FBA Operations Updates
All Amazon fba operations policy changes and updates for US and Canada sellers. 18 updates tracked.
Amazon Launches 'Amazon Now' 30-Minute Delivery Across Dozens of U.S. Cities — Mini-Warehouses Stock ~3,500 SKUs of Groceries, Essentials, and Electronics (May 12, 2026)
On May 12, 2026, Amazon announced the U.S. rollout of Amazon Now, a 30-minute delivery service that operates from a network of smaller, locally placed fulfillment locations — described in trade-press coverage as roughly the size of a retail drugstore and stocked with approximately 3,500 high-demand SKUs each — rather than from larger regional fulfillment centers. Amazon Now is widely available in Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Seattle at launch, with rapid expansion underway in Austin, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, and Phoenix; Amazon stated it expects to reach tens of millions of customers across these and additional cities by the end of 2026. Catalog at launch spans fresh groceries, dairy and eggs, fresh produce, bakery, household essentials, health and personal care, baby and pet needs, electronics, and alcohol where permitted. Prime members pay $3.99 per Amazon Now order plus a $1.99 small-basket fee on orders under $15; non-Prime customers pay $13.99 per order plus a $3.99 small-basket fee on orders under $15. In most cities, the service operates 24 hours a day. Amazon's press release and the major trade-press coverage do not describe a third-party seller participation model — the merchandised assortment at the mini-hubs is curated by Amazon, which is the structural change that matters for FBA sellers in the affected categories.
Read summary →Amazon Pet Days 2026 Expands From Two Days to Five (May 11–15) — Open to All Customers, Prime Not Required (May 11, 2026)
Amazon launched Pet Days 2026 on May 11, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. PT and the event runs through 11:59 p.m. PT on May 15, 2026. In its own announcement, Amazon describes the event as 'expanded from two days to five' — the structural change that distinguishes this year's Pet Days from prior editions. Pet Days is open to all Amazon customers (Prime membership is not required), unlike Prime Day, which limits deal access to Prime members. Discounts on the Pet Deals page span 10% to over 70% across pet food, treats, toys, apparel, health care, grooming supplies, and accessories for dogs, cats, fish, horses, small animals, reptiles, and birds. First-time Subscribe & Save customers receive an additional 35% off pet health care products from brands like NexGard, HeartGard, Simparica, Credelio, and Trifexis. Participating brands include Purina, Blue Buffalo, Hill's Science Diet, IAMS, Wellness, Nom Nom, Stella & Chewy's, FURminator, Outward Hound, Chuckit!, Greenies, Kaytee, and others. For FBA sellers in pet categories, the doubled-plus event window changes inventory and promotional planning relative to the prior two-day format.
Read summary →Amazon Launches Amazon Supply Chain Services (ASCS) — Opens Freight, Distribution, Fulfillment, and Parcel Networks to All Businesses (May 4, 2026)
On May 4, 2026, Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Supply Chain Services (ASCS), opening the same freight, distribution, fulfillment, and parcel-shipping network it built for Amazon.com to outside businesses of any size and any industry. Procter & Gamble, 3M, Lands' End, and American Eagle Outfitters are named as launch customers using ASCS for raw-material freight, finished-goods distribution, multi-channel fulfillment, and parcel delivery respectively. Peter Larsen, VP of Amazon Supply Chain Services, positioned ASCS as the supply-chain equivalent of what AWS did for cloud — extending Amazon's internal logistics infrastructure as a service to external companies. Businesses can sign up today through a centralized console at supplychain.amazon.com. For Amazon FBA and MCF sellers, ASCS consolidates and extends services some sellers were already using piecemeal (Amazon Global Logistics, Amazon Warehousing & Distribution, Multi-Channel Fulfillment, Amazon Shipping) into a unified platform that can fulfill orders across both Amazon and non-Amazon sales channels using a single inventory pool.
Read summary →Amazon Publishes Prime Day 2026 Operational Seller Deadlines on Seller Central — May 26 Deal Submission, May 27 / June 5 Inbound Inventory Cutoffs
Around late April 2026, Amazon published the operational seller deadlines for Prime Day 2026 in a Seller Central Seller Forums post titled 'It's official, Prime Day 2026 is in June.' The post follows Amazon's April 27, 2026 high-level event announcement that Prime Day 2026 will run in June and provides the specific dates sellers need to plan around. According to the Seller Forums post, sellers can schedule Best Deals, Lightning Deals, and Prime Exclusive Price Discounts through May 26, 2026. For inbound FBA inventory, the cutoffs are May 27, 2026 for Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) shipments and FBA shipments with the minimal-shipment-splits option selected, and June 5, 2026 for FBA shipments using Amazon-optimized shipment splits. Best Deals and Lightning Deals submitted by midnight Pacific Time on April 30 received a $50 discount on the upfront fee — that early-bird window has now closed. Amazon's post warns that 'late arrivals may not be processed in time for Prime eligibility.' Exact event dates and length remain undisclosed in this post.
Read summary →Amazon Officially Announces Prime Day 2026 Will Run in June — 26 Countries, First June Prime Day Since 2021
On April 27, 2026, Amazon officially announced that Prime Day 2026 will take place in June rather than its traditional July slot — the first time Prime Day has run in June since 2021. Amazon confirmed the event will include 26 countries (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States, plus others), with Prime members in Australia, Brazil, India, and Japan participating later in summer. The official announcement promises 'deep discounts on everything from electronics, kitchen, beauty, and apparel to fresh groceries and everyday pantry and household essentials,' plus back-to-school deals. Exact dates and event length have not yet been disclosed by Amazon. The earlier-than-usual timing compresses the window sellers have to finalize deal submissions, ship inbound inventory, and lock in pricing.
Read summary →Amazon Publishes 'How FBA Makes Selling High-Value Products Easier' — Enhanced Inbound Auto-Investigation for Units Over $50, 48-Hour Dedicated Returns Support, FBA Grade & Resell, and New Selection Program Detailed (April 20, 2026)
On April 20, 2026, Amazon published an official Sell on Amazon blog post titled 'How Amazon FBA makes selling high-value products easier' that consolidates and explicitly documents the FBA program perks Amazon offers to sellers of higher-priced products. The post describes FBA's Enhanced Inbound Service, which 'proactively monitors and automatically creates investigation claims on sellers' behalf' for qualifying products over $50 — meaning sellers no longer need to manually file cases for missing inbound units above that threshold. It also formalizes a Dedicated Returns Support track for items priced above $50: cases involving damaged units, missing components, or materially different returns are escalated to a dedicated support team with a 48-hour review and processing window. Other programs covered in the post include Amazon Product Support (direct brand-customer chat, free replacement parts during the return window, partial refunds of up to 50% as alternatives to a physical return), FBA Grade & Resell (Amazon professionally inspects returned items and relists them in four condition tiers — Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable), and the FBA New Selection Program (10% monthly sales rebate, free storage and liquidations for up to 50 units for the first three months, free removals for up to six months, free returns processing in eligible categories). Amazon does not announce a new effective date in the post — it documents perks already in operation that high-value FBA sellers may not have been actively using.
Read summary →Amazon Canada Discontinues FBA Prep and Labeling Services Effective July 1, 2026
Amazon announced it will discontinue prep and item labeling services for FBA shipments in Canada effective July 1, 2026. All inventory sent to Canadian fulfillment centers after that date must arrive fully prepped and FNSKU-labeled by the seller or a third-party prep service. Shipments created before July 1 will still receive prep services even if they arrive after the deadline. The change mirrors the US discontinuation that took effect January 1, 2026.
Read summary →Amazon Removes Default Packing Slips and Overboxes for MCF and Buy with Prime SIPP Orders
Starting April 2026, Amazon changed three defaults for Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) and Buy with Prime shipments in the US: packing slips are no longer included unless sellers opt in, products certified for the Ships in Product Packaging (SIPP) program now ship without an Amazon overbox by default, and eligible SIPP shipments receive a discount on MCF and Buy with Prime fulfillment fees. The changes roll out gradually from April 1 through April 30, 2026, and sellers can adjust preferences in MCF Settings at any time.
Read summary →Amazon Permanently Ends Inventory Commingling
Amazon permanently ends commingling of FBA inventory. Every unit will now be tracked back to the originating seller account. Brand owners with Brand Representative role can use virtual tracking with manufacturer barcodes, but resellers must apply FNSKU stickers to all products.
Read summary →Amazon Tests Prime Shipping on External Sites Without Amazon Login Requirement
Amazon is piloting a program for Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) merchants that allows them to offer Prime shipping on their own websites without requiring shoppers to sign into an Amazon account mid-checkout. The previous Buy with Prime model interrupted the merchant's native checkout flow with an Amazon login step. In this limited pilot, a subset of MCF sellers can display Prime shipping promise and complete fulfillment entirely within their own branded experience, with no customer-facing Amazon touchpoint.
Read summary →Amazon Launches FBA Donation Certificate — Tax Documentation for Donated Inventory Now Available in Seller Central
On March 9, 2026, Amazon announced that US sellers using the FBA Donations program now have access to an annual Donation Certificate inside Seller Central. The certificate is issued through Amazon's nonprofit partner Good360 and lists the quantity and description of inventory donated through the program in the previous year, giving sellers documentation they can use when claiming a tax benefit on donated goods. The FBA Donations program — which routes unwanted product, returns, and eligible overstock FBA inventory to nonprofits — has run since 2019, but until this announcement Amazon did not provide sellers with formal donation paperwork. Per Amazon, all US sellers who use FBA are enrolled in the FBA Donations program by default.
Read summary →Amazon Launches AI Canvas in Seller Central: Interactive Visual Dashboards for All Sellers
Amazon launched a free AI-powered Canvas experience in Seller Central on March 3, 2026, available to all US and UK sellers. The tool combines conversational AI with dynamic visual dashboards, letting sellers analyze sales trends, optimize marketing, simulate inventory decisions, and plan product launches through natural language prompts. It builds on the existing Seller Assistant and is powered by Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Nova, and Anthropic Claude.
Read summary →FBA Grade and Resell Expands to Apparel, Shoes, Jewelry, and Watches with Auto-Pricing
Amazon expanded the FBA Grade and Resell program to five new product categories — watches, jewelry, luggage, shoes, and apparel — and introduced automatic pricing that keeps Used listing prices aligned with current New item prices. Sellers also gained granular ASIN-level control, letting them hand-pick up to 2,000 specific ASINs or enroll their entire catalog with targeted exclusions.
Read summary →Amazon Shifts FBA Removal and Disposal Fee Billing to Per-Unit-as-Processed Model
Amazon changed how removal and disposal fees are charged for FBA inventory. Previously, the full fee for a removal or disposal order was collected when the entire order completed. Starting March 1, 2026, fees are charged incrementally on a per-unit basis as each item is actually removed or disposed of. Fee rates themselves did not change — only the timing of when charges appear in seller accounts.
Read summary →Amazon Discontinues FBA Prep and Labeling Services in the US
Amazon completely discontinued its FBA prep and item labeling services in the US. All units sent to FBA must now arrive fully prepped and labeled by the seller or a third-party prep service.
Read summary →Amazon Requires 30% State of Charge for Lithium-Ion Batteries Shipped by Air
Amazon now requires all FBA products packaged with lithium-ion batteries exceeding 2.7 Watt-hours to maintain a charge level of 30% or less when shipped by air, aligning with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. Sellers must complete battery compliance questionnaires when listing or re-listing battery-containing products. Products that cannot verify compliance with the state-of-charge requirement are restricted to ground transportation only, extending delivery times and potentially affecting seller performance metrics.
Read summary →FBA Liquidations Become Default; Donations Now Mandatory for US/CA Sellers
Amazon automatically enrolled US and Canadian FBA sellers in the Liquidations program and made the FBA Donations program mandatory. Unless sellers configure explicit automated inventory settings, unsold fulfillable inventory will be routed to liquidators at 5–10% recovery. The Donations program cannot be disabled for eligible items, regardless of prior opt-out status.
Read summary →FBA Reimbursement Claim Window Shortened from 18 Months to 60 Days
Amazon drastically shortened the window for filing FBA reimbursement claims for lost or damaged inventory — from 18 months down to just 60 days. Sellers must now file claims much more promptly or lose the ability to recover funds.
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