These steps are only valid for ASINs that face genuine state restrictions. Amazon will not impose shipping restrictions to some states because it would be convenient for the seller, and as will be indicated below, it’s not worth trying to do it if the reason (rule) doesn’t exist. Amazon will simply not do it; heck Amazon will likely take months before enforcing necessary state restrictions.
For the sake of the exercise, let’s imagine that we are selling Styrofoam cups. According to Google, as of December of 2025, 12 states have banned the use of Styrofoam cups. These states are CA, CO, DE, MD, ME, NJ, NY, OR, RI, VA, VT, WA. It is the seller’s responsibility to notify Amazon and the customers of said restrictions. Also, ASINs are supposed to be generic, not seller specific, so while I’d recommend writing on the item’s description “not for use here and there” it is against policy to say: “we will not ship here and there”.
To the question, is it worth selling products that are restricted in 25% of the contiguous 48, including CA and NY?, in my experience the answer is yes. It’s a no-brainer, but some ASINs will definitely suffer, and their rankings will plumet, creating a downward spiral for set item. Also, AFAIK, sponsor campaigns continue to show the product regardless of state restrictions, so there’s that. On the other hand, the price of having the peace-of-mind of having enforced the restrictions and knowing that you won’t receive a 5 digit fine per day for something that “it’s not really my fault” (it is), is actually very easy to calculate. On many cases it is literally up to 5 digits per day that each offending item is in the restricted state. So, yes, for serious businesses/brands/sellers enforcing the restrictions should be a must.
Steps to request the enforcement of restrictions:
- Create the ASIN. Steps also work for existing ASINs
- Go to Google and look specifically for “Rule that prohibits use of Styrofoam cups in _____” insert each state. So for instance, for CA, you will find that it is the Senate Bill (SB) 54, Plastic Pollution prevention and Packaging Producer, Responsibility Act, Chapter 75, Section 1, subchapter 3. The seller needs to have all this information and a link to the rule for each state. I recommend keeping a spreadsheet
- Take a big sigh, and try to open a case with Seller Support. On the current configuration, it may look something like this:
- In “Select common issue or describe yours” click “My issue is not listed”
- In “What do you need help with” Write a freaking novel. Write the whole problem, not a line, the whole problem. Start with “Self-report a non-compliant ASIN” that used to be more important, when cases had a name, now they are whatever. But I’m nothing if not for tradition. And then say “I need to enforce state restrictions on ASINs xxxx,yyyy,zzzz, on the following states due to rule aaaaaa. Write the rule as indicated above and paste the link. Do that all 12 times in this little section
- In “What steps have I already taken”, I’m super anti AI and this BS, so I usually say “I’m trying to open a case because that’s the only way to do this”
- “Include any relevant numbers” write the ASINs again
- Click continue
- I always open cases via email. Phone or chat, is not useful for a problem that may take anywhere from weeks to months
- Now you wait. The first response will come relatively quickly; it can be any variation of:
- “This can’t be done”. Here is up to you to either fight the rep and say “yes it can, TallyTony told me that it can be done” (don’t say that, just say that it can be done and has to be escalated) or you can also say “thanks for your help” and start the case again.
- They can respond saying “we are escalating this to the right team”. This is the desired outcome but is not a promise of success.
And that’s it. It’s not guaranteed that it will be implemented on the first try, and it is very possible that as they ping-pong the case they will ask for the same information (rules and ASINs) multiple times. So, keep the spreadsheet at hand.
Things that may happen:
- Your ASIN may become inactive while they look at it. This can take a long time.
- Some states have partial restrictions (only some zips) Amazon doesn’t care. Is all or nothing, like a Sith, it deals in absolutes. My recommendation: take the fall and implement the restrictions throughout the whole state. Don’t assume that there’s a lot of NY outside of NYC. Is not worth it. NYC made the rule, the Adirondacks will have to follow it too. If not now, eventually.
- If a variation family already has state-restrictions in place, new children will not have them automatically. It’s ridiculous, it’s silly, it’s Amazon. You will need to do the process for the new additions to the family.
- Restrictions should apply both for FBM and FBA. In other words, the conditions are on the ASIN, not the sku