University - General Information About Amazon
Listing Status
The listing status of a seller’s account tells a buyer that these items are sellable and available to be shipped. Unless otherwise stated, a seller’s listing status will remain active and accessible to all buyers.
Listing Status for Times of Inactivity
At times, the seller may want the account to be deactivated so that the listings are unavailable for sale. This could be due to vacation, sickness, or other extended periods of inactivity. In this event, the seller can change the listing status to inactive. This will make all listings associated with the seller temporarily unavailable until he updates it. See below for important points to be aware of when changing the listing status to inactive.
Listing Status Ramifications
- When a status is changed to inactive, this condition will apply only to the seller-handled merchandise and listings. All Fulfillment by Amazon listings will still remain active, regardless of the seller’s listing status.
- Changing the listing status to inactive does not in any way deactivate or disqualify the seller account. It merely makes the listings unavailable until the status is changed back to active.
- It is important for the seller to ensure that he has no pending orders at the time that he switches the listing status to inactive. This is because all pending orders must be fulfilled in a timely and professional manner.
- The seller must maintain good customer service during the inactive status time. This means that if a potential buyer or current buyer contacts the seller, the response should be expedient as always.
- Adding and editing listings can still be done by the seller while the account is inactive, though any changes or additions being made will not appear within the live system until the account has been reactivated.
- All fees and charges that are routinely taken will still apply during an inactive status period.
How to Change Listing Status
The listing status can be changed in a simple three-step process:
- Locate and click on the listing status area of the seller account.
- Choose the Inactive status.
- Press Submit to finalize the change.
Note: The altered status can take up to sixty minutes to appear on Amazon. To reactivate a listing status, follow the above steps, selecting Active in place of Inactive during step two.
Problems with Changing Listing Status
An account user who is unable to switch statuses is probably unauthorized to make such changes. Only inventory managers have such capabilities. If the Edit button does not appear near the listing status, it is an indication that the current user is unauthorized to make such changes.