Amazon product description rules: 2,000 characters, no HTML, and what to put in them

The product description sits below the bullets and, for brand-registered sellers, is replaced on the page by A+ Content. That is why so many descriptions are either empty or a paste of the bullets. Both are mistakes: the description is indexed for search, it is shown in placements where A+ is not (the app's "Product information" view, some mobile layouts, syndicated listings), and it is one of the fields Amazon's shopping assistant reads when it answers questions about the product.

The limits

• 2,000 characters, spaces included. Some categories allow less; the category style guide has the number.
• Plain text. Amazon stopped supporting HTML tags in descriptions in 2021. Bold, italics and lists are no longer rendered; a <b> tag shows up as text, or gets stripped along with the words around it. Line breaks are the one formatting that still works in most categories: separate paragraphs with a blank line.
• No promotions, prices, shipping details, guarantees, contact information, external links, or quoted reviews. The same list as for bullets.
• No claims you cannot support. Medical claims, #1, best-selling, environmental claims without certification.

Description and A+ Content

The rule that follows: fill the description even when you have A+. Write it as plain text that stands on its own, and let A+ carry the visuals.

A structure that works

Five short paragraphs, each with one job, roughly 300 to 400 characters apiece:

1. What it is and who it is for. One or two sentences that a shopper could quote to a friend.
2. How it is used. The routine: when, how often, how much, with what.
3. What is in it, or what it is made of. The facts behind the claims: ingredients, materials, construction.
4. What to know before buying. Sizing, fit, compatibility, what it is not for. This is the paragraph that prevents returns.
5. What is in the box. Contents, quantity, what is sold separately.

Keywords go where they read naturally. The description is indexed, so the phrases the title and bullets could not hold belong here in their natural form, once each.

Worked example

A 32 oz insulated bottle, 987 characters:

Hydrova is a 32 oz double-wall stainless steel bottle for people who want one bottle for the gym, the office and the trail. Vacuum insulation keeps water cold for 24 hours and tea or coffee hot for 12.

Fill it with ice in the morning and it is still ice at the end of the day. The wide mouth takes ice cubes and a bottle brush; the leak-proof lid has a carry loop and a soft-touch spout that opens with one hand.

The body is 18/8 food-grade stainless steel with a powder-coated finish that does not sweat or slip. The lid and spout are BPA-free polypropylene and silicone. Nothing in contact with your drink is plastic except the spout.

At 3.6 inches across, the bottle fits most car cup holders and bike cages; check your holder if it is narrower than 3.7 inches. It is not for carbonated drinks, and the powder coat is hand-wash only. The lid is dishwasher safe.

In the box: one 32 oz bottle, one leak-proof lid with spout, one cleaning brush. Replacement lids are sold separately.

Every paragraph answers one question, the sizing caveat is where a return would otherwise come from, and the phrases insulated bottle, stainless steel, cup holder and leak-proof lid each appear once, in sentences.

What gets a description removed

• Formatting tags, including <br> in categories that no longer render it, and Unicode decorations meant to fake formatting
• Contact details, URLs, "visit our website"
• Warranty or guarantee language, including lifetime warranty
• Prices, discounts, limited time
• Text copied from a competitor's page, which Amazon detects and which is also a policy violation

Checklist

• Under 2,000 characters, plain text, paragraphs separated by blank lines
• Adds what the bullets could not: routine, materials, caveats, box contents
• No promotions, guarantees, links, contact details or quoted reviews
• Every claim is true of the product and consistent with the title, bullets and images
• Filled even when A+ Content is live

Where Cobalt12 fits

Cobalt12 writes the description after the title, highlights and bullets, so it adds to them instead of repeating them, and meters it against the limit. You can try it on your own product; the first listing is free.

For the rest of the copy, see the 75-character title rule, bullet point rules and backend keywords.

This article reflects Amazon's published requirements as of September 2026. Category style guides can set a lower limit or allow formatting, so check the guide for yours.