Account Policy Updates
All Amazon account policy policy changes and updates for US and Canada sellers. 20 updates tracked.
Amazon Reinstates Binding Individual Arbitration and a Class Action Waiver in Its Conditions of Use, Effective August 14, 2026
Amazon updated its consumer Conditions of Use on August 14, 2026, bringing back binding individual arbitration and a class action waiver it had removed in May 2021. The revised terms route almost every claim relating to the use of any Amazon Service — or to products sold or distributed by Amazon or through Amazon.com — into arbitration administered by JAMS, after a mandatory Notice of Dispute and a 60-day negotiation period. Amazon notified customers by email and made the terms effective the same day, with no opt-out window. This is the buyer-side document, not the Business Solutions Agreement, but it matters to sellers: Amazon had already added a dedicated arbitration section to the seller-side BSA with its Agent Policy update effective March 4, 2026, and the consumer terms have now been aligned to match.
Read summary →Amazon Replaces the Seller Central Invite Process With a New Service Provider Authorization Flow on August 10, 2026 — Providers Must Confirm Role Coverage by September 3 or Sellers Reauthorize Into Narrower Access
Amazon told solution providers that starting 8/10/2026 it is changing how sellers delegate Seller Central access to third-party services, retiring the multi-step invite process in favour of a single streamlined authorization flow. For services listed on the Service Provider Network after that date, a seller can authorize either by choosing Authorize Now on the SPN listing — which creates a service request the provider confirms in Solution Provider Portal — or by opening a unique authorization link the provider generates in SPP and sends directly. The authorization is scoped to the roles the service is currently approved for, is adjustable by the seller before confirmation, and runs for 365 days. Amazon asked providers to verify and update their role coverage before 9/3/2026, and told them that sellers who do not reauthorize by Amazon's deadline will see existing access to their Seller Central accounts expire.
Read summary →House Bill Would Cap Marketplace Inventory and Fund Holds at 30 Days — Online Sellers' Bill of Rights Act (H.R. 9799)
H.R. 9799, the Online Sellers' Bill of Rights Act of 2026, was introduced in the House on July 21, 2026 by Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) with eight cosponsors, including Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. The bill would impose federal rules on large online marketplaces covering how they hold seller inventory and funds, how much notice they give before policy changes, and what they must tell a seller when they open an enforcement action. Nothing changes for sellers today — the bill is in committee and has not been enacted.
Read summary →Brand Registry Selling Roles Now Assigned by Account ID — Administrators Get a New Identifier to Hand Out Reseller and Brand Representative Access
Amazon posted a Seller Central seller-news article on August 5, 2026 covering a change that took effect July 29, 2026: Brand Registry selling roles can now be assigned using a selling partner Account ID, alongside the merchant token method Administrators have used until now. Sellers find their Account ID under Settings > Manage Accounts and give it to the brand Administrator, who uses it to issue the Reseller or Brand Representative role. The change is administrative, but the roles it governs are not — a formally assigned reseller role is what gates ASIN creation for Brand Registry-enrolled brands and access to A+ Content, Brand Stores, and Sponsored Brands.
Read summary →Business Solutions Agreement Bans Transferring Your Seller Rights and Pledging Them as Collateral — Effective August 24, 2026
Amazon revised the Business Solutions Agreement on May 29, 2026, with the change taking effect on August 24, 2026. Under the revised language, a seller may not transfer their rights or obligations under the BSA, and may not pledge them as collateral. Practitioners covering the change read it as broader than the prior restriction in two ways: it reaches a transfer of rights or obligations rather than the agreement as a document, and it names pledging as a separately prohibited act. The two practices most directly in scope are privately handing a Seller Central account to a buyer, and financing arrangements secured by future Amazon disbursements.
Read summary →Amazon Consolidated Brand Violation Reporting Into One Guided Report a Violation Experience on July 31, 2026 — Structured Fields Replace Free-Text Forms and a Submission History Tab Tracks Status in Real Time
Amazon announced on July 31, 2026 that Brand Registry's Report a Violation tool now sits behind a single landing page covering all three reporting types brands previously had to hunt for separately: intellectual property infringement, store policy violations, and regulatory compliance concerns. Two things changed in how you file. Free-text forms have been replaced by structured fields that walk you step by step through the report, and a new Submission History tab shows the status and outcome of every report you have filed rather than leaving submissions in a black box. Amazon also clarified an access rule that has tripped up brand teams: any Brand Registry user associated with an enrolled brand can report store policy violations, without needing the Rights Owner role.
Read summary →Amazon Opens Seller Café Bookings for Accelerate 2026 — 30-Minute One-on-One Sessions With Amazon Experts Across 50+ Categories (September 22–24, Seattle)
On July 22, 2026, Amazon announced Seller Café at Amazon Accelerate 2026, its free in-person support desk where sellers sit down one-on-one with an Amazon subject-matter expert. Sellers can book a 30-minute pre-scheduled session in advance or take a 30-minute walk-up appointment on site, choosing from more than 50 appointment categories. Accelerate 2026 runs September 22–24 in Seattle, and registration is open now. This is an event-access announcement, not a policy or fee change — nothing about how you list, price, or ship changes.
Read summary →Amazon Takes Compliance Document Upload Away From Sellers — Approved TIC Labs Must Now Submit Test Results On Your Behalf for Regulated Categories
Amazon has changed how compliance documentation reaches it for regulated product categories. Sellers can no longer upload compliance documents to Amazon themselves — an approved TIC (testing, inspection, and certification) provider must review existing documentation or conduct the testing and submit the results to Amazon directly. The change routes verification through Amazon's authorized lab network rather than trusting seller-supplied paperwork. Amazon does not publish a single blanket effective date: the requirement applies when Amazon sends a seller a notification naming the affected ASINs and the deadline.
Read summary →Amazon Reminds Sellers That CPSC Certificate eFiling Becomes Mandatory on July 8, 2026 — Importers of Regulated Products Must Submit Certificate Data Electronically at Customs Entry (July 2026)
Amazon has published guidance reminding sellers that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is making electronic filing (eFiling) of Certificates of Compliance mandatory starting July 8, 2026. Amazon stresses this is not a new certification requirement — it is a new way of submitting the compliance documentation sellers already need. Importers of CPSC-regulated consumer products must now transmit the certificate data (a Children's Product Certificate, or CPC, for products intended for children 12 and younger, and a General Certificate of Conformity, or GCC, for certain other regulated products) electronically into U.S. Customs and Border Protection's ACE system at the time of entry, rather than simply keeping a PDF certificate on file. The data must be structured and machine-readable and filed before the shipment arrives. Shipments missing the required certificate data can face customs holds, clearance delays, or entry refusal — which for FBA sellers means inventory that never reaches a fulfillment center. Amazon points sellers to its CPSC regulated products reference guide and Seller Support for product-specific questions.
Read summary →Amazon Brings Passkeys to Seller Central Starting July 2026 — Passwordless Sign-In That Will Become Required for Some Accounts Later in 2026 (July 2026)
Amazon is rolling out passkeys to Seller Central starting July 2026, giving sellers a passwordless way to sign in using their device's built-in authentication — fingerprint, face recognition, or PIN — instead of a password. Amazon says passkeys add phishing protection because the credential can't be typed, phished, or shared, and that biometric data stays on the device and is not collected by Amazon. Passkeys are optional at launch, but Amazon says they will become required for some accounts later in 2026, without yet specifying which accounts. Setup lives under Login & Settings in Seller Central, where sellers choose Create Passkey and complete device registration — Amazon says it takes less than two minutes. Sellers can set up a passkey now, ahead of any requirement taking effect.
Read summary →Amazon Is Removing the Seller-Eligibility Screening Step for the Featured Offer (Buy Box) — Rolling Out Globally Through End of 2026, With EU and UK Stores Starting July 20 (July 2026)
Amazon is removing the seller-eligibility requirement that previously pre-qualified sellers before their offers could be considered for the Featured Offer (Buy Box). Today, Amazon first screens sellers against performance criteria and then ranks the offers from eligible sellers to pick the Featured Offer; Amazon has decided that first screening step 'is no longer delivering additional value to customers' and is eliminating it. The change rolls out gradually across all Amazon stores worldwide, beginning in July 2026 and completing by the end of 2026, with EU and UK stores starting July 20, 2026. Importantly, Amazon is not changing how the Featured Offer is selected — it will keep evaluating offers on the factors customers care about, such as competitive pricing, delivery speed, and offer performance. No seller action is required, and existing offers are automatically included.
Read summary →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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