Inquiry Regarding Rate Limits, Usage Policies, and General Data Access in the Amazon Selling Partner API

[gaon-lee]

Through the Usage Plans and Rate Limits page in the Amazon Selling Partner API documentation, I learned that the API imposes both a rate limit and a burst limit.
As I understand it, the rate limit refers to how frequently an API can be called over time, and the burst limit refers to the maximum number of requests that can be made in a short period. I would like to confirm if my understanding is correct.

I also have a few follow-up questions:

Does the burst limit get refreshed after a certain period of time?

If it does refresh, how much time must pass before it resets?

If it doesn't refresh, then considering the low number of calls allowed per API, we might quickly reach the limit. Is there any way to work around or improve this limitation?

Aside from these rate and burst limits, is there also a restriction on the total number of API calls allowed per day, week, or month? If such restrictions exist, are they applied per API?

Additionally, while this is slightly off-topic, I was wondering:
Are there any general-purpose APIs within the Amazon Selling Partner API that provide data related to Amazon itself, rather than specific seller-related data?

I apologize for the number of questions and truly appreciate your time and effort in addressing them.

Thank you always for your dedicated support.

[jawheral]

Hi @gaon-lee,

Your understanding is right, there is both a rate and burst values. The rate value represents how much and how often the bucket gets new request tokens. The burst represents how many requests you can accumulate so there's no such thing as burst getting refreshed.

Regarding your concerns about getting throttled, do you have any API section/operation in mind for which you think the limits will be reached soon? Did you know that some APIs offer batch equivalents, where you can batch requests? Some APIs also come with dynamic usage plans, such as Orders API. Limits for all operations (except grantless) are per account/selling partner pair, and not by application.
Setting up the right architecture and call patterns will help you avoid throttling and manage your rate limits.
There is no additional quota/limits except the regular rate limits.

There are APIs that you call outside the scope of a selling partner authorization other than grantless operations which offer application management.
If you are looking for ways to test the API, as you are in a stage where you don't have seller authorizations, then as mentioned in this discussion, you can try the sandbox environment or check out our Postman resources.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Jawher
Selling Partner Developer Services

[gaon-lee]

Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful explanation. Your support has been incredibly helpful and is truly appreciated. I look forward to working with you further!

…

On Fri, Apr 25, 2025 at 11:00 PM jawherallani ***@***.***> wrote: Hi @gaon-lee <https://github.com/gaon-lee>, You understanding is right, there is both a rate and burst values. The rate value represents how much and how often the bucket gets new request tokens. The burst represents how many requests you can accumulate so there's no such thing as burst getting refreshed. Regarding your concerns about getting throttled, do you have any API section/operation in mind for which you think the limits will be reached soon? Did you know that some APIs offer batch equivalents, where you can batch requests? Some APIs also come with dynamic usage plans, such as Orders API. Limits for all operations (except grantless) are per account/selling partner pair, and not by application. Setting up the right architecture and call patterns will help you avoid throttling and manage your rate limits. There is no additional quota/limits except the regular rate limits. There are APIs that you call outside the scope of a selling partner authorization other than grantless operations <https://developer-docs.amazon.com/sp-api/docs/grantless-operations> which offer application management. If you are looking for ways to test the API, as you are in a stage where you don't have seller authorizations, then as mentioned in this discussion <#4751 (comment)>, you can try the sandbox environment or check out our Postman <https://www.postman.com/amazon-selling-partner-api> resources. I hope this helps. Best, Jawher Selling Partner Developer Services — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#4754 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BRZY7EHLGI3UPWKNCAZ4TOT23I5WFAVCNFSM6AAAAAB32UNRQOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTEOJUG44DMNQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: <amzn/selling-partner-api-models/repo-discussions/4754/comments/12947866@ github.com>

[jawheral]

Hi @gaon-lee,

Thank you for your feedback. We are happy that the answer was helpful. If so, could you please use the "Mark as answer" button?

Best,
Jawher
Selling Partner Developer Services