Home / The Amazon 24-hour reply rule, in plain English
The Amazon 24-hour reply rule, in plain English
Amazon expects sellers to answer buyer messages within 24 hours, including weekends and holidays. Missing it can hurt your account health. Here is a practical way to run it with a small team.
Last updated 26 October 2026. Rules can change. Always confirm in Seller Central help.
The short version
- Reply to buyer-seller messages within 24 hours of receiving them. Amazon states this in its seller policies.
- Messages that need no reply, such as a plain thank-you, can usually be left, but check the current guidance.
- Keep replies inside Amazon messaging. Do not add links, contact details or promotions, and never ask for a review or feedback in a message.
A routine that works for small teams
- Check twice a day, including weekends. Set a morning and an evening time.
- Sort by time left, not by time received. The message closest to its deadline goes first.
- Use templates for the common cases: where is my order, return request, damaged item, wrong item.
- Hand off clearly. If you are away, someone else owns the inbox with a note of what is waiting.
- Escalate safety and claim words (injury, fire, A-to-z) to the owner straight away.
How MarketplaceHQ 365 helps
The customer inbox shows an SLA countdown on every Amazon thread, drafts replies from the real order for a person to approve, checks the draft against Amazon messaging rules, and translates German and French buyer messages. It does not send replies without approval.
Straight answers
Does the 24 hours include weekends?
Amazon's standard is 24 hours including weekends and holidays. Confirm in Seller Central help, as policies change.
Can I ask for a review in a message?
No. Use Amazon's official request-a-review button, which is the only approved route.
Can software reply automatically?
Software can draft replies. We recommend a person approves each one, and our inbox works that way by default.
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