An Amazon reviews and feedback management checklist covers two separate systems: product reviews, which sit on the detail page and affect conversion, and seller feedback, which rates your service and affects account health. A new account needs a routine for both from the first order, using only Amazon-approved methods: the Request a Review button or Solicitations API, Amazon Vine, and policy-based removal requests.
Why separate reviews from feedback?
Many sellers treat them as one thing, and that leads to wrong fixes. Product reviews describe the product and belong to the ASIN, shared by every seller of it. Seller feedback describes the transaction: shipping speed, packaging, communication. It belongs to your seller account and feeds the Order Defect Rate.
A one-star review that complains about late delivery on an FBA order is really feedback about fulfillment. A one-star seller feedback that only criticizes the product is really a review. Knowing the difference tells you which removal path to use.
What should be set up before the first sale?
These are the setup items we put in place on a new account before orders start.
- Brand Registry enrollment, which gives access to Vine and the brand-level review tools.
- A decision on review requests: manual button, automation through an approved tool, or both.
- Notification preferences in Settings, so negative feedback alerts reach a person who will act on them.
- A shared tracking sheet for reviews and feedback with date, rating, theme and action taken.
- Saved response templates for common customer service questions, following Buyer-Seller Messaging rules.
- A clear internal rule: no incentives, no review swaps, no requests for positive reviews.
The last point matters most. Amazon’s Community Guidelines and the Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews prohibit compensated reviews, review exchanges, and asking only satisfied customers to review. Violations can remove all reviews from an ASIN or suspend the account.
How do you request reviews within policy?
Amazon offers one compliant request method: the Request a Review button on each order page, or the Solicitations API that approved third-party tools use to press it for you. It sends a standard message asking for both a product review and seller feedback, in the buyer’s language.
Timing
The button is available from 5 to 30 days after the delivery date. Many sellers send at around day 7 to 10 for products customers need time to use, and earlier for simple items. Pick one timing, apply it to all orders, and do not filter by customer satisfaction.
What not to add
If you use Buyer-Seller Messaging as well, do not send a separate review request. Amazon’s messaging guidelines treat duplicate requests and any wording that steers the rating as violations. Product inserts face the same rules: an insert can thank the customer and give support contact details, but cannot ask for a positive review or offer anything in exchange.
Should a new product use Amazon Vine?
Vine sends free units to selected reviewers who post honest reviews, marked with a Vine badge. Brand owners can enroll eligible ASINs that have fewer than 30 reviews, up to a set number of units per ASIN. Amazon charges an enrollment fee per parent ASIN in many marketplaces; check the current fee in the Vine dashboard under Advertising.
Vine works well for products that are good and need early reviews to convert. It works badly for products with known issues, since Vine reviewers write detailed and sometimes harsh reviews. Fix problems before enrolling.