Here is an example. Say you run an Ayurvedic beauty brand in Kochi. On Amazon.in, your best sellers are a kajal, a neem face wash with “anti-bacterial” printed on the front, a henna powder for hair and a pack of mehendi cones. The listings are good, and the reviews are strong. Now you want to sell the same products on Amazon.com.
Amazon has a tool for this, called Build International Listings. It copies your offers from one store to another. But the tool does not check whether a product is allowed in the US. Amazon says that is the seller’s job.
In this example, two of the four products cannot be sold on Amazon.com at all. The face wash can go, but not with those words on its listing. Only the henna for hair is allowed as a product, and even its label needs checking.
The good news: most of the craft is the same
If your Amazon.in listings are well made, most of that work carries over. The image rules are the same on both stores, almost word for word: a pure white background, the product filling 85% of the frame, and images large enough to zoom. Since 27 July 2026, both stores also limit titles in most categories to 75 characters, with a new “Item highlights” field of 125 characters under the title. A+ Content works the same way on both, and Basic and Premium A+ are free on both. Backend search terms have the same limit too.
A few things do not carry over by themselves. Product videos are shared automatically only between Amazon.com and Amazon.ca, so every video on your Amazon.in listing has to be uploaded again on Amazon.com. The US bullet rules are also a little stricter. Amazon.com does not allow words written in capitals, short forms such as “qty” or “w/”, or details that have their own field, such as fabric, care instructions or country of origin. On both stores, the ™ and ® symbols are not allowed in bullets, and many Indian listings add them after the brand name.
Claims: where most listings break
The biggest change is in what you are allowed to say. Amazon’s US claims policy covers everything on the product page, including the images and the packaging in them. Every claim must be true, and you must be able to prove it.
You cannot say a product treats, cures or prevents a disease unless the US drug regulator, the FDA, has approved it. Amazon’s list of disease claims includes “anti-bacterial”, “anti-fungal” and “anti-microbial”. So the face wash in our example needs new words, and a new pack shot if “anti-bacterial” is printed on the front. You also cannot say “FDA approved” unless the product really is. Words like “eco-friendly”, “green” and “sustainable” need proof as well.
Textiles have a trap of their own. In the US, a product that claims to kill or block germs, mould, mildew or dust mites can count as a pesticide under US law. Amazon’s examples include antimicrobial socks and an antibacterial mattress. Pesticide products need registration with the US environment regulator, and Amazon does not allow them to be sold by sellers who are not US residents. For an Indian brand, the simple answer is to drop those claims from the US listing.
Products that cannot go at all
Some everyday Indian products are not allowed on Amazon.com. Amazon’s cosmetics policy bans eye makeup that contains kohl, kajal or surma. The FDA treats these as illegal colour additives. The same policy bans henna made or sold for use on skin, which includes mehendi cones. Henna sold as a hair dye is not part of that ban, which is why the henna powder in our example can go.
Amazon.com also bans skin products that contain mercury, and it asks for testing by an Amazon-approved lab before skin-lightening products can be sold.
Words that mean something else in the US
Some product words that are normal in India do not work in the US.
“Pashmina” is not an accepted fibre name on Amazon.com. A shawl must use the generic fibre name, such as cashmere or wool. “Bamboo” on its own is not allowed for fabric. It must be “rayon made from bamboo”. Jewellery sold as “silver” or “sterling silver” must contain at least 92.5% silver.
The word “Indian” needs care too. Under a US law, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, “Indian” refers to Native American tribes. Amazon.com restricts the word when it could suggest that a product was made by a Native American artisan. For crafts such as jewellery, pottery, rugs and clothing, “Made in India” is clearer.
“Organic” is the last one. To call food or drink organic on Amazon.com, it must be certified under the US Department of Agriculture’s organic rules. The USDA stopped recognising India Organic certification in 2021. An Indian product sold as organic in the US now needs a certifier that the USDA has accredited.
Labels, sizes and units
For cosmetics, Amazon can ask for photos of your label, and the whole label must be in English. It must show the net contents in US units, such as ounces, not only in grams. It must also give a US address, phone number, website or email where customers can report side effects. This comes from the US cosmetics law, MoCRA. Our guide to the US paperwork Amazon asks for covers these rules in more detail.
Clothing and shoes use US sizes. The US store shows only US shoe sizes. Clothing sizes must come from Amazon’s fixed list, such as Small, Medium and Large, and size charts must use inches. Amazon also advises using the words local shoppers use. Its own example is that a US shopper types “cookies” where a UK shopper types “biscuits”. No Amazon rule asks for American spelling, but your keywords should match what US shoppers search for.
Your trademark
You can enrol in Brand Registry with an Indian trademark, because India has an Amazon store. But Amazon’s own pages do not agree on whether that is enough for Amazon.com. Amazon’s US guide for Indian sellers says one approved trademark gives you a Brand Registry account for every store. Amazon’s Global Selling page in India says the trademark should be in force in each country where you register. An Amazon staff reply on the US seller forums says that to report someone copying your brand in the US, you should hold a US trademark.
Our view: if the US is going to matter to your brand, file a US trademark. Through Amazon’s IP Accelerator, the law firm’s fee for a US filing is capped at $700, plus government fees. An Indian company filing in the US must use a US-licensed attorney. Amazon’s guide to selling from India to the US explains how Brand Registry and the other steps fit together, and our Brand Registry guide covers the Indian side.
Where we come in
We make listings, images, A+ Content and videos for brands that sell on Amazon.com, including Indian brands that sell through Global Selling. When a brand moves to the US, we go through every listing before it goes live. We rewrite claims so they meet Amazon’s US policies, fit titles within 75 characters, set up the Item highlights, change sizes and units, and upload the A+ and video again on Amazon.com. We also tell you which products Amazon.com does not allow, before you ship them. Our listing work and A+ Content pages explain more.
We are not lawyers or testing labs. Trademarks and lab tests need specialists. But most of the problems in this article are in the words and pictures on the page, and those are ours to fix.
