Account in Contradictory State: 'Active' but 'Access Denied' - PA-API v5 Throttling

Question

Hello,

I need help with a critical issue on my Associates account (helmandrulz-21) for the India marketplace.

The Problem:
Every API call I make fails with a "request throttling" (429 TooManyRequests) error. This happens on the very first request, even after waiting for hours.

Troubleshooting Steps I Have Already Taken:
- I have confirmed my account tax information is "Completed" as of June 23, 2025.
- My API keys are shown as "Active" in my Associates dashboard.
- I have deleted my old keys and generated a brand new set, but the error still persists.
- I have confirmed my plugin's code is using the correct region (eu-west-1) and host (webservices.amazon.in) for the India marketplace.

The Core Contradiction:
My account appears to be in an inconsistent state on Amazon's servers. One page shows my API Key Status is "Active," while another page gives me an "Access Denied!" error and says my account may be closed.

I have already contacted customer support twice and received generic, templated replies that did not resolve this contradiction.

Can a forum moderator or an Amazon staff member please investigate why my account is in this state and what is causing the persistent throttling error?

Thank you.

re:Post Agent · Answer

Based on your description, you're experiencing a common issue with the Amazon Product Advertising API (PA-API) where throttling errors occur despite having active credentials.

There are several potential causes for your situation:

1. **Throttling Implementation**: The PA-API uses request throttling to limit the number of API calls. Even though your account shows as "Active," you might be hitting rate limits. The error "TooManyRequests" suggests this is happening on your first request, which indicates there might be an issue with how the API is tracking your usage.

2. **Credential Synchronization**: When you deleted your old keys and created new ones, there might be a synchronization delay. In some cases, it can take up to 72 hours for new API keys to become fully active across all Amazon systems, even though they show as "Active" in your dashboard.

3. **Regional Configuration**: While you mentioned using the correct region (eu-west-1) and host (webservices.amazon.in) for India, double-check that your marketplace parameter is also correctly set to "www.amazon.in".

4. **Account Status Inconsistency**: The contradictory state you're seeing (active but access denied) suggests there might be an internal inconsistency with your account status across different Amazon systems.

For immediate mitigation, you could try implementing exponential backoff in your code:
```
delay = 1
while request_fails:
wait(delay)
delay *= 2
```

Since you've already contacted customer support twice without resolution, I recommend:
1. Waiting the full 72 hours after creating new keys before testing again
2. Explicitly requesting that support check if your account has the "UsagePlans" feature enabled
3. Asking support to verify there are no account-level throttling restrictions on your specific account

The contradictory state suggests this might require manual intervention from Amazon's side to resolve the inconsistency between your account status indicators.  
**Sources**  
[Problem with Amazon API | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUz3WKBBheRMq_AV8LOYCKfQ/problem-with-amazon-api)  
[API Gateway - Execution failed: Resource forbidden due to invalid API Key | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUldESbidUTYC-CKC4cTpLmw/api-gateway-execution-failed-resource-forbidden-due-to-invalid-api-key)  
[Why have two keys for the Product Advertising API | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUlx334yvuTqSufdmjm1wQQA/why-have-two-keys-for-the-product-advertising-api)

Account in Contradictory State: 'Active' but 'Access Denied' - PA-API v5 Throttling

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