Quick answer. Dropshipping is allowed on Amazon only when the customer can see that you are the seller of record. Buying from another online retailer or retail store and having it ship to your Amazon customer, often called retail arbitrage dropshipping, is not allowed. Amazon’s Drop Shipping Policy calls it strictly prohibited without exception, and we will not help anyone run it. The permitted model has five parts. You have an agreement with a manufacturer or authorized distributor naming you as the only seller of record. Every packing slip, invoice and outer box identifies only you. Third party paperwork comes out before shipping. You accept and process returns yourself. And you follow the Business Solutions Agreement and Amazon’s policies.

Most sellers who get a dropshipping violation did not set out to break a rule. They found a product cheaper on a big box store’s website, ordered it to the Amazon buyer’s address, and the buyer received another company’s box, invoice and return label.

The sections below cover the policy, a compliant setup, an audit, the move to FBA or your own stock, and what to do after a violation. If your funds are held after an arbitrage dropshipping suspension, that problem has its own article. What to do when online arbitrage dropshipping led to a suspension and held funds.

What Amazon’s Drop Shipping Policy says

Amazon’s policy is short, and every word matters. It defines drop shipping as allowing a third party to fulfill orders to customers on your behalf, and says that is not acceptable unless it is clear to the customer that you are the seller of record. The rest of the policy follows from that test. Who does the customer believe sold them the item, and whom do they contact when something goes wrong?

The two patterns Amazon names as violations

The policy gives two examples it describes as strictly prohibited.

Purchasing products from a third party, which Amazon says includes Amazon itself or another seller in Amazon’s stores, and having that third party ship directly to customers, if the shipment does not identify you as the seller of record or if anyone other than you, including the third party, appears on packing slips, invoices or external packaging.
Shipping orders with packing slips, invoices, external packaging or other information that shows a seller name or contact information other than your own.

Amazon says packaging, invoices or receipts naming another seller confuse the customer about who fulfilled the order and whom to contact. Violations may restrict your ability to sell using the Merchant Fulfilled Network, and the Seller Code of Conduct says policy violations may lead to cancellation of listings, suspension or forfeiture of payments, and removal of selling privileges.

The three things you must always do

If you fulfill orders through another company’s fulfillment service, a third party logistics company or a drop shipper, Amazon’s policy says you must always do three things.

Have an agreement with your supplier where you are the only seller of record and the only entity identified as the seller of your products on all packing slips, invoices, external packaging and any other information included or provided with the products.
Remove any packing slips, invoices, external packaging or other information identifying a different seller or third party supplier before the order ships.
Remain responsible for accepting and processing customer returns, and always comply with the Business Solutions Agreement and applicable Amazon policies.

The policy does not ban suppliers shipping for you. It bans the customer seeing anyone but you, and it keeps every seller obligation on you, whoever packs the box.

Why retail arbitrage dropshipping is not allowed, and why we will not help with it

Retail arbitrage dropshipping means waiting for an Amazon sale, buying the item from another retailer, online or in a store, and having it delivered to your buyer. The retailer is the seller on its own order, so its name, price, branding and return instructions go in the box. You have no agreement making you the only seller of record, and you cannot remove the retailer’s paperwork because you never touch the package. That is the first example in Amazon’s policy almost word for word, and Amazon calls it strictly prohibited without exception.

Gift order options, notes asking the retailer to leave out the invoice, or a mailbox in between do not turn the retailer into your supplier under a seller of record agreement. We do not advise on workarounds like these and will not write an appeal that misdescribes the model. If your business depends on it, stop and rebuild on a compliant option.

Follow one Amazon order from your offer to the buyer’s door. Tap each station to see which routes fit the Drop Shipping Policy and which one does not.

For a closely related case, read How to Get Amazon Reviews the Allowed Way.

What a compliant dropshipping arrangement looks like

A compliant setup starts with a real supply relationship. The supplier is the manufacturer or a distributor the manufacturer has authorized. You buy at wholesale terms, not at a retail checkout, and the supplier agrees in writing to ship your orders as you, not as itself.

The written agreement

The drop shipping policy makes the agreement mandatory, so treat it as the foundation document. At minimum it should state the following.

Your legal business name as the only seller of record for orders the supplier ships on your behalf.
That only your packing slip and invoice, or none, go in the box, outer packaging carries no supplier name or logo, and no supplier invoice, catalogue or insert is ever included.
That returns go to an address you control or designate, and that the supplier will not contact your customers.
That customer names and addresses are used only to ship your orders and are not kept or used for anything else. The Seller Code of Conduct says customer information received to fulfill orders may be used only for that purpose, must be deleted after the order is processed, and must not be used to contact customers or shared with any third party. Hold the supplier to the same limits, check the current wording of both pages, and get your own advice on how they apply to your setup.
Shipping speed and tracking commitments that match the handling time you set in Seller Central.

Who is responsible when something goes wrong

You are. Amazon’s policy keeps returns on you. Its seller fulfilled returns guidance says Amazon automatically authorizes US return requests that fall within policy, you must respond to manual authorization requests within 24 hours, and you must issue refunds within two business days of receiving a return. If you fail to act, Amazon says it may refund the buyer on your behalf and charge your account. A supplier that ships for you takes none of that off your plate.

The Federal Trade Commission’s business guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule says the business that solicits the order is the seller under the Rule, even if another company fills it. If you make no shipping statement, you must have a reasonable basis to expect to ship within 30 days. The guide explains the delay notice and refund duties when you cannot. This is educational information, not legal advice.

The difference between a prohibited and a permitted model is who the buyer sees as the seller, and whether a written agreement makes that true.

Finding a manufacturer or authorized distributor that will ship for you

A retailer, a marketplace seller or a store checkout page cannot give you a seller of record agreement, wholesale invoices or control over paperwork. A manufacturer or an authorized distributor usually can.

What to ask a prospective supplier

Are you the manufacturer of this product, or are you authorized by the brand owner to distribute it? Can you show that authorization in writing?
Will you sign an agreement naming my business as the only seller of record on orders you ship for me?
Can you ship with my packing slip only, or with no paperwork, in plain or my branded cartons?
Will you issue invoices to my business for every unit, showing your legal name, address, product description and quantities?

Checking that the supplier is real

Confirm that the supplier’s legal name, address and phone number match across its invoices, its agreement and its state business registration, which you can search through the secretary of state registries linked by the National Association of Secretaries of State. Ask the brand owner directly whether the distributor is authorized. Then place a test order to yourself and open the box as your customer would. Check the label, every piece of paper inside, the carton and the tape.

A hypothetical parcel opened the way a buyer and a reviewer would. Open each tab to see where another seller’s name can slip through.

The documents to keep, and why each matters

Reviewers want to see genuine supplier sourcing, your status as seller of record, and your control of packaging and fulfillment. Keep these documents in one folder per supplier and one per order month.

Document	What it proves	What a reviewer looks for
Signed dropship or supply agreement	You are the only seller of record	Your legal name, the supplier’s legal name, the seller of record and paperwork clauses, signatures and dates
Supplier invoices	You bought from a manufacturer or authorized distributor, not a retailer	Supplier name and address, your business name and address, product descriptions and quantities that match your listings and sales
Proof of payment	The invoices reflect real transactions	Payments from your business account to the supplier that match invoice totals and dates
Letter of authorization or distributor proof	The supplier may sell the brand	Brand owner name, distributor name, scope and dates
Sample packing slip and photo of a test shipment	Only your name reaches buyers	Your name on the slip, no other seller name on paper, carton or tape
Returns log	You accept and process returns	Return requests, authorizations, receipt dates and refund dates

Two rules apply to every document. First, it must be genuine and unaltered. Never edit, recreate or “clean up” an invoice, and never ask a supplier to produce one after the fact that does not reflect a real sale. If you cannot get a genuine document, say so and provide what you have. A forged or modified document turns a fixable case into a far worse one, as our article on forged or manipulated documentation suspensions explains. Second, it must match. Invoice quantities should cover what you sold. Our guide to keeping invoices in line with Amazon’s requirements covers invoice fields.

Record retention is partly a tax question. The IRS says to keep income tax records for 3 years in most cases, 6 years if you leave out income that is more than 25 percent of the gross income shown on your return, and 7 years if you claim a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction. Keep employment tax records at least 4 years. Your accountant can tell you which applies.

How to check an existing setup against the policy

If a supplier already ships for you, audit the setup before Amazon does. Map an order, read the box, and check your account signals.

Map the real path of one order

Pick a recent order and write down every step. Who received the order data, who bought what from whom, where the item shipped from, who printed the label, and whose name is on each document. If any step involves a checkout on a retail website or in a store, the model is not compliant, however the rest looks.

Read the box the way the buyer does

Ship a test order to yourself through the same path and photograph the label, every insert and every side of the carton. Any other company’s name, logo, price, coupon or return card counts as a seller name or contact other than yours.

The same operation run two ways, room by room. Compare each row to see where a dropship setup breaks the policy and what compliant looks like.

Check your account signals

In Seller Central, open Account Health and check the Account Health Rating and any policy warnings. Amazon scores the rating from 0 to 1,000. 200 to 1,000 is Healthy, 100 to 199 is At Risk, and 99 or lower means the account is eligible for deactivation or already deactivated. New sellers start at 200, and the score reflects the last 180 days. Then read buyer messages and return reasons for mentions of another store, price or return address. That is often the earliest sign that someone else’s paperwork is reaching buyers.

Question	Where to check	What to look for
Is there an active policy warning?	Seller Central, Account Health	Any drop shipping or code of conduct item, its severity and the action requested
How close is the account to deactivation?	Account Health Rating on the same page	Score band. Healthy 200 to 1,000, At Risk 100 to 199, Unhealthy 99 or lower
Are buyers seeing another seller?	Buyer-Seller Messages and return reasons	Mentions of another store, another price, another return address
Is the supplier a registered business?	State secretary of state registry, via nass.org	Legal name and address matching invoices and agreement, active status
Is the supplier authorized for the brand?	The brand owner directly, and the supplier’s written authorization	Named distributor, brand, scope and dates

For a closely related case, read Amazon Policy Warnings.

Converting to FBA or self-fulfilled stock

The cleanest fix is often to stop dropshipping. Buy inventory from the manufacturer or authorized distributor and ship it yourself or send it to Amazon. The paperwork problem then disappears for those orders.

Moving to Fulfillment by Amazon

With FBA, you send products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and Amazon picks, packs, ships and provides customer service, including returns for FBA orders. To convert an existing offer, Amazon’s help page says to create a separate SKU for the FBA channel instead of switching one SKU back and forth.

Follow 48 hypothetical units from purchase to a live FBA or self-fulfilled offer. Tap each stage to see where conversions usually go wrong.

Shipping your own stock

If you fulfill yourself, receive the supplier’s goods at your premises or at a third party logistics warehouse working for you. The drop shipping policy applies to a third party logistics company too. Your name only, nothing from anyone else in the box, and returns handled by you.

Amazon’s drop shipping policy page also mentions Multi-Channel Fulfillment, an unbranded service for fulfilling a seller’s own inventory sold on other channels. It is not a way to fulfill Amazon orders from someone else’s inventory.

Not sure your setup passes the policy?

Send us how you source and ship, and we will tell you plainly whether it is compliant and what has to change.

Submit Case →Book a call

If a dropshipping violation has already arrived

A dropshipping notice flags how the business operates, not one listing. To fix it, you show that the model is compliant, or that it has genuinely changed to a compliant one.

Diagnose honestly. Compliant model flagged, or prohibited model caught

If you run a genuine supplier arrangement and one shipment went out with the supplier’s paperwork, you have a compliant model with a failure you can explain, correct and control. If you were buying from retailers and having them ship to your buyers, you have the prohibited model, and no document makes it compliant. The only credible appeal then shows a real rebuild.

Find the specific trigger

Work out what Amazon most likely saw. Buyer messages about another store’s packaging, returns that mention a different seller, another retailer’s invoice reaching a buyer, or tracking that originates from a retailer. The trigger tells you what to fix. Foreign paperwork in one supplier’s boxes points to that supplier’s process. Retail invoices reaching buyers point to the sourcing model itself.

Take corrective action before you write anything

Corrective actions are what you have already done, with proof. Typical ones include stopping all orders from retail sources and pausing the affected offers, ending or re-papering the supplier relationship that leaked paperwork, running test orders and photographing the result, contacting affected buyers through Buyer-Seller Messaging to resolve their orders, and reviewing every open SKU for the same risk. Record what you did, when, and for which order IDs and SKUs.

Put preventive controls in place, with an owner and a date

Preventive measures are the permanent controls that stop the same failure, each with an owner and a schedule. Examples include a written rule banning purchases from retailers to fulfill Amazon orders, and an onboarding check that requires the signed seller of record agreement and a passed test order before any SKU goes live. Add a monthly test order per active supplier, a weekly read of buyer messages and return reasons for signs of another seller, and a returns routine with a named owner. “We will be more careful” is not a control.

Toggle the checks you already have in place after a dropshipping notice. The grade shows whether the appeal can describe real changes yet.

Write the plan of action

Keep the plan of action to three parts a reviewer can check quickly. The root cause names the specific failure in plain language, such as “a supplier added on a given date shipped 14 orders with its own invoice inside” or “we fulfilled orders by purchasing from other retailers”, without blaming buyers, carriers or Amazon. The corrective actions list what you already did, with numbers and dates. The preventive measures list each control with its owner and timing. Attach only documents you can produce, and reference each one where it supports a point. Our article on writing a plan of action that gets read walks through the structure in more detail.

Submit through Account Health

In Seller Central, go to Account Health, click Reactivate your account at the top of the page, follow the instructions, and click Submit. Amazon says you may be asked to complete a questionnaire, acknowledge a violation, complete a quiz or provide supporting documents. Then watch your email for the decision. If Amazon asks for more information, use View Appeal from Account Health to send it. Amazon’s appeal page says to expect a reply within two days, which is a stated expectation, not a guarantee of the outcome.

Be honest about viability

A compliant model flagged by a one-off mistake can usually be demonstrated and explained. If the business only works by buying from retailers, a reinstatement would not hold. Amazon’s Account Health Rating page notes that repeat violations of the same policy lower the score faster, and that the maximum number of repeats in 180 days can be as low as two for higher severity violations.

If the notice also cites the Seller Code of Conduct, read our guide to Amazon code of conduct suspensions, and for appeal mechanics in general see how to appeal an Amazon suspension. If you need a team to review the case, our Amazon suspension service starts with the model you run.

Common mistakes that lead to dropshipping violations

Five messages that signal a dropshipping problem, from buyers first and then Account Health. Open each to see what it means and what to do.

Practical errors that repeat.

Listing before the test order. A product goes live on a supplier’s promise, and the first ten buyers receive its catalogue.
Using a reseller as a “distributor”. A business that buys from retail and resells is not an authorized distributor, whatever its website says. Ask the brand owner.
Ignoring buyer messages. Early complaints about another seller’s paperwork are the cheapest warning you will get.

For a closely related case, read How to Keep Up With Amazon Policy Changes Before They Become Violations.

A repeatable routine for suspension free dropshipping

Run compliance on a schedule, not as a reaction.

Before any supplier ships for you

Confirm the supplier is the manufacturer or an authorized distributor, and keep the proof.
Sign the seller of record agreement with paperwork, packaging, returns and customer data clauses.
Run a test order to yourself and photograph everything.

Every week

Read buyer messages and return reasons for any sign of another seller’s name, price or address.
Clear pending return authorizations and refunds within Amazon’s stated windows.
Run one test order per active supplier each month and reconcile invoices against sales.
Look at the Account Health page for new warnings.

Whenever something changes

A new supplier, new warehouse, new packaging or new staff member triggers a fresh test order before orders flow.
A supplier that leaks paperwork once is paused until a clean test order proves the fix.

If you want help building and running this routine before anything goes wrong, our Amazon account health maintenance team runs exactly that kind of ongoing check with sellers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is dropshipping allowed on Amazon?

Yes, but only when the customer can see that you are the seller of record. Your supplier must ship under an agreement naming you as the only seller, with only your name on slips, invoices and packaging, and you must handle returns.

Can I buy from another retailer and have it ship to my Amazon customer?

No. Amazon’s Drop Shipping Policy calls buying from a third party and having it ship directly, when the shipment does not identify you or shows another seller, strictly prohibited without exception. We do not help sellers run this model.

Who handles returns on dropshipped orders?

You do. Amazon’s policy says you remain responsible for accepting and processing returns, and its returns guidance asks for refunds within two business days of receiving a return.

What happens if I violate the Drop Shipping Policy?

The policy says violations may restrict your ability to sell through the Merchant Fulfilled Network. The Seller Code of Conduct adds that policy violations may lead to listing cancellation, suspension or forfeiture of payments, and removal of selling privileges.

How do I appeal a dropshipping violation?

In Seller Central, go to Account Health, click Reactivate your account and follow the instructions. Attach a plan of action and genuine supporting documents.

Can an appeal work if I was doing retail arbitrage dropshipping?

Only if the model has genuinely changed. No document makes buying from retailers compliant, so an appeal has to show a real rebuild with authorized suppliers, your own stock or FBA, described honestly.

Is switching to FBA a good fix?

Often. With FBA you send owned inventory to Amazon, and Amazon picks, packs, ships, provides customer service and handles returns for those orders. That removes the paperwork risk for FBA orders.

Get Help With a Dropshipping Violation or a Compliant Setup

If a dropshipping notice has arrived, or you want a supplier arrangement checked first, submit your case for review or book a consultation to talk it through. We work only on compliant models and genuine rebuilds.

This article is educational information about Amazon’s published policies and general recordkeeping practice. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it does not guarantee any outcome, timeline or amount. Amazon’s policies change. Check the current pages in Seller Central before acting.

You can also see all our marketplace suspension services.

Is Dropshipping Allowed on Amazon? What the Policy Permits and How to Stay Suspension Free