Quick answer. Amazon Transparency is a product serialization program for brands in Brand Registry. Every unit of an enrolled product carries a unique code, either an Amazon-issued Transparency code or the brand’s own serial number, and Amazon checks that code before the unit is listed or shipped. FBA units are scanned when they arrive at a fulfillment center, and sellers who fulfill their own orders enter the codes when they confirm shipment. Units without a valid code fail the check, Amazon investigates and notifies the brand, and fully protected products cannot be listed without valid codes. To enroll, Amazon asks for the rights owner role in Brand Registry, an active registered trademark, and a GTIN for each product. Resellers can still sell genuine enrolled products, but only units that carry valid codes.

Most sellers meet Transparency one of two ways. A brand owner watches a hijacker attach cheap copies to its best listing and return under a new name after every complaint. Or a reseller with genuine distributor stock tries to confirm an order and finds a blue T badge asking for codes nobody mentioned at purchase. It is the same program seen from opposite sides of the check.

Below is how the check works, how to enroll, what happens to uncoded units, how resellers handle enrolled ASINs, where Transparency fits against hijackers, and what to do when something is blocked.

This article is educational information, not legal advice. Trademark and counterfeit questions depend on facts and jurisdiction, so confirm your position with a qualified attorney before acting against another seller or relying on a right you have not verified.

The three records a Transparency check and a reviewer read. The coded box, the order screen and the supplier invoice. Open each tab to see what has to line up.

How Transparency works at the unit level

Most Amazon brand protection works on listings. A complaint removes an offer, an automated protection blocks a listing, a brand edits a detail page. Transparency works one level lower, on the physical unit. Amazon gives each unit of an enrolled product a unique code that can be scanned to confirm it is authentic. The question is no longer whether an offer looks suspicious but whether this specific box carries a code that belongs to this product.

Amazon-issued Transparency codes

Amazon says its own codes are unique, alphanumeric and non-sequential, printed as a small square barcode on the packaging, and that Amazon owns the code generation protocol and keeps a record of every code. Because the codes are not sequential, a counterfeiter who copies one box cannot guess the next valid code. A copied code is still one code, and it belongs to one unit.

Only Amazon-issued codes let customers check a unit in the Amazon Shopping or Transparency app, let the brand add images or videos to the scan, and qualify for the Transparency badge.

Existing serial codes

A brand that already serializes its products can connect its own serial numbers instead. The requirements are specific. A unique code for every unit manufactured for a given GTIN or SKU. Externally scannable as a 1D, QR or 2D barcode on the same side of the packaging as the GTIN. Between 7 and 20 characters long. The ability to share all the serial numbers for that GTIN or SKU with Amazon. This route can mean faster enrollment with no packaging changes, but customers cannot verify those codes in the app.

What a code looks like on the box

Amazon’s Seller Central help page on serial number barcode requirements says Transparency-enabled codes can come in 5 formats and names the two most common. The first is a 26 character alphanumeric identifier that begins with AZ or ZA, 29 characters in total. The second is a Serialized Global Trade Item Number (SGTIN), 38 characters in total. Without a blue T code, look for a 7 to 20 character serial, often prefixed “SN”, and leave the prefix out when entering it. For phones, use the IMEI.

Code type	How to recognise it	Who can verify it	Main limit
Amazon-issued Transparency code	Small square barcode, often beside a blue T logo. Text form starts with AZ or ZA, 29 characters	Amazon at its checks, plus customers using the Amazon Shopping or Transparency app	Requires codes on every unit the brand manufactures, wherever it is sold
Serialized GTIN (SGTIN)	Long numeric and alphanumeric string, 38 characters in Amazon’s example	Amazon at its checks	Must still be unique per unit
Brand’s existing serial number	7 to 20 characters, 1D, 2D or QR, same side as the GTIN, often prefixed SN	Amazon at its checks. No customer app scan	No customer authenticity check or engagement features

Who can enroll, what it costs, and where it protects

Eligibility

Amazon lists three requirements on its Transparency page. A Brand Registry account associated with the brand’s trademark in which you hold the rights owner role, an active registered trademark for the brand, and a GTIN for each product you want to enroll. The first two trip up applicants. Brand Registry can accept a pending trademark in some cases, but Transparency asks for a registered one, so a brand that joined Brand Registry on a pending application may need to wait for registration. And if an agency or distributor set up the account, the trademark owner should be the one holding the rights owner role.

For Amazon-issued codes there is a fourth, practical requirement, the ability to add codes to every unit you manufacture, regardless of where those units are sold. A brand cannot code only the units it sends to Amazon, because units that reach Amazon through distributors and resellers also have to carry codes or they fail the check.

Cost

Amazon’s Transparency page says there are no enrollment, subscription or minimum costs, and brands pay only when they order codes. The published tiers are $0.05 per code for the first 1,000,000, $0.03 per code from 1,000,001 to 10,000,000, and $0.01 per code above 10,000,000, with volume measured cumulatively over a year that resets on the account creation date. Amazon can change pricing, so confirm it on the Transparency page before you budget.

Here is how the tiers add up in a hypothetical. A brand that orders 400,000 codes in its first year pays 400,000 x $0.05, or $20,000. A larger brand ordering 2,500,000 codes in one year pays $0.05 on the first 1,000,000 ($50,000) and $0.03 on the next 1,500,000 ($45,000), a total of $95,000. These figures are for illustration. Your cost depends on your volume and Amazon’s pricing at the time you order.

Stores and origins

Amazon lists ten stores where enrolled products are protected, the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Australia, India and Japan. Brands enroll once, not store by store. Eligible enrollment origins are those countries plus China, except that Australian brands are not currently eligible to enroll. Stores outside the list are not covered.

Three places a code is checked. A unit that fails any of them does not move forward until the code problem is resolved.

Enrolling, step by step

Amazon describes enrollment in four stages. Enroll the brand and products, apply codes, pass an operational performance review, and manage protections in the Transparency portal. The work in between is mostly on the brand’s own packaging line and supply chain, and that is where enrollments stall.

Enrollment from qualification to managed protection, in the order Amazon requires it. Tap each stage to see what has to be true before the next one counts.

The packaging line is the real project

The application is a short form. The work is making sure every unit leaving the factory carries a unique, readable code. Decide who applies codes, how codes are reconciled against units produced, and how damaged labels and reworked units are handled. A brand that skips this blocks its own genuine inventory, the most common self-inflicted Transparency problem.

Tell your distributors before protection goes live

Once protection is active, resellers carrying your products need coded units, and older uncoded stock in the channel will fail. Tell authorized distributors in writing which GTINs are enrolled and from what date coded units ship. That message prevents a wave of confused tickets and needless appeals.

What Amazon says happens to units without valid codes

All units must carry a valid code or they fail the Transparency check, and when a unit fails, Amazon investigates and notifies the brand. What that looks like depends on where the unit is when it is checked.

Each checkpoint that reads a Transparency code, who it stops and what the seller should look at. Tap a station to follow one unit through every gate.

What the check does not tell you

Amazon publishes that a failed unit is investigated and the brand is notified. It does not publish a fixed timeline for that investigation or a single rule for what happens to every blocked FBA unit. If your units are blocked, the status in your own Seller Central account and the answer from Selling Partner Support are the authority for your case.

Failed checks are evidence, in both directions

For a brand, a failed check is a lead on someone selling uncoded units on its listing. For a reseller, it can lead to a counterfeit or IP notice, and Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting policy requires sellers to provide authenticity records when asked. The reseller’s defense is a document trail, not an argument.

How Transparency fits against listing hijackers

A hijacker attaches an offer to a listing it does not own, usually with a cheaper copy or a different product, and wins sales on the brand’s reviews and images. The standard response is reactive. Test buy, document, report through Report a Violation, wait for removal, and repeat when the seller returns. Our guide to defending your listings against hijacking covers that process.

Transparency changes the starting point. On a fully protected product, a new offer needs valid matching codes before it can be listed, and FBA units must pass a code scan. A counterfeit hijacker has no valid codes, so it meets the check before a customer does. The block comes before the first fake order instead of cleanup after it.

Where Transparency stops and the other tools take over

Transparency checks codes. It does not judge listing content, so a seller who copies your images onto a different product, edits your detail page, or misuses your trademark in a title is a matter for Report a Violation and the IP policy. It protects only the products you enrolled, only in supported stores, and does nothing for products the brand chose not to serialize. Project Zero adds a different layer, self-service removal of counterfeit listings for eligible brands, with an accuracy rule attached. Our guide to Project Zero for brand owners covers how that tool works and where it overlaps with Transparency.

Three hypothetical cases traced through the code check. Fakes on a protected product, genuine stock without codes, and a product never enrolled. Open each case.

Selling Transparency-enabled ASINs as a reseller

Transparency does not close a listing to resellers. It closes it to units without valid codes. Amazon’s Seller Central page on serial number barcode requirements says Transparency-enabled products for sale on Amazon must be labelled with Transparency codes or brand-issued serial number barcodes, and Transparency-enabled ASINs you source from vendors must include them too.

How to tell whether an ASIN is enrolled

Amazon gives sellers two ways to spot enrolled items on orders. On Manage Orders, enrolled ASINs show a blue Transparency badge or an orange Serial number required badge. In Order Reports, you can turn on the optional Transparency column through “Add or remove order report columns.” When the is-Transparency field reads True, you must upload codes for those ASINs when confirming shipment. Check this before you buy inventory, not after the first order arrives.

How to enter codes on self-fulfilled orders

Amazon describes three routes. In Seller Central, open the order from Manage Orders, click Buy shipping or Confirm shipment, then use the Enter Transparency codes or serial numbers link under the quantity field and type or scan each code. In bulk, download the Shipping Confirmation file template from Upload Order Related Files under the Orders tab, fill it and upload it, which works even if you confirmed the shipment in another tool. Through the Selling Partner API, Amazon points to getOrderItems to identify enrolled items and CreateFeed or CreateShipment to upload Transparency codes. Serial-numbered products are uploaded on the order details page or with the Shipping Confirmation file instead.

The number of codes must match the number of enrolled units. If an order has 3 Transparency-enabled items, upload 3 unique codes or serial numbers. Amazon recommends a handheld scanner, especially for QR and 2D codes.

Sourcing rules that keep you out of trouble

Buy enrolled products only from the brand or an authorized distributor who confirms in writing that the units carry Transparency codes or brand serials.
Inspect a sample of every inbound lot for codes before you send it to a fulfillment center or list it.
Keep invoices that name the supplier, the product and the quantity. Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting policy allows you to remove pricing but treats any other edit as a violation.
Never move, copy or reuse a code from one unit to another, and never print codes yourself for a brand you do not own. Codes are generated and recorded per unit, and doing this misrepresents the unit.
Check that the version you buy matches the listing. A genuine version made for another market can fail verification.

If you resell brands you are not authorized for, read our guide to the risks of selling unauthorized brands before you buy enrolled stock. Transparency does not make an unauthorized seller’s genuine goods infringing, but it makes an undocumented supply chain much harder to defend.

The four checks a reseller runs before buying or shipping enrolled stock, screen by screen. Step through each one to see what has to agree.

How to verify everything yourself

Check every claim in a Transparency dispute against a record before you rely on it.

Question	Where to check	What to look for
Is the brand’s trademark registered and live?	USPTO Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) at tsdr.uspto.gov, or the trademark office of the relevant country	Status shows registered, not pending, abandoned or cancelled. Owner name matches the brand
Who owns the mark now?	USPTO Assignment Center	Recorded assignments that moved ownership away from the name on the account
Does my account hold the rights owner role?	Brand Registry user permissions	Rights owner role on the brand, held by the trademark owner rather than an agent
Is this ASIN enrolled?	Manage Orders badges. Order Reports with the Transparency column turned on	Blue Transparency badge, orange Serial number required badge, or is-Transparency True
Is protection live and working?	Transparency portal performance report	Blocked units, mismatched scans, rejected listing attempts, suspected counterfeit notices
Did a failed check lead to a notice on my account?	Account Health in Seller Central	Counterfeit or IP complaints on the ASIN, with the appeal option next to each
Do my units carry valid codes?	The packaging, read with a handheld scanner	Codes starting AZ or ZA, SGTIN strings, or 7 to 20 character serials on the GTIN side
Are customers seeing a valid code?	Amazon Shopping or Transparency app scan of a test unit (Amazon-issued codes only)	The app reports the code as valid for that product

Units blocked or a brand complaint on your account

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When a unit or listing is blocked, diagnosis and fix

Transparency blocks come from a program that checks codes, not stories. An appeal that argues “my goods are genuine” without resolving the code problem tends to fail, because the check is still looking at a unit without a valid code.

Step one. Identify what acted

Name the mechanism first. The Transparency check itself (blocked unit, rejected listing, failed confirmation), a counterfeit or IP notice in Account Health, or a removal through another brand tool such as Project Zero. A code failure is fixed by fixing codes, a notice is answered with documents, and a brand removal may need the brand to retract.

Step two. Decide honestly whether the goods are genuine

This decides everything else. If the units are counterfeit, the block is correct. Stop selling, account for the units with Amazon, and fix the sourcing that let them in. If the units are genuine, find out why they failed, whether no code, a mismatched code, a different version or a data entry error.

Step three. Find the root cause

Genuine units, no code. Usually pre-enrollment stock or a supplier who bought from a source the brand never coded. The fix runs through the supplier and often the brand.
Genuine units, mismatched code. A code from one product printed on another, a reused code, or a misprint at the factory. For a brand, this is a packaging line failure. For a reseller, it is a supplier question.
Genuine units, different version. Stock made for another market. These will not pass verification, so list the right version or do not sell those units here.
Entry error on an FBM order. A wrong character, a missing unit, or a prefix left in. Leave out prefixes such as “SN” and use a scanner.

Step four. Corrective action with proof

Fix what failed and keep evidence that you did. For a brand, that might be a corrected print run, reconciliation records showing every unit was coded, and an updated note to distributors. For a reseller, it might be a return of uncoded stock to the supplier, a replacement lot with codes confirmed on inspection, and invoices from an authorized source. Where Amazon has asked for documents, its IP policy lists invoices proving authenticity (pricing can be removed), Amazon order IDs, an authorization letter from the rights owner that is not a forwarded email, or a court order, depending on the case.

Step five. Preventive controls with an owner and a date

Name who checks what, and when. For example, one person inspects codes on a sample of every inbound lot before listing, logged against the invoice, or a brand’s operations lead reviews the performance report monthly and reconciles codes against units each quarter. A control without an owner and a date is a hope. If the block led to an IP or counterfeit notice, our guide to inauthentic and counterfeit complaints explains how those notices differ and what each needs.

When the brand is the path back

Amazon’s IP policy says that if you have a license or other agreement with the rights owner, you can ask the rights owner to retract the complaint, and your content may be reinstated once Amazon receives the retraction. For an authorized reseller whose genuine stock predates enrollment, the brand is often the fastest route. It can confirm the source, help supply coded stock, or retract a complaint it filed in error. If you received a complaint from a rights owner and need help reading it, our rights owner complaints service handles that situation.

Mistakes that cost sellers time and inventory

Brand owners

Enrolling before the manufacturer can code every unit, then blocking their own genuine stock.
Applying on a pending trademark or from an account where an agency holds the rights owner role.
Assuming protection is live on the enrollment date instead of after the operational performance review.
Coding only Amazon-bound units, which leaves distributors’ stock failing the check.
Ignoring the performance report, which is the brand’s best early record of hijacking attempts.

Resellers

Buying an enrolled ASIN without checking the badge or order report column first.
Sending uncoded units to a fulfillment center and hoping they pass.
Buying a different market’s version of the same product.
Relying on retail receipts instead of supplier invoices when Amazon asks for authenticity records.
Arguing authenticity in an appeal without fixing the code problem that triggered the block.

For GTIN basics, see our guide to knowing your barcodes.

A monthly Transparency routine

Codes run out, factories change, distributors pick up old stock and hijackers test new listings. Run a short routine every month.

A monthly self check for brands on Transparency. Toggle what you have in place to see whether protection is only enrolled, coded but unwatched, or holding up.

For resellers, the routine is shorter

Each month, pull the order report with the Transparency column on and list every enrolled ASIN you sell. Confirm the stock carries codes, the invoices are filed against the ASIN, the version matches the listing, and Account Health shows no new notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Amazon Transparency?

Amazon’s product serialization program. Each unit of an enrolled product carries a unique code, and Amazon checks it before the unit is listed or shipped, so counterfeits and wrong versions are stopped before they reach customers.

Who can enroll in Transparency?

Amazon requires a Brand Registry account with the rights owner role, an active registered trademark, and a GTIN for each enrolled product. For Amazon-issued codes, the brand must also be able to code every unit it manufactures, wherever it is sold.

How much does Transparency cost?

Amazon says there are no enrollment, subscription or minimum costs, and brands pay per code ordered. The published tiers are $0.05, $0.03 and $0.01 per code by annual volume. Confirm current pricing on Amazon’s Transparency page.

What happens to FBA units without a valid Transparency code?

Amazon says FBA units are scanned when they arrive at a fulfillment center, units without a valid code fail the check, and Amazon investigates and notifies the brand. Check the status of your own units in Seller Central and with Selling Partner Support.

Can resellers sell Transparency-enrolled products?

Yes, if every unit carries a valid Transparency code or brand serial number. Amazon says Transparency-enabled ASINs sourced from vendors must include those codes.

Does Transparency stop listing hijackers?

On fully protected products, new listings need valid codes and units without them fail the check, which blocks most counterfeit hijackers. It does not handle listing abuse unrelated to codes, so Report a Violation is still needed.

Can a genuine product fail the Transparency check?

Yes. A genuine unit without a code, with a mismatched code, or made as a materially different version for another market can fail. Resolve the code or version issue rather than arguing authenticity in general.

Get Help With Transparency Blocks and Rights Owner Complaints

If your units or listings are blocked under Transparency, or a brand’s complaint has landed on your account, we will identify what acted, check whether the goods and documents hold up, and build the response that fits. Submit your case for review or book a consultation before you act.

This article is general educational information about Amazon’s published programs and policies. It is not legal advice, and it does not guarantee any outcome or timeline. Amazon can change its programs, pricing and requirements at any time, so confirm current details in Seller Central and on Amazon’s own pages.

Our rights owner complaint team can take the case from here. If the account itself is restricted, start with our Amazon suspension service. See all our marketplace suspension services.

How the Amazon Transparency Program Works for Brands and Resellers