Account Policy Updates
All Amazon account policy policy changes and updates for US and Canada sellers. 9 updates tracked.
Amazon Opens Seller University to Everyone — Its Full Free Seller-Education Library Is Now Accessible Without a Selling Account or Login (July 2, 2026)
On July 2, 2026, Amazon announced that Seller University — its free library of seller-education content — is now open to everyone, with no selling account or login required. The material was previously gated behind an active seller account; now prospective sellers, support teams, and anyone curious about selling on Amazon can browse it directly. Amazon says the catalog spans more than 125 topics across the seller lifecycle, delivered as videos and downloadable guides covering listing, pricing, fulfillment, advertising, and ecommerce fundamentals for all experience levels. The change lowers the barrier for people evaluating Amazon before they commit to opening an account.
Read summary →Amazon Updates Business Solutions Agreement to Bar Transferring Selling-Account Rights and Pledging Future Amazon Revenue as Loan Collateral, Effective August 24, 2026
Amazon updated its Business Solutions Agreement (BSA) on May 29, 2026, adding language that takes effect August 24, 2026. The change explicitly prohibits sellers from transferring their rights or obligations under the agreement — broader than the prior wording, which required Amazon's written consent to transfer the agreement itself — and adds a new explicit ban on pledging the right to receive future Amazon sales revenue to third parties as loan collateral. The update is aimed at practices common in account acquisitions and revenue-based lending, and sources note it has a direct impact on aggregator deal flow and on financing that uses Amazon disbursements as security. Sellers whose registered operator information does not match the entity actually running the account, or who have pledged future payouts to a lender, are most exposed.
Read summary →Amazon Rebuilds the Buyer Dissatisfaction Rate: Yes/No Survey Replaced by a 1-to-5 Satisfaction Scale (Effective April 17, 2026)
Amazon has changed how it calculates the Buyer Dissatisfaction Rate (BDR), an account-health metric that tracks how often buyers are unhappy after a seller resolves a customer-service contact. The old post-resolution survey asked buyers a single yes/no question — "Did this solve your problem?" — and BDR was the share of "No" answers. As of April 17, 2026, that survey is replaced with "How satisfied are you with your recent customer service experience?", rated on a 1-to-5 scale. Ratings of 1-2 count as dissatisfied, 4-5 count as satisfied, and a 3 is treated as neutral and excluded from the calculation. Amazon says the new scale lets buyers give more precise feedback and that BDR should yield roughly the same percentage as before. The metric is most relevant to self-ship (FBM) sellers who handle their own customer service.
Read summary →Amazon Officially Cancels SP-API Fees — $1,400 Annual Subscription and GET-Call Overage Charges Withdrawn (May 12, 2026)
Amazon has formally cancelled the Selling Partner API (SP-API) fee structure it first announced in November 2025 and delayed indefinitely in March 2026. In an updated announcement on developer.amazonservices.com titled 'Cancellation of Third-Party Developer Selling Partner API (SP-API) Fees', Amazon stated: 'After careful consideration, we have decided that we will not move forward with the SP-API usage and annual fees at this time.' The cancellation withdraws both the $1,400 per-developer annual subscription that would have begun January 31, 2026 and the monthly GET-call overage fees that were scheduled to start April 30, 2026. Amazon also said the Solution Provider Portal will be updated in the coming weeks to remove the fee preview dashboard. The phrase 'at this time' leaves open the possibility of a future fee proposal in a different structure, but no replacement timeline has been disclosed. For Amazon sellers, the practical effect is that third-party tool vendors (repricing platforms, PPC managers, reimbursement services, inventory analytics) no longer face the SP-API cost pressure they had cited when raising subscription prices between November 2025 and the March 2026 delay.
Read summary →Amazon Seller Central Codifies Approval Gates, Letter-of-Authorization Requirements, and Authorized-Distributor Sourcing in 'Are You Approved to Sell Your Product?' Guidance Post (Approx. April 30, 2026)
Around April 30, 2026, an Amazon employee posting as Michelle_Amazon published a Seller Central forums post titled 'Are You Approved to Sell Your Product? Things to Know' in the 'Create and Manage Listings' category. The post lays out three compliance steps that US marketplace sellers are expected to follow before listing branded products: check the 'Add a Product' flow for any 'Listing limitations apply' messages and request approval before listing, obtain a Letter of Authorization (LOA) from the brand owner when reselling branded products, and source inventory only from manufacturers or authorized distributors with invoices that meet Amazon's documentation standard. Per the post, listing without proper authorization can result in 'listing removal, account suspension, or even legal action from brand owners.' The post specifies LOA fields Amazon expects (official letterhead, both parties identified, scope of grant, geographic scope, term/duration, authorized signature) and invoice requirements (issued by manufacturer or authorized distributor, dated within 180 days, unaltered except for pricing redaction). The post does not announce a new policy effective date — it codifies existing requirements that Amazon is increasingly enforcing during seller verification and listing-removal escalations.
Read summary →Amazon Delays Entire SP-API Fee Structure: No Developer Fees Until Fall 2026
Amazon has postponed its entire Selling Partner API (SP-API) fee structure after developer backlash over business planning complexity. Originally, a $1,400 annual subscription fee was set to begin January 31, 2026 — ending 16 years of free API access since 2009 — and monthly usage fees were scheduled for April 30. Amazon has delayed both with no new start date, citing ongoing feedback, and will share revised timelines in fall 2026. Third-party seller tool providers will not face immediate API cost pressure until new dates are confirmed. **Update (May 12, 2026): Amazon has formally cancelled this fee structure entirely — see 'Amazon Officially Cancels SP-API Fees' for the cancellation announcement.**
Read summary →New AI Agent Policy: Automated Tools Must Identify Themselves
Amazon updated its Business Solutions Agreement to place formal requirements on AI agents and automated software. Bulk listing creation, price changes exceeding 20% in 24 hours, and account-level changes all require documented human authorization.
Read summary →Amazon Splits Mexico Store Into a Separate Business Solutions Agreement
As part of the March 4, 2026 Business Solutions Agreement update, Amazon removed all Mexico marketplace references from the North American BSA and created a standalone agreement specifically governing the Amazon.com.mx store. Sellers who operate in the Mexico marketplace are now subject to a separate BSA with Mexico-specific terms, dispute resolution, and compliance requirements. US and Canadian sellers who do not sell on Amazon Mexico are unaffected by this split.
Read summary →Amazon Canada Enforces KYC Self-Attestation for All Sellers
Amazon.ca requires all Canadian sellers to submit a Self-Attestation document verifying beneficial ownership and corporate control structures, aligned with FINTRAC KYC regulations. Sellers who fail to comply risk having disbursements withheld.
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