Paused Moderations

Check paused item moderations

Perform a search for listings with status: paused and the moderation_penalty tag. To activate it, you must make a PUT to /items with status: active, since this type of preventive moderation only pauses the listing.

Example:

curl -X GET -H 'Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN'
https://api.mercadolibre.com/users/0123456789/items/search?tags=moderation_penalty&status=paused

Response:

{
  "seller_id": "0123456789",
  "paging": {...},
  "results": [
    "MLA1147839589",
    "MLA1148439168",
    "MLA1149506534",
    "MLA1157034561",
    "MLA1164314507",
    "MLA1173423437"
  ],
  "orders": [...],
  "available_orders": [...]
}

When you identify these items, you must check their moderations. For example:

Moderation for unusual price change

Call:

curl -L -X GET -H 'Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN'
https://api.mercadolibre.com/moderations/last_moderation/$MODERATION_REFERENCE_ID

Example:

curl -L -X GET -H 'Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN'
https://api.mercadolibre.com/moderations/last_moderation/MLA926647862-ITM

Response:

[
  {
    "name": "PAUSED_PREVENTION_PRICE",
    "id": "7123400818",
    "date_created": "2022-10-25 15:57:46.0",
    "wordings": [
      {
        "type": "REASON",
        "value": "We paused it because we detected an unusual price change. Verify the value before reactivating it. Once you do this, it will become active in a few minutes."
      },
      {
        "type": "REMEDY",
        "value": "Inactive for review. We paused it because we detected an unusual price change. Verify the value before reactivating it. Once you do this, it will become active in a few minutes."
      }
    ],
    "evidence": [
      {
        "text_matched": "The alerted price is 77393.720000",
        "section_name": "item"
      }
    ]
  }
]

In this case, we recommend giving the actionable to the seller to correct the price and activate the item.

Moderation for item without sales

Items without sales and/or visits may also be paused by Mercado Libre to avoid affecting the seller's reputation.
By running the same call as before, we get information about this type of moderation.

Learn more about how to manage listings that have not had sales for a long period of time.

Example:

curl -L -X GET -H 'Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN'
https://api.mercadolibre.com/moderations/last_moderation/MLA123444123-ITM

Response:

[
  {
    "name": "ABANDONED_ITEM_PERFORMANCE_WARNING",
    "id": "7123400817",
    "date_created": "2024-10-07 15:57:46.0",
    "wordings": [
      {
        "type": "REASON",
        "value": "We paused it because it did not have sales for a long period of time. We did this to help you manage and avoid cancellations.",
        "section_focus": "default"
      },
      {
        "type": "REMEDY",
        "value": "Inactive for review. If you still want to sell your listing, review it to verify that it is up to date and reactivate it so it is for sale again, or you can delete it if you are no longer selling."
      }
    ],
    "evidence": [
      {
        "text_matched": "Moderated by an internal process of usecase: abandoned-item-performance and the execution abandoned-item-performance_STANDARD",
        "section_name": "item"
      }
    ]
  }
]

In this case, we recommend giving the actionable to the seller to review the listing to ensure it is up to date and reactivate it so it is for sale again, or delete it if they no longer sell it.

Image upload by URL

When creating a new item and uploading images via URLs (source), Mercado Libre needs to download and validate the images before activating the listing. During this process, the item's status will be:

1- For Marketplace listings:

• status: "paused"
• sub_status: "picture_download_pending"

2- For Real Estate and Vehicle listings:

• If the seller has user_type = "normal":
  • status: "paused"
  • sub_status: "picture_download_pending"
• If the seller has user_type = "real_estate_agency" or "car_dealer":
  • status: "not_yet_active"
  • sub_status: "picture_download_pending"

Automatic activation: When the images are downloaded correctly and meet the requirements, the listing is automatically activated with: status: "active"

Cases in which the item will be moderated

If the images:

• Cannot be downloaded within a certain period, or
• Are downloaded but do not meet the minimum required dimensions,
  then the item will be moderated with:
  • status: "under_review"
  • sub_status: "picture_download_pending"

In cases where the images cannot be downloaded after a defined period of time or the downloaded image is below the minimum expected dimensions, the item will be moderated with status: “under_review” and sub_status: “picture_download_pending”.

Remember that each image will be valid as long as its dimension is at least 250px on both sides (width and height) and at least one side is over 500px.

If the image cannot be downloaded after a defined period of time, the item will be moderated with status: under_review, sub_status: picture_downloading_pending.

Response:

[
  {
    "name": "PICTURE_DOWNLOAD_PENDING",
    "id": "7123400222",
    "date_created": "2025-05-01 02:00:38.0",
    "wordings": [
      {
        "type": "REMEDY",
        "value": "The photo was not uploaded correctly. Fix it to reactivate your listing."
      },
      {
        "type": "REASON",
        "value": "The photo was not uploaded correctly. Fix it to reactivate your listing."
      }
    ],
    "evidence": [
      {
        "text_matched": "MLA2087670262",
        "section_name": "item"
      }
    ]
  }
]

In this case, we recommend giving the actionable to the seller to upload their main image again as it could not be processed (invalid image link).

Next: Image Diagnostics.