Amazon is very intentional about prohibiting misleading product claims. Any products sold on the Amazon platform must adhere to the company’s guidelines, which are often somewhat strict, but are put in place to protect customers from false advertising and other deceptive practices. It’s important to understand these guidelines and make sure your products comply with them. Failure to do so could result in your products being removed from the Amazon marketplace, or worse, being subject to legal action. So what are these guidelines, and what do they mean for your success with Seller Central? In this article, we’ll take a closer look at them.
When creating listings for products that make health claims, it is important to use language that is both accurate and legally permissible. Unfortunately, this can often be a difficult balance to strike. Words like “cancer,” “Coronavirus,” and even “anti-bacterial” are often seen as red flags by marketplace platforms like Amazon. If a listing is found to be using prohibited language, it can be suspended or even removed entirely.
This is why it is so important to use language that explains the general effects of your product, without making specific disease or organ claims that have not been FDA-approved. By doing so, you can help to ensure that your listing remains in compliance with marketplace guidelines and avoid any potential issue with suspended listings.
Types of Claims
When it comes to making claims about a product, there are two main types: explicit and implicit. As their names suggest, explicit claims directly address the disease or condition that the product is supposed to help with. For example, “This supplement will cure your diabetes.” Implicit claims, on the other hand, focus on the symptoms of the disease without actually mentioning the disease itself. For example, “This supplement will help with unwanted weight gain or loss, and nerve pain.” In this instance, the implicit claim addresses some of the symptoms of diabetes, without actually naming the condition.
Both types of claims are prohibited as they can be interpreted as misleading to consumers. A more general statement might say something like, “This supplement is designed to help combat the negative effects of excess sugar on the body.”
Medical Language
It is also important to avoid medical language that is often referenced in everyday conversation. For example, referencing “fatigue” and “anxiety” may flag Amazon’s system, because though they are often used to reference general tiredness or nervousness, they are medical terms that often require some kind of medical attention. Even terms like “pain,” “stress,” and “bacteria” can be problematic if said language claims to cure or prevent a disease, and has not gone through the proper FDA channels prior to your use of them on your listing. Avoiding these mistakes can make all the difference in the health and status of your listings.
By avoiding specific language, you can help prevent false or misleading claims from being made about your product. To ensure that your proposed listing copy is in line with Amazon guidelines, reference the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s article, “Small Entity Compliance Guide on Structure/ Function Claims.”
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