Amazon Seller News: Major Policy And Fee Changes So Far This Year
Throughout the start of 2026, Amazon has made several changes to their policies and what fees are being charged to sellers, leaving many confused. The Amazon Sellers Lawyer team has previously covered many of these changes individually, but in order to make it as easy as possible for sellers, this blog combines all the most important information for sellers.
Related Content:
Amazon ASIN Creation Policy Change
As of June 1st, Amazon has made a major change to how new product listings are created for independent resellers. Previously, many sellers existed within a legal gray area that relied on the first sale doctrine to support their right to resell legally purchased products. Now, in order to create a new product listing on Amazon, resellers are required to provide proof that they have the authorization to sell products.
This authorization can be done through two forms, a letter of authorization from the brand owner, or receiving the “authorized reseller” role on Amazon from the brand owner. For resellers with preexisting listings that do not have proof of being an authorized reseller, Amazon is typically giving 30 days for these sellers to attain the rights to sell their products. Otherwise, Amazon’s enforcement team has typically suspended the seller’s entire account, not just the listings affected by this policy change.
The reason for the policy change is a continued shift towards the rights of brand owners and customers at the cost of independent sellers. Because Amazon’s goals as a platform are extremely customer oriented, they want to limit the potential of knockoff products that create negative experiences for their customers. This direction for the company has also been reflected in other major recent policy changes.
Fulfillment By Amazon Major Fee Changes
The most important fees that sellers need to know about going into the rest of 2026 relate to those who use Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA). At the beginning of the year, Amazon increased fees by between $0.08 and $0.32 depending on the price of the product itself. For sellers with products that are classified as “extra large,” Amazon also introduced a more standardized process for determining fees based on the exact dimensions of what is being shipped.
More recently, Amazon announced an additional surcharge for FBA sellers based on the global oil shortage that has impacted the costs of shipping goods. This fee adds an additional 3.5% on top of the fees that you were previously being charged. While these amounts may seem small, they can quickly add up for sellers who run tight margins, so it is important to always be factoring in these changes.
Amazon Listing Price Policy
Amazon recently announced that they are cracking down on how sellers are able to use listing prices on their platform. This is in response to a technique by sellers that listed products above market rate, then used sales to place them at or below their competition. Amazon does not like this because it creates a more confusing experience for customers, which has led them to create more strict guidelines for how a product must be priced.
Now, product prices must be based on evidence, meaning either using the Featured Offer price or based on recent comparable sales data. Amazon will also use the data from your sales prices as well to determine if your standard price is meant to be set at the price that it is being marked as on sale for.
DD+7 Implementation
One of the most controversial policy changes from this year was the forced implementation of Delivery Date + 7 for Amazon Sellers. What this policy does is it has (generally) extended the distribution time for seller funds to be seven days after the confirmed delivery date for a product. The reasoning behind that Amazon gives is they want to ensure that customers have time to inspect a product and decide if it needs to be returned, however, this has created major issues for many sellers.
As soon as the policy was deployed, sellers complained that the delay in fund distribution had impacted their businesses. Thus far, Amazon has not provided more updates on the potential of other distribution alternatives, so for now, this is the new reality of selling on Amazon.
FBA Barcode Requirements
The final major change we discuss from this year also relates to Fulfillment By Amazon. One of the biggest challenges for sellers from the past decade was the process of commingling inventory. Here, Amazon sellers with the materially same inventory would occasionally have their products used to fulfill other sellers’ orders. Though your inventory was eventually restored, this was a major hurdle for sellers.
Sellers used to get around the process of commingling by using Amazon FNSKU barcodes that materially separated their products from other sellers. Starting earlier this year however, Amazon has gotten rid of commingling, and implemented new requirements for the use of barcodes. All resellers must now make use of FNSKU barcodes, while brand owners can use either manufacturer barcodes, or FNSKUs depending on preference. This has been generally well received, as commingling was previously a major annoyance.
Amazon Handling Time Requirements
In mid-May, Amazon continued their crackdown on how much freedom sellers have to list their products by changing their policy around how sellers can list expected delivery times for their products. Previously, Amazon primarily enforced handling times through the On Time Delivery Rate system, which punished those who fell below a 90% on time delivery rating.
Now, sellers are required to either use Amazon’s automated handling time calculations, or be subject to monitoring when their products are shipped. This means that sellers will be punished for shipping their products early or late, creating several potential enforcement issues for sellers. Overall, what we are looking at is continued scrutiny for independent sellers, especially those who are using fulfillment by seller and not fulfillment by Amazon.
Contact Amazon Sellers Lawyer Today!
At Amazon Sellers Lawyer, we help our clients resolve all kinds of issues that arise from being an e-commerce seller. Our decade of experience focusing exclusively on seller issues has trained us in reinstatements through Amazon Plan of Action appeals, lost inventory and frozen fund reimbursement, and the other legal challenges that sellers face on a daily basis. If you are dealing with any of these issues, contact us today! You can give us a call at 212-256-1109, or fill out our online form linked here.
About the Author
CJ Rosenbaum, Esq.
CJ Rosenbaum is the founding partner of Amazon Sellers Lawyer. He’s been practicing law since 1995, and since 2016 his firm has focused exclusively on helping Amazon sellers deal with issues like suspensions, intellectual property disputes, and withheld funds.
CJ has written seven books on Amazon seller legal issues including the Amazon Sellers’ Guide to Copyright Law. He has spoken at major industry events like the Prosper Show, Global Sources Summit, Retail Global. CJ also works with the Amazon Sellers Lawyer team to provide free content for Amazon sellers. This is available through their online blog and YouTube channel, frequently covering major Amazon updates and important topics relevant to the seller space.
Through BrandProtectionAmazon.com, the firm also supports brands in protecting their products. This gives the team the unique opportunity to learn from case wins on both sides of the fence, strengthening protection for both the sellers and brands that Rosenbaum & Segall P.C. represents.
Amazon repeatedly rejecting your Plan of Action? Amazon Sellers Lawyer handles suspension appeals and account reinstatement cases – including arbitration against Amazon when they’re withholding seller money. Contact us to discuss your situation and figure out the best path forward.