Cross $10,000 a month for three months and Amazon requires you to be insured

Key takeaways

• the trigger at $10,000 in sales during three consecutive months, and the requirement at $1 million per occurrence with $2 million general aggregate, including products and completed operations coverage.
• Amazon must be named as an additional insured. Wording varies slightly between sources — one gives 'Amazon.com Services LLC, its Affiliates and Assignees' — so use the wording Amazon's own current policy specifies.
• Occurrence-basis policies are required. claims-made policies are typically rejected because they need ongoing tail coverage to remain valid after cancellation.
• Cost for most ecommerce sellers is $50 to $200 a month for $1M/$2M general liability with product liability, scaling with revenue, category and claim history.
• Insurance is not only a compliance item. In July 2024 the CPSC found Amazon responsible for hazardous products sold by third-party sellers through FBA, and platform responsibility does not remove yours.

This is one of the few requirements on this site with a clean answer, a known cost and a fixed deadline. It is also one sellers routinely discover from a suppression warning rather than from planning.

01The requirement

the trigger as $10,000 in sales during three consecutive months.

The coverage required:

Item	Requirement
Type	Commercial general liability, including products and completed operations
Per occurrence	At least $1,000,000
General aggregate	$2,000,000
Basis	Occurrence, not claims-made
Deductible	As no higher than $10,000
Insured name	Must match your legal entity name, or DBA where applicable
Additional insured	Amazon, in the wording Amazon specifies
Certificate	Uploaded to Seller Central, within 30 days

02The details that cause rejections

Occurrence basis, not claims-made. claims-made policies are typically rejected, because they require ongoing tail coverage to remain valid after cancellation. On an ACORD 25 certificate, this is the OCCUR box — confirm it is checked.

The insured name has to match. Your legal entity name as it appears in Seller Central, or a properly registered DBA. A policy in a personal name for a business selling through an LLC will not satisfy it.

The additional insured wording. Sources give slightly different forms — one gives “Amazon.com Services LLC, its Affiliates and Assignees”, another “Amazon.com, Inc., and its affiliates and assignees”. Use the wording in Amazon’s own current policy page, not from an article. This is exactly the kind of detail that changes and that a broker will get wrong if you do not supply it.

Products liability specifically included. General liability alone is not sufficient; the policy must include products and completed operations coverage.

03Cost, and timing

Cost: $50 to $200 a month for $1M/$2M general liability with product liability, scaling with revenue, product category and claim history. One published estimate reports issuing a properly formatted certificate within 24 to 48 hours of a policy being bound.

Amazon giving a window — typically 30 to 60 days — to submit a compliant certificate before suppressing listings, and that submitting a correctly formatted certificate resolves most flags immediately.

Which means the failure mode is not usually the cost. It is the format. A seller with a valid policy and a wrongly worded certificate is non-compliant in the same way as a seller with no policy.

04Why this exists, and why it is not only compliance

The obvious reason is that Amazon does not want to be the only insured party when a product injures somebody.

The less obvious reason is the direction of regulatory travel. In July 2024 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission found Amazon responsible for hazardous products sold by third-party sellers through the Fulfilled by Amazon program. Legal commentary describes increasing regulatory focus on marketplace platforms’ role in product safety.

A platform being held responsible does not remove your responsibility. It makes the platform more insistent that you carry your own.

Which is the argument for reading the policy rather than filing the certificate. A product liability claim against a small seller is an existential event. The $1M/$2M limits are Amazon’s minimum, not a considered assessment of your exposure — and whether they are adequate depends on your category and volume.

05What else is worth considering

Reporting names coverage that general liability does not include:

Cyber liability. Data breaches and ransomware are excluded from both general liability and a business owner’s policy. If you hold customer data — including only email and shipping addresses — this is a separate policy.

Business owner’s policy (BOP). Bundles general liability, commercial property and business interruption. At $67 to $118 a month for small online retailers at standard limits, and described as usually better value than buying general liability and property separately where you hold inventory or equipment.

Product recall insurance. Recommended in reporting for food, supplement, cosmetic and electronics sellers. Given the CPSC direction described above, that list is worth taking seriously — see the compliance guide.

Workers’ compensation. Legally required in most states once you have employees.

06What to do

Check the threshold against your last three months before it arrives. It is measurable in advance.

Get the exact additional insured wording from Amazon’s own policy page and give it to your broker in writing.

Confirm OCCUR is checked and that products and completed operations are included.

Match the insured name to your legal entity exactly.

Upload the certificate promptly. the window as 30 to 60 days before listing suppression.

Read the policy once, particularly the exclusions. This is the only document on this site that pays out.

Reconsider the limits if you sell in a higher-risk category. Children’s products, supplements, cosmetics and anything electrical carry different exposure from a phone case, and Amazon’s minimum is a minimum.

This is not insurance advice. Coverage adequacy depends on your products, volume and jurisdiction, and a broker who has written policies for ecommerce sellers will ask better questions than an article can.

Check your last three months of gross proceeds in Business Reports. If any month crossed $10,000, the requirement already applies, and the certificate takes a week to obtain that Amazon will not give you when it asks.

Frequently asked

When does Amazon require insurance?

the trigger at $10,000 in sales during three consecutive months, at which point commercial general liability of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, including product liability, is required.

How much does it cost?

At $50 to $200 a month for $1M/$2M general liability with product liability, scaling with revenue, category and claim history.

Why was my certificate rejected?

Common reported causes: a claims-made rather than occurrence policy, an insured name that does not match your legal entity, incorrect additional insured wording, or products and completed operations coverage not being included.

What wording does Amazon need as additional insured?

Sources give slightly different forms. Take the wording from Amazon's own current policy page and give it to your broker in writing rather than copying it from an article.

What happens if I do not comply?

a window of typically 30 to 60 days to submit a compliant certificate before listings are suppressed, and non-compliance leading to account suspension.

Are the $1M/$2M limits enough?

They are Amazon's minimum, not an assessment of your exposure. Higher-risk categories — children's products, supplements, cosmetics, anything electrical — warrant a conversation with a broker about whether the minimum is adequate.

Sources

1. Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement, Section 9 — insurance (commercial general liability of at least $1 million per occurrence and in aggregate once gross proceeds exceed $10,000 in any month; Amazon and its assignees as additional insureds; certificate on request), Amazon Seller Central accessed 2026-09-05
2. Amazon COI requirements 2026 ($1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 general aggregate including products/completed operations; additional insured wording; occurrence basis required and claims-made typically rejected; 30–60 day window before suppression; $50–$200 per month typical cost), Ashlin Hadden Insurance Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
3. Ecommerce business insurance requirements USA (trigger at $10,000 in sales across three consecutive months; certificate upload within 30 days; cyber liability excluded from GL and BOP; BOP at $67–$118 per month; recall insurance for food, supplement, cosmetic and electronics sellers), Trust My Policy Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
4. Amazon seller general liability insurance requirements (at least $1 million per occurrence; product liability specifically included; deductible no higher than $10,000; insured name matching the legal entity or DBA; additional insured requirement), Simply Business Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
5. CPSC finds Amazon responsible for hazardous products sold by third-party sellers (July 2024 determination regarding the FBA program), Holland & Knight, via JD Supra Secondary accessed 2026-09-05