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Amazon's review and insert card rules: the official wording

Sources last verified 1 August 2026 · every quotation below is taken from a document Amazon hosts itself; anything we could not obtain is labelled as such

The entire value of this page is that it is checkable. Every line below is Amazon's own wording, with a clause number or page number and a direct link — you do not have to take our summary on trust, you can open the document and read it.

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One trap, before you start checking. Amazon's PDFs use curly quotation marks “ ”, while quotation marks on a web page are usually converted to straight ones ' ". Paste a quoted fragment into the PDF's search box and you will find nothing — not because the quotation is wrong, but because the characters differ. When you search, pick a stretch of text containing no quotation marks at all, such as in the product package, promising that the customer. That hits on the first try.

The most important thing first: there is no such thing as an Amazon insert card policy.

Amazon has never published a standalone product insert policy document. Inserts are regulated because the review policy explicitly extends its scope to what is inside the package. So the rules are spread across three documents and you have to assemble them yourself — which is exactly why the top search results for this question are sellers arguing with each other in forums.

"Note: You must comply with these guidelines in all your communications with customers, including shipping box and package inserts, and off-Amazon communications."

— Understanding Amazon Policies on Customer Product Reviews, p9

1. Where the three documents are

The authoritative versions are the Seller Central help pages (sign-in required). Amazon also publishes PDF versions that open without an account. When citing these, it is worth giving both links.

Customer Product Reviews Policies — Seller Central help page (sign-in required; this is the authoritative version) · open PDF, full text (9 pages)
Seller Code of Conduct — Seller Central help page (sign-in required) · open PDF overview (8 pages)
Communication Guidelines — open PDF, full text (3 pages), no sign-in needed. It governs buyer-seller messaging, but it sets the tone Amazon expects elsewhere too.

A cautionary example worth remembering. While assembling this page, a search engine summary condensed the Communication Guidelines into "A repeat request per order for a product review or seller feedback is permitted" — whereas the actual document lists it among the prohibited message types (see section 3). Second-hand sources are not trustworthy on this subject. Go back to the original.

2. Inserts specifically: the four things Amazon names

These four are the only official statements whose subject is directly an insert, a package card, or a QR code inside the packaging.

1. A card that asks for a positive review, or trades a benefit for one

"A seller inserts a request for a positive Amazon review or an incentive in exchange for a review into product packaging or a shipping box."

— listed under "Violations to Customer Reviews policies", reviews policy document p6

Note that the subject is the act itself: the card is already a violation even if not one review ever comes in.

2. A "thank you card" promising a gift or cash for a positive review

"Seller B includes a “thank you card” in the product package, promising that the customer will receive a free gift or cash if they provide a positive review."

— violation example, Seller Code of Conduct §1.2.4. Note that the public Overview PDF does not carry that section number; the text sits among the violation examples in the section on not harming or abusing other sellers, and the full numbering is on the sign-in-only help page

3. A card steering the buyer to a third-party site (cashback / lower price)

"Seller A provides a card in the product package informing the customer that they can get cashback or a lower price by placing an order through a third-party website."

— violation example, Seller Code of Conduct §1.2.7

4. A third-party purchase QR code on packaging or in an image

"Seller B provides a QR code for a third party's purchase address in the product image."

— violation example, Seller Code of Conduct §1.2.7

The accurate statement about QR codes. What Amazon names is a QR code pointing to a third party's purchase address. That is not a blanket ban on every QR code. But the general rule in §1.2.7 is written more broadly:

"You may not attempt to circumvent the Amazon sales process or get Amazon customers to go to other websites. This means that you may not provide links or messages that prompt users to visit any external website or complete a transaction elsewhere."

A QR code pointing at your own warranty registration page or manual sits in a grey area — it is on neither the prohibited list nor the permitted list, and Amazon has never addressed it. Any claim that it is "safe" has no source behind it.

3. The boundary on asking for reviews

Permitted

"You can ask your customers to leave reviews on your products."

— reviews policy document, p9

"You may request feedback and reviews from your own customers in a neutral manner."

— Seller Code of Conduct §1.2.4. The operative words are "neutral manner"

Prohibited (verbatim, reviews policy document p9)

"Ask customers to leave a positive customer review for your product, or to leave a review only if they had a positive experience with your product. Similarly, you cannot ask only customers who had a positive experience with your product to leave a review."
"Ask customers to change or remove their review, attempt to influence the review, or ask customers to send negative reviews to you and only write positive reviews on Amazon."
"You may not offer any compensation for a review, including money or gift cards, free or discounted products, refunds or reimbursements, or any other future benefits."

The buyer-seller messaging prohibition list (verbatim, Communication Guidelines)

"Permitted Messages do not include any of the following message types":

Order or shipping confirmations
"Messages that say only 'Thank you' or that you are here to help if buyers have any problems"
"Marketing or promotional messaging, including coupons"
"Language that either incentivizes or persuades the buyer to submit positive product reviews or seller feedback, including by offering compensation, money, gift cards, free or discounted products, refunds, rebates or reimbursements, or future benefits"
"Language that requests removal or an update of an existing product review"
"Language that requests a product review only if they have had a positive experience with the product"
"A repeat request (per order) for a product review or seller feedback" — one request per order, and that is all

"Permitted Messages may not include" (extract; these are the ones that bear on inserts and off-Amazon traffic):

"External links unless they are secure working links (https, not http) necessary for order completion or links to Amazon"
"Logos, if they contain or display a link to your website"
"Email addresses"
"Telephone numbers except those related to warranties, shipping providers, or manufacturers"

Other requirements: a proactive message must go out within 30 days of order completion, must contain the 17-digit order ID, and must use the buyer's Language of Preference.

4. What happens if you break them

"Amazon has a zero-tolerance policy towards any Customer Product Reviews violations. If we detect any attempts to manipulate Customer Reviews, we take immediate actions."

"The actions we take include, but are not limited to:"

"Immediate and permanent withdrawal of the seller's selling privileges on Amazon, including the withholding of funds."
"The removal of all of the product's reviews and preventing the product from receiving future reviews or ratings."
"Permanent delisting of the product from Amazon."
"Legal action against the seller, including lawsuits and referral to civil and criminal enforcement authorities."
"Disclosing the violating seller's name and other related information publicly."

— reviews policy document, p7

Sellers fear suspension most, but the second item is both more common and harder to recover from: every review on that product is wiped, including the ones earned long before the card was ever printed.

Vicarious liability: your agency does it, you get penalised

"References to 'seller' here includes all the seller's business partners, employees and 3rd party partners."

"Any infractions by your business partners, employees, or 3rd party agencies will result in enforcement actions, even if they happened without your knowledge or consent."

— reviews policy document, p5 / p6 / p8

"I didn't know" is ruled out as a defence in writing. As long as anyone else touches your packaging, the final card artwork has to be signed off by you, in writing.

The Communication Guidelines carry a separate, milder consequence clause:

"Failure to comply with these Communication Guidelines may result in Amazon limiting proactive Permitted Messages to Amazon's templates or a suspension of selling privileges in Amazon stores. Amazon has the authority to block any message at its discretion."

— Communication Guidelines

5. Official answers to the other common questions

Can I print my email or social handle for support? Violation example: "Seller B leaves their email or social media account to let the customer know that after-sales service can be provided through off-site contact." — Code of Conduct §1.2.6
Can I store customer details and market to them later? "you may use that information only to fulfill orders and must delete it after the order has been processed" — Code of Conduct §1.2.6
Can I, my family, or my staff review the product? Violation: "A family member or employee of the seller posts a review of the seller's product or a competitor's product." — reviews policy p6
Can I route negative reviews to myself and positive ones to Amazon? Violation: "A seller diverts negative reviews to be sent to them or to a different feedback mechanism, while positive reviews are sent to Amazon." — reviews policy p6
What about review groups and cashback groups? "This includes using services that sell customer reviews, websites, or social media groups." — reviews policy p5
Where do I report someone else? [email protected] — reviews policy p8

6. Freshness risks, stated honestly

None of the three open PDFs carries a visible effective or revision date, so there is no way to confirm they are current. The authoritative versions remain the sign-in-only Seller Central help pages.
Page 9 of the reviews policy PDF still recommends the Early Reviewer Program, which is believed to have ended in 2021. We could not obtain an official confirmation page, so this guide does not cite that programme — but it does show the PDF contains material that has not been updated.
A forum announcement relating to the Communication Guidelines is dated effective 6 November 2020, which shows the policy has been in place for years — not that it has gone unrevised since.

Putting these rules to work

Above is the source text. If what you actually need is wording you can drop straight onto a card, and which policy line each sentence answers to, these two guides are written against the sources on this page.

Insert card examples →

This page exists so you can check the source text; it is not legal advice. Every quotation is taken from a document Amazon publishes itself and is linked directly. Where Amazon has not addressed something, this page says so rather than guessing on its behalf.

Amazon revises its policies without notice, and the authoritative versions are the sign-in-only Seller Central help pages. Check the current version before committing a card to a print run. Sources last verified 1 August 2026.