Amazon seller glossary

49 Amazon seller terms and acronyms, from ACoS to SP-API, explained in plain English.

A+ Content

A+ Content is the enhanced section of a detail page where brand owners add extra images, comparison charts and formatted text below the bullets. It’s available to brands in Brand Registry and is meant to help shoppers understand the product, which can improve conversion.

Account Health Rating

Account Health Rating is Amazon’s 0–1000 score for how well a seller follows its policies. As of September 2026, 200 or above shows as healthy, 100–199 as at risk and below 100 as the highest-risk band. A low score can lead to deactivation. You’ll find it under Performance > Account Health in Seller Central.
Read the guide →

ACoSAdvertising Cost of Sale

ACoS is ad spend divided by the sales those ads produced, shown as a percentage. For example, $30 of ad spend that brings in $100 of attributed sales is a 30% ACoS. Lower means ads are cheaper per dollar of sales, but it ignores the organic sales ads help create.
Read the guide →

Aged inventory surcharge

The aged inventory surcharge is an extra monthly FBA fee on units that have sat in Amazon’s warehouses too long. As of September 2026 it starts at 181 days of age and rises in steps the older the inventory gets, on top of normal storage fees. Check the current tiers in Seller Central Help before planning order sizes.
Read the guide →

ASINAmazon Standard Identification Number

An ASIN is the 10-character ID Amazon assigns to each product in its catalog, such as B0XXXXXXXX. Every seller offering the same product sells on the same ASIN, which is why other sellers can appear on your listing.

Auto campaignAutomatic targeting campaign

An auto campaign is a Sponsored Products campaign where Amazon chooses which searches and products to show your ad on, based on your listing. It’s a good way to discover new search terms, but it needs regular negative keywords to stop spend on irrelevant searches.
Read the guide →

Brand Analytics

Brand Analytics is a set of Seller Central reports for brand owners in Brand Registry. It shows data Amazon doesn’t show elsewhere, such as the most-searched terms, which products shoppers click and buy for those terms, and Search Query Performance for your own brand.

Brand RegistryAmazon Brand Registry

Brand Registry is Amazon’s program for brand owners with a registered or pending trademark. It gives you more control over your detail pages plus tools like A+ Content, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics, Vine and the Report a Violation tool for counterfeits.
Read the guide →

BSRBest Sellers Rank

Best Sellers Rank shows how an item’s recent sales compare with every other item in the same category, refreshed roughly hourly. Lower is better, and #1 is the top seller in that category right now. It reflects sales rather than causing them.
Read the guide →

Buy BoxFeatured Offer

The Buy Box is the Add to Cart and Buy Now area on a detail page, which Amazon calls the Featured Offer. When several sellers offer the same product, Amazon picks one offer to feature based on factors like price, delivery speed and seller performance, and most sales go to that offer.
Read the guide →

Coupon

An Amazon coupon is a clippable discount, either a percentage or a dollar amount off, shown as a badge in search results and on the detail page. The discount applies at checkout, and Amazon charges a fee for running coupons, so check the current fee in Seller Central before creating one.
Read the guide →

CPCCost per click

CPC is what you pay each time a shopper clicks your ad. On Amazon it’s set by an auction, so you often pay less than your maximum bid. Your average CPC equals total ad spend divided by clicks.

CTRClick-through rate

CTR is the share of ad or listing impressions that turn into clicks, calculated as clicks divided by impressions. For example, 1,000 impressions and 5 clicks is a 0.5% CTR. A low CTR usually points to the main image, price, title or review count.

CVRConversion rate (unit session percentage)

Conversion rate is the share of visits or clicks that turn into orders. In ads it’s orders divided by clicks. In Business Reports, Amazon’s version is unit session percentage, which is units ordered divided by sessions on your detail page.

FBAFulfillment by Amazon

FBA is Amazon’s program where you send inventory to Amazon’s warehouses and Amazon stores, picks, packs, ships and handles customer service and returns. Your offers get the Prime badge, and you pay fulfillment and storage fees.
Read the guide →

FBA capacity limits

FBA capacity limits cap how much inventory you can store and send to Amazon, measured by volume for each storage type. Amazon sets them from your sales, your IPI and its own warehouse space, and they can change monthly. Check them in the FBA inventory and capacity pages in Seller Central.
Read the guide →

FBMFulfilled by Merchant

FBM means you store and ship orders yourself or through your own warehouse or 3PL, instead of using FBA. You avoid FBA fees but handle shipping, returns and customer service, and your offer only shows Prime if you qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime.

FNSKUFulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit

An FNSKU is the barcode Amazon uses to identify your specific units in its warehouses. It usually starts with X0 and is printed on a label on each unit so your inventory isn’t mixed with other sellers’ units of the same product.
Read the guide →

Fulfillment feeFBA fulfillment fee

The FBA fulfillment fee is a per-unit fee Amazon charges to pick, pack and ship each FBA order. It depends on the product’s size tier and shipping weight and changes most years, so check the current rate card in Seller Central Help.
Read the guide →

Hijacker

A hijacker is a seller who lists on your product’s ASIN while selling counterfeits, knockoffs or a different item, often at a much lower price to win the Buy Box. A reseller offering your genuine new product isn’t a hijacker and generally can’t be removed.
Read the guide →

Inbound placement fee

The inbound placement fee is a per-unit FBA fee tied to how many Amazon locations your shipment goes to. As of September 2026, sending everything to fewer locations costs more, while accepting Amazon’s split across more locations lowers or removes the fee. You choose between options when you create a shipment in Send to Amazon.
Read the guide →

IPIInventory Performance Index

IPI is Amazon’s score for how efficiently you manage FBA inventory, based on things like sell-through, excess stock, stranded inventory and in-stock rate. Amazon uses it when setting capacity limits, and a score under the threshold shown in Seller Central can mean tighter limits.
Read the guide →

Lightning Deal

A Lightning Deal is a short, time-limited discount on a set number of units that appears on Amazon’s Deals page. Amazon charges a fee per deal and has minimum discount and eligibility rules, all of which change, so check Seller Central > Advertising > Deals before scheduling one.
Read the guide →

Manual campaignManual targeting campaign

A manual campaign is a Sponsored Products campaign where you choose the keywords or products to target and set a bid for each. It gives you more control than an auto campaign and is where proven search terms usually end up.
Read the guide →

Match types

Match types control how closely a shopper’s search must match your keyword. Broad match allows related searches, phrase match requires the phrase in order, and exact match requires the same search with only close variations like plurals.
Read the guide →

Negative keyword

A negative keyword tells Amazon not to show your ad for searches containing a word or phrase. Adding negatives for searches that spend without selling is one of the fastest ways to cut wasted ad spend.
Read the guide →

ODROrder Defect Rate

Order Defect Rate is the share of your orders that received negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or a credit card chargeback. Amazon expects it to stay under 1%, and going over can put your account at risk.

Prime Exclusive Discount

A Prime Exclusive Discount is a price cut only Prime members see, shown with a strikethrough price and savings badge. Amazon sets minimum discount and reference-price rules for it, so confirm the current requirements when you create one in Seller Central.
Read the guide →

Referral fee

The referral fee is Amazon’s commission on each sale, charged as a percentage of the total sale price. The percentage depends on the category, commonly around 15%, with a minimum fee per item. Check the current category table in Seller Central Help.
Read the guide →

ReimbursementFBA reimbursement

An FBA reimbursement is money or replacement inventory Amazon owes you when your units are lost or damaged in its warehouses, or when a customer refund isn’t matched by a returned item. Many are paid automatically, but some must be claimed within Amazon’s deadlines.
Read the guide →

Request a Review

Request a Review is the button on each order in Seller Central that sends the buyer Amazon’s standard email asking for a product review and seller feedback. As of September 2026 it works from 5 to 30 days after delivery, once per order, and can be automated through Amazon’s Solicitations API.
Read the guide →

Restock limits

Restock limits are caps on how many units of a product you can send to FBA at once. Amazon has used them alongside account-level capacity limits to keep warehouses from filling with slow stock. Check the current limits for each SKU in your FBA inventory pages before planning a shipment.
Read the guide →

ROASReturn on ad spend

ROAS is ad sales divided by ad spend. For example, $400 of sales from $100 of spend is a ROAS of 4. It’s the inverse of ACoS, so a 25% ACoS equals a ROAS of 4.
Read the guide →

Search Query Performance

Search Query Performance is a Brand Analytics dashboard that shows, for each search term shoppers used to find your brand, your share of impressions, clicks, add-to-carts and purchases compared with everyone else. It shows where you’re visible but losing the sale.

Search term report

The search term report lists the actual searches shoppers typed before clicking your Sponsored Products ads, with spend, clicks and orders for each. It’s the main tool for finding new keywords and negative keywords.
Read the guide →

Seller Fulfilled Prime

Seller Fulfilled Prime lets you show the Prime badge on orders you ship yourself, if you meet Amazon’s strict delivery-speed and performance standards. Amazon has paused and reopened enrollment over the years, so check Seller Central for current availability.

Send to Amazon

Send to Amazon is the Seller Central workflow for creating FBA shipments. You choose products and quantities, enter box contents, pick a placement option, print box labels and book the carrier.
Read the guide →

SKUStock Keeping Unit

A SKU is your own ID for a product you sell, which you choose when you create an offer. One ASIN can have different SKUs from different sellers, and you can use your SKUs to track variants and batches.

SP-APISelling Partner API

SP-API is Amazon’s official interface that lets approved software read and update a seller’s account data, such as orders, inventory, listings, reports and review requests. Sellers authorize each app through Amazon and can revoke access any time.

Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands are ads that show your brand logo, a custom headline and several products, or a video, often at the top of search results. They’re available to brands in Brand Registry and are paid per click.
Read the guide →

Sponsored Display

Sponsored Display ads target shoppers based on products they’ve viewed or interests, and can show on product pages, elsewhere on Amazon and off Amazon. For sellers they generally require Brand Registry.
Read the guide →

Sponsored Products

Sponsored Products are Amazon’s cost-per-click ads for individual products, shown in search results and on product pages. They’re the main ad type for most small brands and are available to sellers with a Buy Box–eligible offer.
Read the guide →

Storage feesFBA monthly storage fees

FBA storage fees are monthly charges for the space your inventory takes up in Amazon’s warehouses, based on cubic feet. Rates are higher in October–December than the rest of the year, and aged inventory can add extra surcharges.
Read the guide →

Stranded inventory

Stranded inventory is FBA stock sitting in Amazon’s warehouses with no active offer, so it can’t sell. It usually happens after a listing goes inactive or is suppressed, and it still incurs storage fees until you fix the listing or remove the units.
Read the guide →

Suppressed listing

A suppressed listing is hidden from Amazon search and browse because it breaks a listing requirement, such as a non-compliant main image, a restricted claim or a missing required attribute. Amazon names the issue in Manage All Inventory, and the listing returns once you fix it.
Read the guide →

TACoSTotal Advertising Cost of Sale

TACoS is ad spend divided by total sales, including organic sales, shown as a percentage. It tells you how much of your whole business ads are costing, and a falling TACoS usually means ads are helping organic sales grow.
Read the guide →

TransparencyAmazon Transparency program

Transparency is Amazon’s anti-counterfeit program where brand owners put a unique code on every unit they make. Amazon checks the code before shipping, so units without a valid code can be blocked. It requires Brand Registry and carries a per-code fee.
Read the guide →

UPC / GTINUniversal Product Code / Global Trade Item Number

A GTIN is a standard product barcode number, and a UPC is the 12-digit version common in the US. Amazon usually requires one to create a new product and checks it against the GS1 database, so buy UPCs from GS1 or apply for a GTIN exemption if you qualify.

VineAmazon Vine

Amazon Vine gives free units of your product to trusted reviewers who post honest reviews labeled as Vine reviews. As of September 2026 it’s open to Brand Registry sellers with FBA products that have fewer than 30 reviews, with a fee per parent ASIN based on units enrolled.
Read the guide →