Video for Amazon and E-commerce Listings: Rules and Practical Tips

Check the current rules first

Marketplace rules change, and the authoritative version is the one shown in Seller Central when you upload. What follows is based on Amazon's own seller blog (May 2025) and on summaries of Seller Central's guidelines, checked on 30 September 2026. Use it to plan, then confirm in your account before you produce anything.

Who can upload

According to Amazon's seller blog, both brand-registered and non-brand-registered sellers can add shoppable videos, as long as they have a Professional selling account, at least three months of selling history and live listings. Videos are uploaded in Seller Central under Catalog, then Upload and Manage Videos. Amazon also offers video in A+ Content, which needs Brand Registry or a Professional account with generic products.

Shoppable videos appear in the main media block at the top of the product page, next to the images, while A+ Content videos appear further down in the product description. For a setup or assembly film, the main media block is usually the better place, because that is where shoppers look for video.

The specs Amazon publishes

The seller blog lists these for shoppable videos:

• Format: .mov or .mp4
• Resolution: up to 1080p, highest available quality recommended
• File size: up to 5 GB
• Length: between 1 and 12 minutes
• Up to 4 shoppable videos per ASIN
• Video type chosen at upload: product overview, unboxing, how-to, setup, troubleshooting, brand story or other
• The video shows in the main media block only if the product has fewer than six images

Content rules sellers commonly report

Summaries of Seller Central's video guidelines, such as eComEngine's, list rules like these:

• No prices, promotions, discount words or time-limited offers
• Do not direct viewers away from Amazon, so no website addresses or QR codes in the video
• Claims must be supported by evidence
• No health or medical claims
• For amazon.com, the video must be in English

Adapting a film for Amazon

The published length of 1 to 12 minutes matters if you are used to making 30-second clips for social media. A very short film may need to be extended, for example by adding the parts overview and a closing summary, or you may need to check whether a shorter clip is accepted in your marketplace. Confirm this in Seller Central before you order or edit.

Most brands make one master film and export a marketplace version. For Amazon that usually means removing your web address, QR code and any "buy on our site" end card, replacing them with a plain logo end card, and checking every on-screen claim against your listing. If the video has a voice-over, make sure captions are burned in or supplied, since many shoppers browse muted.

Choose the video type that matches the content. An assembly film belongs under how-to or setup, where a customer who has just bought, or is checking effort before buying, will look for it.

What to put in a listing video

A shopper on a listing is still deciding. The most useful video answers the doubts that photos cannot: how big it really is, how it moves or folds, and how much effort it takes to get it working. A practical order for a product that needs assembly:

• The finished product in use, for a few seconds
• What is in the box: parts and hardware laid out
• The assembly or setup steps, clearly numbered
• The finished result again, with one or two key dimensions on screen
• A plain end card with the brand logo and product name

Upload and title it well

Give the video a plain, descriptive title that includes the product name and what it shows, for example "KX200 desk: assembly in 12 steps", and pick a clear thumbnail. If the same video applies to several variations, Amazon lets you add related ASINs and variations at upload, which saves uploading the same file several times. Keep a note of which ASINs use which video, so you can replace them together when the product changes. After upload, check the listing on both desktop and phone once it is approved; Amazon notes that videos typically appear within three days after approval.

Why an assembly film earns its place

Amazon states that product detail pages with their first shoppable video saw an average 24% increase in sales compared with those without. That is Amazon's own figure, without a published method, so treat it as indicative. For products that need assembling, a setup video also answers the question that sits behind many returns and one-star reviews: will I be able to build this? Our guide to reducing returns covers that side.

Other marketplaces and your own shop

Other marketplaces have their own specs and review processes, so keep your master file in the highest quality and export per channel. On your own store there are no such limits: put the full film on the product page, add it to a support page per model, and link it from a QR code in the manual. Manual to Video makes the assembly film from your existing PDF manual in your brand colours and logo; for a brand or explainer film, nine.film, our sister product, makes one from your website. Films from Manual to Video are made with AI and marked as generated, so check the current marketplace policy on AI-generated media when you upload.