Short answer: an insert in an Amazon order may not send the buyer to your own website to shop, sign up or buy. Amazon’s Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct, as quoted in Amazon’s seller forums, says you “may not attempt to circumvent the Amazon sales process or divert Amazon customers to another website.”
Amazon staff have allowed thank-you notes, social media handles and QR codes to warranty or support pages, but have also said a QR code to an external website is not allowed. The safe reading of the Amazon package insert policy on your own website is the strict one.
That matters most to a seller who is planning a store of their own. The insert is the one piece of paper that reaches every Amazon buyer, so it is tempting to use it as a bridge. This article sets out what Amazon has said, where its own staff answers disagree, and a way to design an insert you can defend.
Last checked: September 25, 2026. Every Amazon statement below was read on Amazon’s own Seller Central pages on that date. Amazon’s policies change and its full policy pages sit behind the Seller Central login, so confirm the current wording in your own account before you print anything.
What the written rule says
The rule that governs this is not a separate “insert policy.” It is the section of Amazon’s Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct on circumventing the sales process. A seller quoting it in a Seller Central forum thread on circumventing the sales process (checked on 2026-09-25) gives the wording as:
“You may not attempt to circumvent the Amazon sales process or divert Amazon customers to another website. This means that you may not provide links or messages that prompt users to visit any external website or complete a transaction elsewhere.”
Two phrases carry the weight. “Divert Amazon customers to another website” covers any attempt to move the buyer away. “Prompt users to visit any external website” is broader still: it does not require a sale on the other side, only a prompt to go there.
Communication has a rule of its own. An Amazon staff post in the seller forums states: “All communications with customers must be sent through the Buyer-Seller Messaging system and be necessary for order fulfillment or customer service.” The same post adds: “Marketing communications are prohibited.”
Reviews are a third line. An older post from Amazon’s official News_Amazon account says: “Amazon policies prohibit box inserts and product packaging that direct customers to write a positive review, even if no incentive is offered for the review.” It also says: “Directing customers to contact you instead of leaving a negative review on Amazon is also prohibited.”
What Amazon staff have said, side by side
The written rule is short. The questions sellers ask are specific, and Amazon staff accounts in the Seller Central forums have answered them. Read together, the answers do not fully agree.
| Staff account (as shown in the forum) | What was asked | What the reply said |
|---|---|---|
| KJ_Amazon | Links to your site and social addresses on inserts | “basic links and information are allowed, but we prohibit offering discounts or incentives, or asking customers to leave specific product reviews.” |
| Roberto_Amazon | QR codes and social media on inserts | “Yes, links to your social media handles can be included in the product inserts or on the product packaging.” Acceptable QR uses listed: “the Amazon review submission page, a warranty page, or a product (technical) support page.” |
| Roberto_Amazon | A QR code that leads to an external website | The QR “will link to an external website, which is not allowed and enforced by either removing the product or removing selling privileges.” |
The Roberto_Amazon post on product inserts and QR codes (checked on 2026-09-25) is the most detailed of these. It also warns that a QR code “must not divert conversations between the seller and the buyer off Amazon.”
So one staff answer calls “basic links” allowed, and another calls a QR code to an external website not allowed. A warranty page or support page usually lives on your own domain, which is an external website. Forum replies are not policy documents, and none of these threads is a substitute for the Code of Conduct.
They do show that a seller who reads “basic links are allowed” as permission to print a store URL is relying on one reply, while another reply on the same forum says the opposite.
Why the strict reading is the one to plan around
When two readings of a rule exist, the cost of being wrong is not symmetric.
If you follow the strict reading and it turns out Amazon would have allowed more, you lose a little reach from one card. If you follow the loose reading and an enforcement team reads it the other way, the consequence named in Roberto_Amazon’s reply is “removing the product or removing selling privileges.”
For a seller whose income still runs through Amazon while a new store is being built, that is the one outcome the whole plan cannot absorb.
There is also a practical point. An insert is printed in bulk and sits in stock. If you are an FBA seller and the wording turns out to be a problem, the News_Amazon post says non-compliant stock already in a fulfillment center can be pulled with a removal order. That is a real cost in fees and time, which is covered in Amazon’s seller fees explained.
This is general information about Amazon’s published statements, not legal advice. If your account’s standing or a specific insert design is at stake, ask Amazon Seller Support in writing through Seller Central, and consider a qualified adviser for anything contractual.
What an insert can safely do
Within the strict reading, an insert still has useful jobs. Based on the staff statements above, the lower-risk contents are:
- A thank-you. Roberto_Amazon’s earlier reply says insert cards “can be used to thank customers for their purchases.”
- Product use and care instructions. Information that helps the buyer use what they bought is part of customer service.
- A route to support inside Amazon. Telling the buyer to reach you through Amazon’s messaging keeps the conversation where the policy says it belongs.
- A neutral review request. A request to leave a review “based only on their experience,” with no incentive and no steering toward positive reviews.
- Your brand name and logo. The brand is on the product anyway. Naming it is not a prompt to visit anywhere.
The higher-risk contents, all of which the statements above either prohibit or disagree about, are:
- Any store URL, printed or behind a QR code, that leads to a page where the buyer can shop.
- Discount codes for anything off Amazon, or any incentive tied to a review.
- Email sign-up offers, “register your product” forms that are really list building, or giveaways.
- An email address or phone number presented as the place to contact you instead of Amazon messaging.
- Any wording that asks unhappy buyers to contact you before reviewing.
Warranty and support pages sit in between. One staff reply lists them as acceptable QR destinations, and another says a QR to an external website is not allowed. If you use one, it is safer for that page to carry support content only, with no shop links, no sign-up box and no navigation into a store.
The Amazon package insert policy and your own website: the plan that does not need the insert
The honest conclusion for a seller building a store is that the insert is the wrong bridge. It is the one place Amazon has written a rule for, and it reaches buyers who are, in Amazon’s words, Amazon customers.
The customers a store keeps come from other routes. A buyer who likes your product and searches for your brand name can find your website on their own; nothing in the policy text quoted above stops you from owning that search result.
The work that brings people to a new store, organic search, social accounts, a list built from your own site’s visitors, is covered in where your customers come from after you leave a marketplace. An email list has to start from your own traffic, not from Amazon buyer data, and building an email list from zero in the first 90 days walks through that from the store side.
Orders placed on your own store are a different case. Those customers are yours, and the box you send them can carry whatever insert you like. If you fulfill store orders through Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment, check Amazon’s current packaging options for those orders before you plan any printed material.
A method for checking your own insert
Before printing, run each line of the insert through four questions:
- Does this line prompt the buyer to visit a website that is not Amazon? If yes, remove it, unless it is a support-only page and you have accepted the risk the conflicting staff answers leave.
- Does it offer anything in exchange for an action? A discount, gift, entry or refund in exchange for a review or a sign-up is prohibited in the statements above.
- Does it route communication off Amazon? Contact details that replace Amazon messaging conflict with the staff post saying all communications go through Buyer-Seller Messaging.
- Does it shape the review? Asking only for positive reviews, or asking unhappy buyers to contact you first, is prohibited in the News_Amazon post.
If every line passes, the insert is built on the strict reading. Keep a dated copy of the design and of the policy wording you relied on, so you can show what you checked if the question ever comes up.
This is also a good point to ask how much of your business depends on keeping the account in good standing. Scoring your marketplace dependency risk gives you a structured way to see that exposure before you decide how hard to push any gray area.
FAQ
Can I put my website URL on an Amazon package insert?
The Code of Conduct wording quoted in Amazon’s seller forums says you may not provide links or messages that prompt users to visit any external website. One Amazon staff reply said basic links are allowed, and another said a QR code to an external website is not allowed. The lower-risk choice is to leave the store URL off.
Can I include social media handles on an Amazon insert?
An Amazon staff post in the Seller Central forums says links to your social media handles can be included on product inserts or packaging. The same post says communication must stay in Buyer-Seller Messaging and that marketing communications are prohibited.
Can I offer a discount on my own store in an Amazon insert?
Amazon staff replies say offering discounts or incentives is prohibited, and the circumvention rule bars prompting a transaction elsewhere. A discount for your own store combines both problems.
What happens if Amazon finds a non-compliant insert?
An Amazon staff reply describes enforcement by “removing the product or removing selling privileges.” Amazon’s News_Amazon post says non-compliant stock in a fulfillment center can be removed with a removal order.
Do these rules apply to orders from my own Shopify store?
The circumvention rule is about Amazon customers and the Amazon sales process. Orders placed on your own store are not Amazon orders. If Amazon fulfills them through Multi-Channel Fulfillment, check Amazon’s current packaging rules for those orders.