amazon listing suppressed even more cautiously.
This ever-progressing eCommerce platform can now understand how pure the background of an image is. It can even capture how much text is across the canvas within your main image.
Carry on with this blog. You will learn how to unsuppress your uploaded images, which will get you ready to stay away from this problem further.
Why Amazon Listing Suppressed Happens?
Currently, AI has been actively participating in the audits of every online service, and your familiar Amazon Seller Central is also no exception to that. To beat this inspection, the things you need to pay close attention to are:
Did you miss adding any fields while creating the list?
Amazon asks for the size and material of your products to understand what category they belong to, and you get some specific fields to provide information accordingly.
If you miss any of these fields, that could leave your listing incomplete, which could cause it to get suppressed.
You need to be very careful upfront when setting up these categories, and you don’t want to mix up any two of them.
Problems surrounding the main image
Amazon has a very strict stance on the main image, going against which means suppression of your listing. In particular, you must be careful not to fall into any of the following restrictions:
- Background without white color
- Props and accessories, along with the main product, in a photo
- Watermarks, logos, promotional text, or any other graphics
- Unclear picture
Mismatch between the image and the actual product
Amazon takes the authenticity of products so seriously that it does not tolerate any deviation from it. You can make the product photo look as attractive as you want, but be careful not to overdo what the actual product has to offer.
Nowadays, you must have seen something like this in the case of AI-generated images, the picture is much more eye-popping than what the customer receives in delivery.
This makes them feel like they are not getting what they ordered, which results in product returns. And this experience has made Amazon as mature as it is now, as a result of which they ignore such images.
Product size to frame inconsistency
If the product takes up most of the space in the photo frame, it fails to assert that the product is the centerpiece of the photo. This negatively impacts the search results of eCommerce stores.
Especially on mobile versions, small products on small screens tend to escape the customer’s eyes. This is why you need to place the product in at least 85% of the frame. It cannot go below that at all.
Why do you think image editors place so much importance on this size consistency during optimization?
Wrong title or bullet points
When optimizing your title, you should avoid repeating the same keyword. It’s better if you make it descriptive with relevant words, but it must be within certain limits. This limit varies by category, for example, for clothing and accessories, stay within 80 characters.
You should remember that extensive promotional words in the title are a big warning sign of suppressed listing.
Amazon’s AI now understands even claims like ‘FDA approved’ and ‘Only 2 in stock’ so well that if it finds anything even remotely false in them, it puts them in the red zone right away.
How to Fix a Suppressed Amazon Listing Step by Step
First, go directly to your ‘seller account’ dashboard, where you will find ‘Inventory’ in the menu.
Then, under ‘Inventory’, you will need to choose ‘Manage All Inventory’, from where you will go to ‘Activate listings’.
Activate listings will reveal your suppressed listings to you. You can also do this through the ‘Listing Status’ filter.
Click on any suppressed listing and go to ‘Next’.
Now find the cells where you forgot to set the values and then fill them in or select them from the drop-down list.
Remove the images that have issues and then upload your edited images as per Amazon guidelines in their place.
Finally, click ‘Save’ to complete the listing submission and wait for Amazon to make it live again.
Frequently Asked Questions About Suppressed Listing on Amazon
1. Can I use AI-generated images for Amazon product listings?
Yes, you can, but you have to be very careful not to make them look artificial. If your product images are too flashy than the actual product, it will easily catch the eye of Amazon’s AI auditors. And the platform will cancel your listing for these photos that do not match reality.
2. Should I remove the suppressed main image?
It’s better if you finalize the previous photo with the necessary edits or create a new, valid photo. Then replace the previous one that had problems with the next image.
3. How long does it take for a suppressed Amazon listing to come back live?
If the new photos you uploaded are correct in all respects, Amazon will usually make the listing live again within a few minutes to a few hours. However, if this time frame exceeds 24 hours, you will need to open a seller support case.
4. Why is my product not showing up in Amazon search after listing it?
The main reason behind this is that the way you uploaded the main image of your product may have violated Amazon’s image rules. Search display is completely dependent on the original image, so you won’t see your product in search until you fix it.
5. Are search suppression and inactive status the same?
When it says ‘search suppressed’, it refers to the fact that Amazon won’t show it in search results. But if you share the URL link with someone, they will be able to see it. On the contrary, shoppers can’t see your inactive listings in Amazon search, even through links.
Takeaway: What to Check Before Uploading Images Right
You’ve edited your images and got them ready for upload, but wait a minute. Give them one last check so you don’t end up with an Amazon listing suppressed status again.
While doing this, you have to bring a very big yes to the following questions by all means:
- Is the background of the main image completely white?
- Is the entire image clearly visible?
- Is there no text, symbols, or related graphics on the main image?
- Does the main image only contain the main product?
- Is the picture exactly like the actual product?
- Does the product cover at least 85% of the entire frame?
- Have you already taken a look at how the images look on your mobile phone?
- Are the image’s aspect ratio, resolution, file size, and format in accordance with Amazon’s rules?
- Are the titles and descriptions highly relevant to the images and products?
- Does the information provided about the image clearly match its corresponding category?
Not only are you used to Amazon Seller Central, you’re even more so at it. So you don’t have to rush too much to fill in the missing fields in the product categories. Your worry is to run your photo assets through the checklist above, and with that big yes, of course.
This is the part where Retouching Zone comes in to shoulder all your burdens. They are the professionals who have carved out a unique niche for themselves in the Amazon photo editing industry.
Start with their free trial right now, give them a few of your product photos, and that’s it. They’ll take it from here and get back to you with something you wanted so much but never got.
