The listing and the launch

A listing has three jobs, in order: be found, be understood, and be believed. Most beginner listings do the first badly, the second adequately, and the third not at all. The fix is not clever copywriting. It is answering the questions a buyer would ask if they could hold the product.

Being found

Customers arrive through search. That means your listing has to contain the words people actually type, in the fields that are indexed, without turning into a keyword soup that no human wants to read.

• The title carries the most weight and is read first. Brand, what the thing is, and the two or three attributes that distinguish it — size, quantity, material, compatibility. Not every keyword you own.
• Bullet points are where the buyer decides. Each one should answer a question rather than shout a feature: what it fits, how big it is, what is in the box, what it is made of.
• The search terms field exists so that you do not have to stuff synonyms into visible text. Put the alternates, misspellings and regional words there.
• Write for the person, not the algorithm. A title nobody can read loses the sale it won.

Images

Images sell the product and also determine whether the listing stays live. Amazon requires the main image to sit on a pure white background, with the product filling most of the frame and no added text, logos, watermarks, borders or props. The exact percentage of the frame, the pixel minimums for zoom and the accepted file formats are published in Seller Central's image requirements, and they are worth reading in full before a photoshoot rather than after one.

Beyond the main image, use the remaining slots deliberately: scale against something familiar, what is in the box, the detail that justifies the price, the product in use, and — if the category allows — a simple diagram of dimensions. Every question you answer in an image is a question that does not become a return.

The featured offer

The featured offer is what Amazon calls the prominent area at the top of a product page where a customer selects Add to Cart or Buy Now. Amazon lists four factors that determine which offer appears there: competitive pricing, at or below the lowest priced alternatives; fast, free shipping, where expedited free delivery is prioritised and both Amazon-fulfilled and seller-fulfilled offers can qualify; customer experience, meaning correct items, authentic products, accurate charges and condition descriptions that match; and inventory availability, because an out-of-stock offer cannot be featured.¹

Two things follow. On a shared listing, the featured offer rotates, and chasing it with price alone is a race that ends at your cost. And running out of stock does not just lose today's sales — it removes you from the position that generates them.

Reviews: the part with federal penalties

Early reviews matter, which is exactly why the temptation to manufacture them is strong and why the law now addresses it directly.

The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials took effect on 21 October 2024. It prohibits writing, creating or selling fake reviews and false testimonials; conditioning compensation on a review expressing a particular sentiment, whether on your own site or a third-party platform; insiders posting reviews without clear and conspicuous disclosure of the relationship; suppressing reviews through false accusations, intimidation or unfounded legal threats; and distributing fake indicators of social media influence. The rule authorises courts to impose civil penalties for knowing violations.²

The legitimate routes

• Amazon's own review request mechanism, which sends the standard request Amazon controls, with no editorialising from you.
• Amazon Vine, which Amazon describes as a programme to collect reviews before launch. It requires a Professional selling account, a Brand Representative or Reseller role in Brand Registry (or generic products), and eligible FBA offers. You can enrol a product for up to 30 reviews, with enrolment fees per parent product of free for up to 2 units, $75 for 3–10 units and $200 for 11–30 units. You are not billed until after the first review is published, and if no Vine review arrives within 90 days you are not charged. Vine Voices give their honest opinions, and those opinions can be negative.³
• A product that does what the listing promised. Unglamorous and more effective than either of the above.

Advertising, at the level you need on day one

Amazon's advertising for sellers starts with Sponsored Products: cost-per-click ads promoting individual listings, where you pay only when a shopper clicks. It requires a Professional selling account. Sponsored Brands and display ads, which use a logo, headline and image or video, additionally require a brand enrolled in Brand Registry, and Sponsored Brands can be bought on a cost-per-click or per-thousand-viewable-impressions basis. Adult, used or refurbished products and closed categories cannot be advertised.⁴

For a first launch, that means one thing: Sponsored Products, a small daily budget, on the products you actually want to sell. Advertising a listing that is not ready converts curiosity into a cost. Get the images, the bullets and the price right first, then buy traffic for something that works.

Mistakes at launch

• Keyword-stuffed titles. They win the click and lose the customer.
• A main image that breaks the rules. Text, logos and props on the main image get listings suppressed.
• Incentivising reviews in any form. Federal rule, Amazon policy, and the fastest way to lose both.
• Fighting for the featured offer on price alone. The other three factors are cheaper to improve.
• Advertising a listing that is not finished. Paid traffic to a weak page is a way to pay for proof that it is weak.
• Going out of stock during a launch. It costs the featured offer and the momentum.
• Leaving the search terms field empty. It is the one place where synonyms belong.

Next

Lesson 12 is what happens after the launch: the metrics that decide whether your account survives, returns and claims, reconciling payouts against your books, and the insurance Amazon requires once you cross a monthly sales threshold.