Every listing limit for 2026: characters, bytes, pixels and deadlines with evidence grades
- You have every limit for copy, images, law, reviews, offer and algorithm in one place — each with an evidence grade.
- You know which numbers contradict each other (backend bytes) and how to decide in such cases.
- You recognize numbers without a source (500-character bullets, 1,600-pixel requirement, 200-dollar Vine) and replace them with the documented values.
- You have a procedure to update your table quarterly against German Seller Central.
If you keep only one thing from the whole Listing track, keep this lesson. It collects every number that limits your listing — characters, bytes, pixels, percent, euros, deadlines — and says for each where it comes from and how reliable it is. You know the evidence grades from lesson 11: Amazon (its own documentation), law, study, practice (consensus without a hard single source), disputed (sources contradict each other). At the end you'll find which circulating numbers did NOT survive verification — so you recognize them when they come your way.
1How to read these tables
Every row has three parts: the limit (the number), the context (since when, for whom, what happens on exceeding — where documented) and the evidence grade. Three reading habits make the difference:
- A limit is not a recommendation: “up to 125 characters” is a ceiling, not a target. “At least 6 images” is a recommendation, the requirement is one.
- The date counts: Amazon's own public SEO page still states the old 200-character title limit today. What counts is the latest announcement in German Seller Central — not the oldest page still online.
- Login pages can't be verified by readers: many Amazon rules sit in the seller help behind the login. Such values carry “Practice” here even though they come from Amazon — you can read them in your own account, a reader without an account can't.
These tables are the road signs of your niche. A sign marked “Amazon” was put up by the traffic authority — you follow it. A sign marked “Practice” was painted by a resident: usually right, but in doubt you drive slower, not faster.
2Copy: title, highlights, bullets, description, backend
| Field or rule | Limit | Context | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product title (all categories except media) | 75 characters including spaces | Applies since 27 July 2026; before that 200 characters (introduced January 2025). Characters are counted, not bytes — umlauts count once. That the limit applies per parent and child ASIN and to bundles rests on two trade sources. | Amazon |
| Item Highlights | up to 125 characters | A ceiling, not a target. Sensible as a comma-separated attribute list: material, size, set quantity, use case. Weight versus the title undocumented. | Amazon |
| Word repetition in the title | at most 2× per word | Prepositions, articles, conjunctions excepted. Whether word forms count, the policy doesn't say. Practically enforced by 75 characters anyway. | Amazon |
| Forbidden special characters in the title | ! $ ? _ { } ^ ¬ ¦ | Exception: part of the brand name. The vertical bar | and the hyphen are NOT on the list — ¬ and ¦ are often confused with them. | Amazon |
| Review period before automatic title rewrite | 14 days | Explicitly named for brand owners in Brand Registry. Whether the period applies without Registry, Amazon doesn't say — interpreting silence is no evidence. | disputed |
| Bullet points, count | at least 3, at most 5 (sellers); vendors up to 10 in some categories | Amazon's requirements of 15 Aug 2024; fewer than three risk warnings, interventions or removal. The sources reproduce Amazon's requirements, they aren't Amazon pages. | Practice |
| Bullet points, length per bullet | 10 to 255 characters | Wording: more than 10 and fewer than 255. Lower in individual categories, 150 is reported. Amazon's seller blog recommends a one- to two-word label plus an explanation of at most 100 characters. Binding: your category's style guide. | Practice |
| Bullet points, total length | reported: at most 1,000 characters or bytes | Arithmetically conflicts with 5 × 255 characters; sources contradict each other on the unit; main source only with a seller account. Practical consequence: key terms in bullets 1 to 3. | disputed |
| Backend search terms (generic_keywords) | disputed: 250, 249 or 200 bytes | Amazon publicly gives three numbers (US forum 250, EU forum 249, reply to flat-file error 97779: 200). Bytes are counted: ä, ö, ü, ß take 2 bytes each. No source says what happens on exceeding. Staying well below spares the question. | Practice |
| Backend, separators and form | spaces only; case irrelevant; drop articles and prepositions | Lower case is permission, not obligation. Punctuation isn't needed and costs bytes. Prohibited list (no brand names — not even your own —, no ASINs, no judgments, no time-limited claims) publicly only via a forum quote. | Amazon |
| Number of backend fields | 1 (formerly several lines) | What happened when grown catalogs were merged is undocumented; sellers had to re-cut themselves. Export old listings once and check the byte length. | Practice |
| Product description | no publicly documented character count | The limit sits in your category's template. The circulating practice value of 2,000 characters has no verified source — usable as orientation, not as a rule. Documented only: the field remains, even with A+ on top. | Practice |
| HTML in the description | not permitted | amazon.de announced the switch-off after 8 June 2021; lines with a tag are removed or shown without formatting. That bold tags still work on old listings changes nothing. | Amazon |
“AURELO Spice Grinder Set of 2, Ceramic Mechanism, Stainless Steel, Refillable” — 74 characters including spaces: under 75, no word twice, no forbidden character. The attribute list goes into the Item Highlights (125 characters): “Ceramic mechanism, stepless; stainless steel 18/10; 2 grinders of 180 ml; for pepper and salt; gift box” — 103 characters. Backend, with a byte counter: “pepper mill salt mill grinder set spice mill manual kitchen gift cooking” — 72 characters, 72 bytes — far below 200.
3Images: size, format, background, count, AI labeling
| Rule | Limit | Context | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main image, background | pure white, RGB 255, 255, 255 | No tolerance stated. Most common causes of deviation: soft, semi-transparent cut-out edges, missing or wrong color profiles. Export in sRGB. | Amazon |
| Main image, product share | at least 85 % of the frame | Not cropped. No text, logo, watermark, no props or accessories not included. Text is normal on gallery images. | Amazon |
| Image size | 500 to 10,000 pixels on the longest side | For zoom Amazon recommends more than 1,000 pixels per side. Practice recommendation 2,000 × 2,000 px, square, JPEG in sRGB — that puts you on the safe side of every circulating figure. | Amazon |
| File formats | JPEG, TIFF, PNG, non-animated GIF | Animated GIFs excluded. That PNG or TIFF offer an advantage over JPEG is not in the Amazon source. | Amazon |
| Images, count | 1 required; at least 6 recommended | A video recommendation isn't on the cited page. How many images the product page actually shows is undocumented — count on your own live listing. | Amazon |
| AI labeling (Amazon) | keyword contains-synthetic-performer in the XMP field dc:subject | Announced 23 July 2026, worldwide. Only for photorealistic, fully AI-generated people in images, videos and A+. Not for real people, characters, recognizably artificial depictions or images without people. The rule is young — check the status before uploading. | Amazon |
| Compliance image slots | PS01 to PS06 | For warnings, CE marks, pictograms as a photo of the packaging. Described consistently by service providers and sellers, no public Amazon page found. | Practice |
| Tile size in search and mobile gallery | reported: 160 to 200 pixels wide | Vendor figure, not documented by Amazon. You'll see the underlying problem yourself: shrink the image to 200 px and look at it on your phone — at most three to five words per image statement. | disputed |
2,000 × 2,000 pixels, JPEG, sRGB, background as a solid RGB 255/255/255 area with a hard cut-out edge, product over 85 percent of the area, file name in Amazon's ASIN.variant.jpg scheme for bulk upload. Whoever exports like this never has to think about 1,000, 1,600 or 10,000 pixels again.
4Law: GPSR, unit price, textiles, EPR, batteries, environment, AI
The legal rows inform and are not legal advice. The explanation of every row — including clean wording — is in lesson 15.
| Rule | Limit | Context | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPSR mandatory information | required since 13 Dec 2024; in the offer itself | Four blocks: manufacturer contact, if applicable the responsible person in the EU, product identification with image, warnings in the local language. A link isn't enough. According to its notice, Amazon deactivates new offers without data within 24 hours — the deadline is public only via a trade medium (as of 4 June 2025). | Law |
| Unit price (PAngV) | per 1 kg, 1 l, 1 m, 1 m², 1 m³; for net quantities up to 250 g/ml also per 100 g/ml | Applies regardless of category; you are liable. Amazon only calculates from structured data (net quantity, unit). Whether Amazon still removes consumables without data from search today (2021 announcement) is undocumented. | Law |
| Textile labeling | fiber composition in percent, descending, Annex I names only; fine up to €10,000 | Before the contract, in the online offer. A label in the delivery isn't enough. “Lycra”/“Spandex” don't replace “elastane”. | Law |
| WEEE registration (electronics) | registration number required, per country | A German number doesn't cover France or Italy. LUCID applies for packaging; since 1 July 2022 Amazon blocks unregistered producers. Fine amount deliberately without a number — not documented. | Law |
| Batteries, online information duties | since 18 Aug 2025 | Waste prevention, separate collection, safety notices, environmental impact of hazardous substances; show producer-responsibility costs separately (formerly prohibited). Replace old blocks, don't add to them. | Law |
| Greenwashing ban (EmpCo in the UWG) | applies from 27 Sept 2026 | Impermissible: generic environmental claims without demonstrably excellent environmental performance, pure offsetting claims, self-made seals without independent certification, future targets without a monitored plan. Blacklist — no balancing. | Law |
| AI transparency duties (Art. 50 AI Act) | applies from 2 Aug 2026; fine up to €15 million or 3 % of annual turnover | No general labeling obligation. Visibly label only deepfakes (impression of authenticity). AI product copy in advertising generally not covered. Notice at first perception, not in terms and conditions. SMEs: the lower amount in each case. | Law |
| Fake reviews | unfair per se, without balancing or materiality threshold | Annex No. 23c UWG: submitting or commissioning fake reviews. Whether a genuine review prompted by a voucher falls under it, the norm doesn't say — Amazon's policy bans incentives anyway, up to account deactivation. | Law |
5Reviews, offer, brand: Vine, star average, A+, experiments, Featured Offer
| Rule | Limit | Context | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Vine, fees amazon.de | €0 (up to 2 units), €70 (up to 10), €170 (up to 30) per parent ASIN | The often-quoted “200” is the US price in dollars. Fee only from 3 enrolled units and only if the first review arrives within 90 days. ASIN enrollable only once, tier not changeable, child ASINs not addable later. Source: forum announcement 19 Oct 2023 — check in the Vine section itself. | Practice |
| Optimal star average | 4.0 to 4.7 | Toward 5.0 purchase likelihood drops again — flawless ratings look implausible. Collected in 2017 from several retailers' data, not Amazon data: direction transferable, thresholds not. | Study |
| Review sharing between variations | restricted since rollout 12 Feb–31 May 2026 | Shared only for minor differences without functional impact (color, pattern, size). No longer for functional differences. Announced in the German seller forum — applies to amazon.de. | Practice |
| A+ content, prerequisite | no extra fee; Professional account plus Brand Representative or Reseller role | The Professional account still costs. The Reseller role entitles to A+, Brand Stores, Sponsored Brands — not Brand Analytics. The generic-listing route is disputed; an Amazon employee contradicts it. | Amazon |
| A/B test (Manage Your Experiments) | recommended duration 8 to 10 weeks | Testable: images, titles, bullets, descriptions, A+ including Brand Story. Prerequisite: Professional account and Brand Representative role. With the “to significance” setting the test can also end earlier. | Amazon |
| Sales impact A+ (Amazon's own figure) | Basic up to 8 %, Premium up to 20 % | “Up to” is a ceiling, not an average; neither sample, period nor category stated. | Amazon |
| Sales impact detail-page video | up to +9.7 % | 90 days, US data 2022, methodology undisclosed; source is a forum thread. The circulating “3.6×” and “5×” compare viewers with non-viewers and measure self-selection. | Practice |
| Content Quality Analysis (A+) | weekly scoring since 22 Feb 2026 | “Needs Improvement” or “Meets Standards” for readability, completeness, presentation, conversion effectiveness. Approval is no longer the end of the review. | Practice |
| Featured Offer, eligibility check | phased out from July 2026, worldwide by end of 2026 | Selection criteria unchanged: price, delivery speed, performance. Being considered doesn't mean being featured. Forum announcement, no help page. | Practice |
| Target audience, Other attributes, Platinum keywords | not listed as “indexed by search” | Second column “Used by browse” — not ineffective, but prioritize last. No Amazon statement on Platinum. | Practice |
| COSMO (Amazon knowledge graph) | +60 % Macro-F1 versus baseline (research benchmark) | No statement on revenue or ranking. Relations from customer behavior, not listing copy. | Amazon |
| Amazon Posts | discontinued: no new posts since June 2025, program ended July 2025 | Replacement per Amazon: Brand Stores and Amazon Live. A guide still recommending Posts in 2026 isn't maintained. | Amazon |
The AURELO set is fully developed and part of the core range. By the table: straight to the largest tier (up to 30 units, €170), because the ASIN can only be enrolled once and the tier can't be changed later. The fee only falls due if the first review arrives within 90 days — with 30 units shipped that's practically certain. Whoever starts with “2 units for €0” saves €170 and gives up 28 review chances they can never recover. For a product that isn't finished the answer is the reverse: don't enroll until it is — Vine reviews count toward the average and don't go away on request.
6Numbers without a source: what you can strike
These numbers circulate in guides, forums and agency posts. They didn't survive verification: either the source couldn't be found, it said something other than claimed, or it was so old it no longer proves anything today.
| Claim | Why struck | What applies instead |
|---|---|---|
| “Bullets may have 500 characters” | No verified source gives 500 — neither as a policy nor as a field length | 10 to 255 characters, 150 in some categories; the category's style guide |
| “Amazon rejects images under 1,600 px” | Three thresholds mixed up: 500–10,000 px required, over 1,000 px for zoom, 1,600 is a third-party recommendation | 2,000 × 2,000 px sidesteps the argument |
| “Vine costs €200 per ASIN” | US price in dollars | amazon.de: €0 / 70 / 170 per tier |
| “82 % of all sales run through the Buy Box; losing it costs 50–80 % of revenue” | Cited source says something else; no Amazon publication; if at all only multi-seller ASINs | Your own Featured Offer percentage as a curve |
| “Conversion rate = 30 % of the ranking” (and any other weighting) | Amazon publishes no weightings | Two stages of search; direction instead of percent |
| “A listing change takes effect after 72 hours” | Login help page, not verifiable | Wait, one change per cycle, ASIN test |
| “Only 1–2 % of orders lead to a review — for 30 reviews you need 1,500–3,000 units” | Named source doesn't contain the number | Measure your own rate; use “Request a Review” consistently |
| “Prime members convert at 74 %, non-members at 13 %” | Eleven years old (2015), behind a registration wall; measures customer selection, not badge effect | Your own conversion rate over time |
| “Seven images convert 35 % better, a video brings up to 144 %” | No period, no sample, no author | At least 6 images (Amazon recommendation); video up to +9.7 % (US 2022, practice) |
| “Rufus has 300 million users / 12 billion USD incremental / 13.7 % of queries” | The numbers aren't on the cited Amazon pages | Documented: Rufus draws answers from catalog, reviews, questions; customers using Rufus are likelier to buy per Amazon's own figure (correlation) |
| “Amazon made the Buy Box fulfillment-neutral at the end of 2025” | No Amazon document; the pages claiming it cite each other | Criteria: price, delivery speed, performance (2026 announcement) |
| “Premium A+ from 5 million USD annual revenue” / “Premium A+ for everyone since May 2026” | First: A+ is free for eligible sellers per Amazon. Second: single trade report without Amazon announcement, amazon.de unclear | Check in the A+ Content Manager whether Premium modules are selectable |
| “Category-specific title limits: 80 characters apparel, 60 handmade” | Single guide page, style guides not linked | 75 characters; look up your category's style guide yourself |
| “Violating the WEEE duty risks fines of €100,000” | Source only documents the duty, not the range | Registration per country — don't state a fine amount without a reference |
Adopting a struck number anyway as a “safety margin” — say 1,600 pixels as a minimum because it “can't hurt”. It hurts when you therefore consider a 1,200-pixel catalog rejected and reshoot it. Take the documented value and the practice recommendation, not the circulating number in between.
7Expert insight: deciding contradictory limits — the conservative corridor
In three rows of this lesson the sources contradict each other — partly Amazon itself: backend bytes (250 / 249 / 200), bullet length (255 / 150 per category) and the 14-day review period (brand owners only or everyone). Professionals don't decide such cases by a vote of the sources but via the conservative corridor: of all credible limits the strictest applies, minus a safety margin covering measurement error. That costs space but spares the question of what happens on exceeding — which no source answers.
- Rule 1 — the strictest credible limit: backend 200 bytes, not 249. Bullets 150 characters if your category reports that, otherwise 255. Review period: without Registry, assume zero days.
- Rule 2 — margin for measurement error: every editor counts characters differently (trailing spaces, special characters); Word doesn't count bytes at all. Stay five percent below the limit.
- Rule 3 — the latest German announcement beats the older public page: Amazon's SEO page states 200 title characters, the announcement of 10 June 2026 in German Seller Central 75. 75 applies.
- Rule 4 — document the decision: in the rule register (lesson 11) the column “our value” with reasoning and date sits next to the limit. If Amazon ever clarifies the question, you change one row, not your understanding.
German search terms average 9 to 11 characters; with a space and an umlaut on every third word, one word costs about 11 to 12 bytes. Corridor: 200 bytes minus 5 percent margin = 190 bytes → about 16 to 17 words. Whoever plans with 249 bytes instead and counts characters rather than bytes enters up to 249 characters — with twelve umlauts that's 261 bytes, above every one of the three numbers Amazon gives. What happens to the field then, no source says; the widespread claim that the entire field drops out of the index is equally undocumented. The 17 words in the corridor are safe; words 18 to 25 are a bet with an unknown stake.
Limits change in waves: bullets 15 Aug 2024, title 27 July 2026, batteries 18 Aug 2025, AI Act 2 Aug 2026, environmental claims 27 Sept 2026, Featured Offer by end of 2026, review sharing by 31 May 2026. Two sources are enough to miss nothing: “News and Announcements” in German Seller Central and the Händlerbund's online-retailer news. Thirty minutes once a quarter — and the table of this lesson stays yours, not a 2023 blog's.
The first lessons of every track are open to everyone. From here on you just need a free account — no subscription, no costs.
- 2Copy: title, highlights, bullets, description, backend
- 3Images: size, format, background, count, AI labeling
- 4Law: GPSR, unit price, textiles, EPR, batteries, environment, AI
- 5Reviews, offer, brand: Vine, star average, A+, experiments, Featured Offer
- 6Numbers without a source: what you can strike
- 7Expert insight: deciding contradictory limits — the conservative corridor
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Frequently asked
Why are there three different byte numbers for the backend here?
Because Amazon itself gives three: 250 bytes in the US seller forum, 249 in the European forum and 200 in a reply to flat-file error 97779. What exactly happens on exceeding, none of these sources says. Hence the conservative corridor: stay under 200 bytes, measure with a UTF-8 byte counter.
Does the limits table also apply to amazon.com or amazon.fr?
Partly. Amazon's catalog rules — title, images, bullets, backend — largely apply across marketplaces, but announcements reach marketplaces at different times. The legal rows are German or European, Vine prices are national. Check every number in the Seller Central of the respective marketplace before adopting it.
How often do these values change?
In waves — in 2024 to 2026 alone: bullet requirements (August 2024), title 200 → 75 characters (July 2026), batteries (August 2025), AI Act (August 2026), environmental claims (September 2026), Featured Offer (by end of 2026). Thirty minutes once a quarter in the news of German Seller Central and the Händlerbund news keep the table current.
Check your listing for free against the rules from this lesson — or have Listimo build the whole listing from one product photo: images, copy and A+ content.
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