Amazon seller news: every 2026 change that affects your account, with the date

Amazon's 2026 fee update raised FBA fees by an average of $0.08 per unit sold, which Amazon puts at less than 0.5% of an average item's selling price, after no increase in US referral or FBA fees in 2025. Most changes took effect on January 15, 2026. The average hides several targeted changes worth checking against your catalog.

Three changes reshaped FBA in the first half of 2026. Amazon ended its US FBA prep and labeling service on January 1, so every unit now arrives prepped and labeled by the seller or a provider.

On March 31, Amazon ended commingling: brand representatives in Brand Registry can use manufacturer barcodes on eligible products, but all resellers, including authorized resellers, must put Amazon barcodes on every unit, and customers now receive only the seller's own units.

On April 17, a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge started applying to FBA fulfillment fees in the US and Canada and to Remote Fulfillment, and on May 2 it extended to Multi-Channel Fulfillment in the US and Canada and Buy with Prime in the US.

From February 12, 2026, Amazon changed how reviews are shared across a variation family, rolling out by category through May 31. Reviews are now shared only between variations with minor differences that do not affect function, and no longer appear on variations with significant differences, which Amazon warns may change star ratings and review counts.

For sellers who ship their own orders, Amazon began requiring accurate handling times on June 29, 2026. Your handling time counts as accurate when the actual time consistently matches the time set for each SKU, as part of the policy that requires a late shipment rate below 4%.

Amazon recommends Automated Handling Time, which sets handling times from recent shipping history.

Custom, handmade and heavy and bulky less-than-truckload shipments are excluded.

For authors, Kindle Direct Publishing widened its 70% eBook royalty band on Amazon.com from July 7, 2026, to list prices from $2.99 to $12.99. Our guides to Amazon FBM and what KDP means cover each in depth.

In September 2026, Amazon added workflows to Seller Assistant, the AI assistant first announced as Project Amelia: automations that monitor conditions and act within guardrails you set, with audit trails and your approval before actions.

It also launched a selling partner plugin for Amazon Quick and, in beta, Anthropic's Claude, for sellers in US stores, and offers primary account holders a free 12-month Amazon Quick Plus subscription through December 31, 2026.

Outside Seller Central, Amazon Mechanical Turk was set to close permanently on September 30, 2026, which matters for anyone who listed it as a side income. Our guides to Amazon Amelia and Amazon side hustles have the details.

The same news lands differently depending on how you sell. A brand selling through FBA mostly feels the fee changes and the new review sharing rules; a reseller feels the labeling work from the end of commingling; a seller who ships orders from their own warehouse feels the handling time rule.

Reading the updates by business model is the fastest way to know which ones need action this month and which only need a note in the calendar.