How to Automate Amazon Review Requests (I Used to Click Them by Hand)

Before February, I clicked Amazon’s Request a Review button by hand: open the order, press the button, confirm, next order. It’s a horrible task and a very time-consuming one, and every order you don’t get to is a buyer who’s never asked.

Since February 25 the request has gone out automatically on my account. In the last 90 days that was 2,844 requests on my US orders.

What Request a Review is

Every order in Seller Central has a Request a Review button. Press it and Amazon sends the buyer its own standard message asking for a product review and seller feedback, in the buyer’s language. You can’t change the wording or add anything to it, and because the message is Amazon’s, there’s nothing in it that can break the rules.

It has two limits: once per order, and only 5 to 30 days after the order is delivered.

Amazon offers the same action to software through its Solicitations API. A tool connected to your account sends exactly what the button sends, under the same limits. That’s why automating it is allowed. (Where the line is, and what gets accounts suspended.)

When the request goes out

Amazon counts its 5 to 30 days from delivery, not from the order, so timing is the hard part. Ask too early and Amazon refuses. My wait does two jobs: it stays inside Amazon’s window, and it allows for shipping.

On my account, RedHen Labs reads Amazon’s order notifications to see when each order ships, then waits the delay I’ve chosen (10, 14 or 21 days) before asking. A cancelled order is never asked.

Which products get asked

Requests are on or off per product, and I have two off. One is a soft paste wax I’ve discontinued. The other is an exterior oil I switched off at the end of August, and writing this, I realized it probably needs to be turned back on.

A switched-off product gives no sign. Its buyers just stop being asked, so check the list now and then.

What changed

My review count went up. The ratings stayed fairly consistent, and there was no increase in complaints or anything like that. Asking every buyer, not just the happy ones, didn’t bring more complaints.

Why I pair it with profit

More reviews lift conversion, but conversion on a product that loses money just loses money faster. Before you push for reviews on a product, know its real profit per product: what’s left after Amazon’s fees, product cost and ad spend.

That’s the $19 Review plan: Amazon’s own Request a Review on every eligible order, on the delay you choose, with per-product switches and real profit per product in the same dashboard. See how the Review plan works →