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Amazon Seller News

Latest updates and announcements for Amazon sellers and vendors. Updated daily from verified sources.

200 updates
Legal & ComplianceNov 13, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Bochum court: 5,000-euro penalty for a missing unit price in a fan shop

In a final judgment of June 10, 2026 (case 13 O 57/25), the Regional Court of Bochum ordered the online shop of a well-known football club to pay an association a contractual penalty of 5,000 euros: the shop had signed a cease-and-desist declaration after offering sweets in a 200-gram pack without a unit price in January 2024, and in July 2024, just over five months after the declaration, it again offered a non-alcoholic drink in a 500-milliliter bottle for 18 euros without one. According to the court, the declaration covers all violations of the same core nature, not only the product named in the warning letter, adding the unit price afterwards changed nothing, and the amount reflected the short gap since the declaration, the shop's wide reach and the company's turnover. Action items: Amazon sellers who have signed a cease-and-desist declaration should check their entire range afterwards rather than only the item named in the warning, maintain the quantity and unit data from which Amazon calculates the unit price in every listing for goods sold by weight or volume, and check the displayed unit price for every new offer and after every flat file upload.

Legal & ComplianceNov 13, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Hamburg court: “As seen in” based on paid ads is misleading advertising

In a judgment of July 23, 2026 (case 312 O 413/24), the Regional Court of Hamburg, ruling on a claim by an association, banned an “as seen in” logo bar as misleading, because the only link between the advertiser and the media named was paid advertising and it was undisputed that there had been no editorial coverage; the logos were also neither linked nor sourced. The court also banned advertising with a “Hattrick of Awards” and pictured glass trophies, because the awarding body, the criteria and the period of the awards were missing; the defendant offers laser eye treatment, and the report does not say whether the judgment is final. Action items: Amazon sellers should check product images, A+ Content and their Brand Store for “as seen in” bars, award badges and test seals, use “as seen in” only for genuine editorial coverage with a verifiable source, and state for every award or seal who granted it, when and on what criteria.

Legal & ComplianceNov 12, 2026via Deutscher Bundestag

EUDR: German Bundestag passes fines up to 100,000 euros and prison terms

On November 12, 2026, the German Bundestag passed the act reorganising the law on deforestation-free products, through which Germany enforces the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): the federal states' authorities and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) are in charge and, on reasonable suspicion, may enter business premises, inspect records and take samples; the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house, deals with the act next. Fines reach up to 100,000 euros, or under certain conditions up to 4 percent of EU-wide annual turnover for larger companies; anyone who intentionally places non-compliant goods on the market faces up to five years in prison or a fine, up to three years for recklessness, and goods can also be confiscated, marketing bans imposed and companies excluded from public contracts. Action items: Amazon sellers of products made from cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy or wood, such as chocolate, coffee, wooden furniture or paper goods, should check their range against the customs codes in Annex I of the regulation, because only goods listed there are covered, keep supplier data and proof of origin ready for inspections and submit their own due diligence statement before placing imported goods on the market, since the obligations apply from December 30, 2026 for medium and large companies and from June 30, 2027 for most micro and small companies.

AdvertisingNov 12, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon Ads: old report pages close January 31, 2027, read-only from December 17

Amazon will close the legacy sponsored ads and DVA campaign report pages on January 31, 2027 instead of the previously planned December 31, 2026, and then delete every saved or scheduled report that has not been migrated, including its history; the pages turn read-only on December 17, and Amazon says the dates may still change. The migration tool only moves active reports from the last 24 months, and ten report types, such as Amazon Attribution, the Sponsored Products budget report and benchmark reports, cannot be migrated yet. Action items: advertisers and agencies should rebuild scheduled reports in the new reporting before December 17 and download any history they need by January 31 at the latest.

Legal & ComplianceNov 11, 2026via Wortfilter.de

EU customs: three product identifiers per item required since November 1

Since November 1, 2026, customs declarations for e-commerce imports from outside the EU must list three identifiers per item: the seller's article number, the manufacturer's model number and, where one exists, the EAN, UPC or ISBN. The data had been optional since July, the European Commission confirmed enforcement on November 3, and incomplete declarations can leave parcels held at customs; the customs agent files the declaration, but the seller or platform has to supply the data. Action items: anyone shipping to EU customers from outside the EU should keep all three values in their product master data, pass them to the forwarder and check which fields their marketplace transmits to carriers.

Legal & ComplianceNov 11, 2026via Wortfilter.de

EU Battery Regulation: QR code on every battery from February 18, 2027

From February 18, 2027, all batteries must carry a QR code under the EU Battery Regulation, and batteries for light means of transport, industrial batteries above 2 kWh and electric vehicle batteries also need a digital battery passport. Trusted Shops lists the date as one of four deadlines for online sellers, alongside mandatory B2B e-invoicing in Germany from January 1, 2027 for companies with prior-year turnover above 800,000 euros, the EUDR from December 30, 2026 for medium and large companies and the EU ban on products made with forced labour from December 14, 2027. Action items: sellers with batteries or battery-powered devices in their range should check with suppliers now whether the batteries will carry the QR code from February.

FBA & LogisticsNov 12, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

Prime eligibility: Amazon adjusts delivery requirements for peak season

From November 15, 2026 to January 9, 2027, Amazon is temporarily adjusting its Prime eligibility requirements for Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and Amazon retail offers in Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland, so that sellers can keep their Prime eligibility despite delays caused by high holiday delivery volumes; the regular requirements return on January 10, 2027. In Germany, 10 percent of domestic deliveries of standard-size and low-price products must arrive within one day at most, 35 percent within two days and 65 percent within four days, separate quotas apply to extra-large and oversize items and to cross-border deliveries, and across all product categories an on-time delivery rate of at least 92 percent is required in Germany, France and Spain and at least 90 percent in the other five countries. Action items: sellers using Seller Fulfilled Prime should check their delivery-speed shares and on-time rate in the Seller Fulfilled Prime dashboard now and plan pickup times and carriers for Black Friday week and December with a buffer, while FBA sellers should monitor the Prime eligibility of their offers in the FBA inventory reports so that a lost Prime badge during the highest-revenue weeks is spotted immediately.

Legal & ComplianceNov 11, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Digital Fairness Act: EU proposes bans on fake scarcity and subscription traps

On November 11, 2026, the European Commission presented its proposal for a Digital Fairness Act, which would replace the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive with a directly applicable regulation covering every business that sells to consumers, not only platforms; it is not law yet, Parliament and Council still have to agree, and a draft that leaked in advance provided for the rules to apply twelve months after entry into force. A blacklist would ban practices such as false scarcity notices like “only 1 left”, confirmshaming texts, pre-ticked boxes and items added to the cart automatically; total prices including all fees would have to be shown from the first step, free trials could only turn into paid subscriptions after active confirmation, and for large cross-border infringements the Commission itself could impose fines of up to 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover, while SMEs remain with national authorities. Action items: Amazon sellers with their own web shop should already review stock and countdown notices, pre-selected extras, fees that only appear at checkout and cancellation paths for subscriptions, and listing copy on Amazon should not contain inaccurate scarcity or urgency claims either.

Legal & ComplianceNov 11, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Frankfurt court bans ads showing accessories that are not in the box

In summary proceedings, the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main, by order of October 26, 2026 (case 2-06 O 363/26), prohibited a seller of technical products, at a competitor's request, from three advertising claims: an accessory shown in the product image and named in the ad as part of the offer although the product description excluded it from the scope of delivery, the claim of the “best value for money on the market” without a sound comparison, and the promise of “free delivery” despite a per-item surcharge. The court rejected the argument that customers read the full description, because ad, image and offer create one overall impression; violations can cost up to 250,000 euros in fines, the order is not yet final, and the claim “tested quality” remained permitted because external test reports existed. Action items: Amazon sellers should check main and additional images, titles and bullet points against the actual scope of delivery, remove accessories that are not included from the images or label them unmistakably, use superlatives only when a reliable market comparison backs them, and promise free shipping only when no surcharges apply.

Legal & ComplianceNov 11, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

EU Council plans to scrap IOSS 150-euro limit, start July 2028 at the earliest

On November 9, 2026, the Council of the EU agreed on a general approach to remove the 150-euro limit for the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) and for the deemed supplier rule: distance sales from non-EU countries could then be declared through IOSS regardless of their value, and marketplaces such as Amazon would also handle VAT as deemed suppliers above 150 euros. The planned start date is July 1, 2028, but it will slip if the IOSS functions of the EU customs data hub are not ready by June 1, 2028; formal adoption is still pending, the European Parliament still has to be consulted, no new tax is introduced, and the customs exemption for low-value consignments already ended in July 2026. Action items: sellers who ship from non-EU countries directly to EU customers should clarify for each sales channel who remits the VAT, reconcile marketplace settlements with their own order data and plan the switch of their tax processes for higher-priced items as well.

Seller CentralNov 11, 2026via My Amazon Guy

Seller Central: variations can now be split in one click without a flat file

According to My Amazon Guy, Seller Central's Manage Inventory page now offers two options that change variation families without a flat file: “Detach from Family” in a child ASIN's three-dot menu removes only that item from the family, while “Ungroup Variation Family” in the variation family's menu separates all child ASINs at once. As of November 11, 2026, Amazon had not published a help page, marketplaces and launch date are unclear, and it is not documented what happens to the parent ASIN and to reviews shared across variations afterwards; the report also warns that a saved change does not always reach the live detail page. Action items: sellers should check whether the menus appear in their account, take screenshots of parent and child ASINs including star rating and review count before every change, test on a low-selling family first, check the live detail page afterwards and keep the flat file upload as a fallback.

Legal & ComplianceNov 11, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Darmstadt court: no unit price for capsules sold by count, higher courts differ

In an order of June 30, 2026 (case 20 O 38/26), the Regional Court of Darmstadt ruled that food supplements in capsules sold by count need neither a unit price nor a net quantity by weight, provided the portion information under Art. 23(3) in conjunction with Annex IX of the EU Food Information Regulation is complied with. The chamber thereby contradicts the Higher Regional Courts of Düsseldorf (case 15 U 55/19) and Hamburg (case 3 U 66/21), which required a unit price in comparable cases; the decision is a first-instance ruling, and because online infringements under Section 14(2) of the German Unfair Competition Act are generally heard at the seller's place of business, sellers based in the Hamburg and Düsseldorf districts must still expect the stricter line of their appeal court. Action items: Amazon sellers of capsules and similar dosage forms should show the unit price alongside the price per item until a supreme court ruling settles the question, since this is permitted under both views, check for each offer whether a weight is stated anywhere, and review the quantity and unit data in the listing from which the displayed unit price is calculated, because missing unit prices are among the most common reasons for warning letters.

Legal & ComplianceNov 10, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Stuttgart court: square oat bar packaging infringes Ritter Sport's mark

In a judgment of November 5, 2026 (case 2 U 3/26), the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart ruled that Wacker GmbH's square oat bar packaging infringes Ritter Sport's three-dimensional shape mark, which is registered for goods including chocolate bars and protects a square pack with side closure flaps regardless of any print; the court found both a likelihood of confusion and unfair exploitation of the well-known mark. The Regional Court of Stuttgart had dismissed the claim at first instance, while the appeal court has now granted Ritter Sport an injunction, information, damages, a recall and reimbursement of legal fees; it did not allow a further appeal on points of law, but according to the report Wacker intends to take the case to the Federal Court of Justice, so the judgment is not yet final. Action items: Amazon sellers with private label brands should check before launch whether the shape and get-up of their packaging resemble shape or packaging marks of well-known manufacturers, even for a different product type such as an oat bar instead of chocolate, search 3D marks in the DPMA and EUIPO registers, and have similar designs reviewed by a lawyer before production, because besides an injunction they risk a recall and damages for goods already sold.

Legal & ComplianceNov 9, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Cottbus court: contractual penalty despite software bug, fiber data missing

On January 28, 2026 (case 11 O 51/25), the Regional Court of Cottbus ordered an online textile seller to cease and desist and to pay a competitor association a contractual penalty of around 6,000 euros plus interest, because despite a cease-and-desist declaration from early 2024 it again offered textiles without their full fiber composition, such as a sweat jacket listing only 30 percent cotton and 30 percent polyester and fabric belts with no information at all. According to the report, the court rejected the defense that the gaps were brief and caused by the shop software when returned items were relisted: as the user, the seller is liable for what its software shows or omits, must label products completely by other means or pause the offers until the bug is fixed, and the penalty was not reduced. Action items: Amazon sellers should check mandatory data such as textile fiber labeling not only at first listing but also after returns, relistings, flat file uploads and feed updates from multichannel tools, regularly check the affected field for empty or incomplete values after signing a cease-and-desist declaration, and document every error together with the fix.

Legal & ComplianceNov 8, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Federal Patent Court: “Testa Rossa” stays, bad faith requires intent to harm

In a decision of August 11, 2026 (case 30 W (pat) 48/21), Germany's Federal Patent Court dismissed Ferrari's appeal in its bid to have an entrepreneur's German word mark “Testa Rossa” canceled as a bad-faith filing, after the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) had already rejected the request. A filing is only in bad faith if the person filing it already intended to harm or obstruct third parties at the time of filing, and whoever seeks cancellation must prove this with consistent indications; the reputation of the older “Testarossa” sign, the similarity of the names, numerous filings and licensing plans were not enough. Action items: Amazon sellers should register their brand or shop name early themselves, which is also the basis for Amazon Brand Registry, keep proof of their own prior use such as invoices, listing data and dated screenshots, monitor new filings at the DPMA and EUIPO, and against a third-party filing also have non-use or their own older rights checked instead of relying on bad faith alone.

Legal & ComplianceNov 9, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Google Fonts letters: EU Advocate General sees no damages for mass claimants

In his opinion of November 5, 2026 in case C-654/25, referred by Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH), EU Advocate General Maciej Szpunar sees no compensable non-material damage under Art. 82 GDPR when someone deliberately, automatically and repeatedly triggers data protection breaches through dynamically embedded Google Fonts in order to demand money, and he proposes treating such claims as an abuse of rights where financial gain is the main motive and the conditions were created artificially. He considers a dynamic IP address personal data if the recipient has means reasonably likely to be used for identification; the opinion does not bind the CJEU, which often follows its Advocates General, and according to Wortfilter no date for the judgment has been set. Action items: sellers who run their own web shop or brand website alongside Amazon should host Google Fonts locally on their own server, and anyone who paid such a claim or signed a cease-and-desist declaration should have a lawyer check whether the declaration can be terminated, payments reclaimed, and when those claims become time-barred.

Legal & ComplianceNov 6, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Vouchers for deleting bad reviews: banned by Amazon and risky under German law

On November 6, following a Tagesspiegel report on such offers to Amazon customers, Onlinehändler-News examined whether sellers may offer a voucher, 20 euros in its example, for deleting a negative review: Amazon prohibits any compensation for reviews and even a plain request to change or remove one, and violations can lead to blocked offers or a suspended seller account. The report also sees a risk of unfair review manipulation under no. 23c of the annex to Section 3(3) of Germany's Unfair Competition Act (UWG), although courts have not yet ruled on this scenario. Action items: Amazon sellers should resolve complaints unconditionally through replacement, repair or refund without mentioning the review, report insulting, demonstrably false or off-topic reviews to Amazon, and request new reviews only through the Request a Review button.

FBA & LogisticsNov 6, 2026via Wortfilter.de

myDPD price list: up to 56 percent more for small shippers without a contract

According to Wortfilter on November 6, DPD charges business customers without an individually negotiated framework contract considerably more for DPD Classic parcels under its myDPD price list dated October 2026: compared with an affected merchant's previous terms, the net price up to 3 kg rises only from 3.00 to 3.25 euros, but up to 5 kg from 3.55 to 4.70 euros, up to 25 kg from 4.95 to 7.20 euros and up to 31.5 kg from 5.25 to 8.20 euros, an increase of 56.2 percent. Per the price list, each parcel also carries a 0.35 euro toll surcharge, a 0.15 euro security fee and variable energy and fuel surcharges, and shippers below 100 parcels a month pay a monthly service fee of 8.50 to 21.00 euros; the list states no effective date. Action items: FBM sellers with a myDPD account should check their current price list, recalculate shipping costs for heavier parcels, get quotes from other carriers or negotiate a framework contract, and adjust shipping templates and prices before the holiday season.

Legal & ComplianceNov 6, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

EUDR: printed books are out, paper goods like notebooks and gift wrap stay in

On November 6, Onlinehändler-News explained that printed books have been removed from the annex of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by an amendment, while paper goods from chapter 48 of the customs tariff, such as notebooks, gift wrap, envelopes or cardboard folders, remain covered unless made entirely from recycled material; the customs tariff code decides, not the product name in the shop. As things stand, large and medium-sized companies must meet the due diligence obligations from December 30, 2026 and micro and small companies from June 30, 2027, but for products already covered by the former EU Timber Regulation, December 30, 2026 applies to them as well. Action items: sellers of paper, wood or other EUDR products should have suppliers confirm the tariff codes, check them against the regulation's annex, and clarify before year-end who in their supply chain submits the due diligence statement and which records they must keep themselves.

Legal & ComplianceNov 6, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

1,372-euro warning letter for selling generic hex keys as “Inbus” keys

On November 6, Onlinehändler-News rounded up recent warning letters: INBUS IP GmbH, through a law firm, demanded 1,372.78 euros from a seller who offered other manufacturers' hex keys as “Inbusschlüssel”, which the report classifies as trademark infringement, and the Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb claimed 350 euros from a shop that sold biocidal cleaners without the clearly legible mandatory notice to use biocidal products safely. SoundGuardian GmbH also demanded 6,740 euros from a social media user who had used four songs without a license for about three years. Action items: Amazon sellers should search titles, bullet points, descriptions and backend search terms for protected brand names such as Inbus and replace them with generic terms such as hex key, add the mandatory biocide notice to every relevant offer, and use only licensed music in their brand's social media videos.

Legal & ComplianceNov 6, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

BGH: consumer groups get full warning fee even if only partly justified

According to Onlinehändler-News, Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH, III ZR 205/25, October 1, 2026) ruled that a qualified consumer association may claim its full flat fee, 260 euros in this case, even if its warning letter to an online retailer was only partly justified; the allegation of deceptive price increases was legally unfounded, yet the fee stood. The retailer's claim to recover its own defense costs is capped at exactly the amount the association demands as its own expenses, so higher legal fees stay with the seller even after a partial win. Action items: Amazon sellers who receive a warning letter from a consumer association should weigh whether fighting individual unjustified points pays off or whether paying the flat fee is cheaper, fix the justified part in listings, price information and legal texts right away, and have any cease-and-desist declaration reviewed before signing.

Seller CentralNov 4, 2026via About Amazon

Amazon Shop Direct: external web shops now list in US search for free

On November 4, Amazon launched the Shop Direct Merchant Workspace, a free self-service portal where eligible online merchants verify their website and submit product catalogs via feeds or the SP-API so their items appear in Amazon.com search, the Shopping app and Alexa for Shopping; customers buy in the merchant's own shop or, for selected products, through Amazon's AI agent Buy for Me, while shipping, returns and customer service stay with the merchant. The program covers US customers only, Amazon has announced no launch for Amazon.de, and according to Amazon, sellers already on Amazon may also qualify with products they do not offer in the Amazon store. Action items: brands with their own US web shop should evaluate this free extra channel, and sellers in the US store should expect more offers from external shops in search results and monitor visibility, click-through rate and conversion of their core products.

Fees & PricingNov 5, 2026via About Amazon

US FBA fees 2027: 19 cents more per unit, age-based storage from February

Amazon announced its 2027 US fees on November 5: from January 15, 2027, FBA fulfillment fees rise by an average of $0.19 per unit sold, which Amazon puts at about 0.8 percent of the average selling price, with the impact varying by product, size and price and some fees going down, while the fuel and logistics surcharge introduced in April 2026 stays unchanged. From February 1, 2027, the storage utilization surcharge is eliminated, the aged inventory surcharge is merged with monthly storage fees into a single age-based rate, so inventory that turns in under six months pays the same or less and older stock pays more, and the low-inventory-level fee will measure the 28 days of supply against actual shipments in the four weeks before and after the assessment date instead of trailing 30- and 90-day sales; the post names no specific referral fee rates, and Amazon says details on small and large standard-size items, items priced above $50, 'Buy X, Get Y' promotions, Multi-Channel Fulfillment and Amazon Warehousing and Distribution are in its summary in Seller Central. Action items: sellers with US business should check their items in Seller Central's Fee Change Comparison dashboard and the Revenue Calculator, update repricing floors and bid limits before January 15, reduce slow-moving stock by February 1 through deals, removals or liquidation, and plan replenishment so coverage does not drop below 28 days; the notice applies to amazon.com only and announces no changes for the EU stores.

AdvertisingNov 5, 2026via Federal Trade Commission

FTC: Amazon allegedly raised ad prices up to 250% on peak shopping days

On November 5 the FTC and 22 US states made public previously redacted details from the lawsuit they filed in August over Amazon's search ad auction: according to the updated complaint, Amazon secretly raised ad prices by as much as 50 percent above auction results on ordinary days and by as much as 250 percent on major shopping days such as Prime Day or Black Friday, and during the 2021 holiday season this lifted advertisers' average cost per click (CPC) by 20 percent, with some advertisers seeing increases of more than 200 percent. The complaint also alleges that higher surcharges brought Amazon 87 million dollars in extra revenue worldwide in the 2022 holiday season, that executives sought an additional 40 million dollars in 2023 to meet corporate targets, that a large food and beverage advertiser faced price increases of more than 100 percent on Prime Day 2023, and that advertisers who asked about changes to the second-price auction were told rising CPCs reflected more competition; these are allegations, not court findings, and the release includes no statement from Amazon, which rejected the claims when the suit was filed in August. Action items: advertisers should set deliberate bid caps and daily budgets per campaign for Black Friday on November 27 and Cyber Monday on November 30, compare actual CPCs daily against their bids and the prior weeks during the events, judge campaigns by ROAS and TACoS rather than reach, and save the reports from the event days so they can document cost spikes later.

Seller CentralNov 3, 2026via About Amazon

Amazon Seller Wallet now also holds GBP proceeds from Amazon.co.uk

Amazon updated its Seller Wallet overview on November 3: the free Seller Central tool that lets sellers hold and move their sales proceeds is now also available for GBP proceeds from Amazon.co.uk, alongside USD from the US store and EUR from seven European stores (Amazon.de, .fr, .it, .es, .com.be, .ie and .nl). Sellers can transfer proceeds to their bank account once or automatically on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly schedule, use USD and GBP balances to pay local or overseas suppliers, and use EUR balances to pay suppliers in euros and settle VAT in several European countries; Amazon says only one fee applies to international transfers and that it decreases as the business grows, but the page gives no amount, and enrollment is free with no minimum requirements. Action items: sellers on Amazon.co.uk should search for Seller Wallet in Seller Central to see whether GBP is available for their account, compare the transfer fee with their current currency conversion or payment provider before the first payout, and keep pound proceeds in GBP where it helps to pay UK suppliers and service providers without converting currencies twice.

Fees & PricingNov 4, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

Remote Fulfillment: Amazon adds the new EU customs fee to customer prices

Since November 1, the EU has been charging a customs clearance fee of €2 per line of the customs declaration on goods shipped directly from outside the EU to customers in the EU, regardless of their value, and Amazon announced in the German Seller Central forum that for Remote Fulfillment with FBA, meaning deliveries from FBA warehouses outside the EU to customers in its EU stores, it adds the fee on top of the seller's set price, so customers may see a higher price than the one the seller set on the detail page, in the cart and at checkout; for seller-fulfilled (FBM) orders, the carrier invoices the fee to the seller. According to Onlinemarktplatz.de on November 4, a parcel with two shirts, three pullovers and a cap makes three declaration lines and thus €6 in a Dutch customs example, VAT is charged on the fee, Dutch customs says it is not refunded for returns, refused parcels or failed deliveries, for shipments up to €150 it comes on top of the temporary €3 duty per goods line, and goods already in free circulation in an EU warehouse, such as regular FBA stock in the EU, are not affected; Amazon's notice does not say how refunds, multi-line orders or Seller Central reports reflect the fee. Action items: sellers who use Remote Fulfillment to sell from warehouses outside the EU into Amazon's EU stores should compare their set price with the customer price on the detail page now, since the surcharge can cost conversions and Buy Box chances, review their pricing rules and repricing tools as Amazon recommends, but avoid a flat €2 price cut and instead factor the fee per customs line, the VAT and the fees lost on returns into their margin separately, and check for low-priced items whether regular import into an EU warehouse pays off; FBM sellers shipping from outside the EU should check their carriers' invoices for the fee.

AdvertisingNov 3, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DVA to count display impressions only once on screen from 2027

According to PPC Land on November 3, Amazon told advertisers in an undated notice, shared on LinkedIn by Saul Jacobs of Elevate33, that from January 1, 2027, DVA display ads (Display, Video & Audio, which PPC Land says replaced the Amazon DSP name at unBoxed in late September) on Amazon Store pages such as the homepage, product detail pages, search results and order pages will only count as an impression once the ad appears on the shopper's screen, no longer as soon as it starts downloading to the device. Amazon expects about 63 percent fewer counted impressions on these placements on average, according to the report with larger drops for ads lower on the page, and says advertisers saw higher ROAS and lower cost per acquisition (CPA) in testing without giving figures; the notice does not say whether CPM billing changes, which countries are covered or how view-through attribution will count, it does not mention Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display, and PPC Land links no official Amazon page. Action items: sellers and brands running DVA display campaigns should not compare impressions, CPM and click-through rate from January 2027 with earlier figures but set new benchmarks and steer by ROAS, CPA and new-to-brand share, ask Amazon Ads support or their account team in advance whether billing moves to the new count and whether Germany is covered, and review bids and frequency caps in January, since both depend on how impressions are counted.

AdvertisingNov 2, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

YouTube Shopping: German creators can now tag Amazon products in videos

According to Onlinemarktplatz.de, Amazon is now also a merchant partner in YouTube Shopping's affiliate programme in Germany, which launched there on September 3 with retailers such as OTTO, Kaufland, MediaMarktSaturn and Tchibo: creators can tag Amazon products from a limited selection in videos, Shorts and livestreams and earn a commission on referred purchases, provided they are in the YouTube Partner Programme and the Shopping affiliate programme and have linked an active Amazon Influencer Program or Amazon Associates account to their channel. According to YouTube's help page, YouTube can also tag uploads automatically, update or remove tags after quality checks and map a tagged product to a trusted local merchant offer, while creators only see daily totals for revenue, clicks and sales, not which video drove a purchase. Action items: brands working with YouTube creators should check whether their key ASINs are in the taggable selection, ask their creators to suggest missing products through YouTube Creator Support, keep stock and pricing stable during creator campaigns and agree on their own way of measuring results in advance.

Legal & ComplianceOct 30, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

Amazon confirms extended holiday returns in Europe until January 31, 2027

On October 30, Amazon announced the extended holiday return period in the German Seller Central forum, which according to Onlinehändler-News sellers were still waiting for on October 28: in its stores in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland, customers can return most items bought between November 1 and December 25, 2026 until January 31, 2027, or within 30 days of delivery, whichever is later, for both Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and seller-fulfilled (FBM) orders. In Spain, purchases made from November 1, 2026 to January 6, 2027 can be returned until February 6, 2027, while in Germany, Italy and France certain product groups only get a deadline of January 15, 2027, or 14 days after delivery, with the affected groups listed on a Seller Central help page; Amazon says sellers need to take no action because all other return eligibility criteria stay the same, but Onlinehändler-News and Wortfilter disagree, since sellers who state shorter periods in legal texts or seller information than Amazon actually grants risk warning letters, while the statutory right of withdrawal is not affected. Action items: sellers in the ten European Amazon stores should update the return and withdrawal details in their seller information to the extended period now, or have their legal text provider do it, check on the linked help page whether their items in Germany, Italy or France fall under the shorter January 15 deadline, plan revenue, margin and replenishment for Black Week and the holidays with returns coming in until the end of January, or early February in Spain, and keep a return address, staff and storage space ready for FBM orders until then.

FBA & LogisticsOct 30, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

FBA: 45 instead of 30 days for split shipments in international plans

On October 30, Amazon announced in the German Seller Central forum, in English and without naming specific marketplaces, a temporary relief for international FBA shipment plans created between August 1 and November 30, 2026: in multi-destination plans, the remaining shipments now have 45 instead of 30 days after the first shipment is received to arrive at the fulfillment center, which Amazon attributes to longer ocean transit times, port delays and customs holds. If all shipments arrive within these 45 days, the deleted or abandoned defect fee is not charged, although the defect still shows in the Inbound Performance Dashboard, the automatic shipment closure window is extended to 90 days, and inbound defect fees already charged on eligible shipments are reimbursed automatically, with details in the Reimbursements report; Amazon says no action is required, and the post does not say what applies to plans created from December 1. Action items: FBA sellers who ship goods from abroad to several fulfillment centers, for example by ocean freight from Asia, should check the Reimbursements report over the coming weeks for refunds of fees already paid on plans created since August and open a Seller Support case if refunds are missing, schedule the remaining shipments of open plans to arrive no later than 45 days after the first receipt, and to be safe plan with 30 days again for shipment plans created from December.

Seller CentralOct 27, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

Amazon.de: submit Lightning and Best Deals for Black Friday by November 18

On October 27, Amazon published a pinned Black Friday Week guide in the German Seller Central forum: on Amazon.de, Lightning Deals and Best Deals for Black Friday on November 27 and Cyber Monday on November 30 can still be submitted in the Seller Central Deals dashboard until November 18, sellers have been able to create price discounts for both days since Prime Big Deal Days ended, with no end date given in the guide, and Amazon shows the deal fees during creation. According to the guide, the inbound deadlines for the event have passed (AWD stock by October 7, AWD replenishment to FBA created by October 10, FBA stock at fulfillment centers by October 21), deals require active ASINs recommended for the event, Amazon recommends having stock in place at least four weeks before a deal event and more than 28 days of cover afterwards, and Amazon waives storage fees for eligible inventory in European AWD centers from October 1 to December 31, 2026, with fees resuming on January 1, 2027. Action items: sellers on Amazon.de should check now in the Deals dashboard which ASINs are recommended for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, submit Lightning Deals and Best Deals with a few days' buffer before November 18, build the deal fee, the discount and the peak fee in effect since October 15 into the deal price, and only enter ASINs whose stock at the fulfillment center covers the event and at least 28 days afterwards, since the inbound deadlines have passed; sellers with inventory in European AWD centers should use the fee-free period for buffer stock and decide before January 1, 2027 which quantities stay there.

AdvertisingOct 29, 2026via Amazon Investor Relations

Amazon Q3: ad growth slows to 11% on Prime Day shift, high teens expected in Q4

Amazon reported its third-quarter 2026 results on October 29: advertising revenue rose 11 percent (12 percent excluding currency effects) to $19.64 billion after 26 percent growth in the second quarter, and Amazon attributes the slowdown mainly to Prime Day, which in 2026 took place in June, and thus in the second quarter, in Germany and most other large countries, compared with July in 2025; for the fourth quarter, Amazon again expects advertising revenue growth in the high teens, roughly 17 to 19 percent, and total net sales of $240 billion to $247 billion. Third-party seller services revenue, which covers commissions, fulfillment and shipping fees and other seller services, grew 9 percent (10 percent excluding currency effects) to $46.49 billion, slower than total net sales, which rose 12 percent to $201.9 billion; the release announces no new fees, and Amazon gives no performance figures for Ads Agent or Full-Funnel Campaigns, which are now open to all advertisers in the US. Action items: sellers should not read the weaker third quarter as a sign of cheaper clicks, since Amazon itself expects much stronger ad revenue growth in the holiday quarter, so they should plan daily budgets for Black Week and Cyber Monday with headroom, set bid caps based on their target TACoS and check cost per click for their key keywords daily on peak days; for their own year-over-year comparisons of advertising and sales, they should combine June through September rather than look at the third quarter alone, otherwise the Prime Day shift distorts the picture.

Legal & ComplianceOct 28, 2026via HM Treasury, Budget 2026

UK Budget: marketplaces to collect VAT for UK sellers from October 2027

The UK government confirmed in its Budget 2026 on October 28 what had only been reported as a plan in mid-October: from October 1, 2027, VAT online marketplace liability will also cover businesses established in the UK, so marketplaces such as Amazon will collect VAT on sales by UK businesses with annual sales of £90,000 or more on the platform concerned and account for it to HMRC themselves. According to the Budget document, personal sales, second-hand goods and business-to-business (B2B) transactions are excluded, the government expects additional revenue of £165 million in fiscal year 2027/28 and £320 million the following year and plans to use it to cut business rates for high street retailers; sellers without a UK establishment are not affected, since Amazon has been collecting VAT on their sales from UK stock since 2021. Action items: anyone selling on Amazon.co.uk through their own UK company with annual sales of £90,000 or more there should plan cash flow and prices from October 2027 without VAT passing through their account (around 16.7 percent less payout on gross sales at the 20 percent rate), clarify with their tax adviser how input VAT recovery, VAT returns and bookkeeping will work under the new model, and review the detailed rules once the government publishes the legislation.

Legal & ComplianceOct 28, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Amazon.de: extended holiday returns for 2026 not yet announced to sellers

Onlinehändler-News reported on October 28 that Amazon has not yet informed sellers on Amazon.de about the extended return period for the 2026 holiday season, although based on previous years it is likely to start on November 1 and Amazon announced it as early as mid-October last year; on Amazon.com, by contrast, the rule is set, and customers there can now return purchases made between November 1 and December 31 until January 31 every year. Based on the previous years' pattern described in the report, purchases made from early November to December 25 can be returned until January 31 or 30 days after receipt, while electronics, tools, PCs and other segments may have a shorter special deadline of January 15; according to the report, sellers need lead time to adjust legal texts, systems and warehouse processes to returns spanning several months, especially since Amazon cut its voluntary 30-day return period back to the statutory minimum in 16 more product groups such as drugstore and baby items over the summer. Action items: sellers on Amazon.de who refer to Amazon's return terms in their legal texts or product information should prepare the update now and apply it as soon as the announcement appears in Seller Central, check Seller News daily until then, calculate fourth-quarter revenue and margin with returns coming in until the end of January, and keep a return address, staff and storage space ready for seller-fulfilled (FBM) orders until the end of January.

Seller CentralOct 28, 2026via My Amazon Guy

Amazon reportedly tests AI backgrounds on main images in search results

According to the agency My Amazon Guy on October 28 and the industry newsletter Shopifreaks on October 26, Amazon is testing altered main images for beauty items in search results: instead of the white background, gray backdrops or AI-generated scenes appear, such as bath products placed in a bathroom, with listings from Olay, Bliss, L'Oréal and St. Ives reportedly among those affected; according to the report, the brands were neither informed in advance nor asked for consent, Amazon offers no opt-out so far, and Amazon has not commented. Seller image requirements are unchanged: the main image still needs a pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255), the product fills about 85 percent of the frame, and listings without a compliant main image can be suppressed; Talal Asad of the Amazon consultancy Brand Together warns that product and label become smaller in the staged scenes and harder to read on smartphones, which can cost click-through rate and ranking, and the report does not say which marketplaces the test covers. Action items: sellers in beauty and adjacent categories should regularly check in the Amazon app how their key ASINs appear in search and capture deviations with screenshots, track impressions and click-through rate for their main keywords weekly in Brand Analytics, not switch their own main image to AI scenes, since that violates the requirements, and report depictions that misrepresent the product through a Seller Support case.

FBA & LogisticsOct 27, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

FBA returnless refunds: opt-in for items up to €75 in Europe and the UK

On October 27, Amazon announced refunds without returns for Fulfillment by Amazon, called “Lösungen ohne Warenrücksendungen bei Versand durch Amazon” in German Seller Central, in the Seller Central forum for Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK: sellers who opt in set a maximum price per item between €1 and €75 (£1 to £75 in the UK) in Seller Central under Settings, Fulfillment by Amazon, in the section on evaluation and ownership of FBA customer returns, and choose whether the rule covers all ASINs with an optional CSV exclusion list or only selected ASINs; Amazon then assesses each return individually, and eligible customers are refunded automatically and keep the item. The seller bears the cost of the goods: according to the announcement, these cases are not eligible for FBA inventory reimbursement and count toward the return rate but do not trigger the high return rate fee, and according to Wortfilter the price cap defaults to €10, a new CSV list with up to 10,000 entries fully replaces the old one, changes take effect immediately and only for returns created afterwards, dangerous goods, recalls, gift cards and heavy or bulky items are excluded, only customers without detected abuse qualify, the referral fee is refunded minus the usual administration fee, and there is no downloadable report yet; according to Onlinehändler-News the program has been running in the US for some time, and in Europe it complements the FBA partial refunds expanded in October. Action items: FBA sellers who want to take part should start with selected ASINs and a low price cap, include low-cost items whose returns are rarely resellable according to the FBA customer returns report, leave out items with a high landed cost or that typically come back in original packaging, note each ASIN's return rate before starting, then check the cases with the status “Warenrücksendung nicht erwartet” (return not expected) weekly on the FBA customer returns page and remove ASINs immediately if these cases spike, since the seller bears every abuse case.

FBA & LogisticsOct 27, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

DHL 2027: new add-on services, Kleinpaket toll and a shipment data fee

On October 27, Onlinehändler-News reported on an internal DHL circular to business customers, citing the parcel news service Paketda, and DHL's service price lists for Paket and Kleinpaket dated 10/2026 confirm the prices: from January 18, 2027, shippers can book a second delivery attempt for DHL Paket at €2.99, charged only if it is actually initiated, as well as delivery only against a one-time code sent to the recipient in advance for €1.19 and “Sofort Zurück” (immediate return), where a parcel goes straight back after a failed delivery attempt and only then costs the €4.50 return fee; “Keine Packstation” (no parcel locker, from January 18) and “Keine Nachbarschaftszustellung” (no delivery to neighbors, from January 1, previously €0.99) cost €1.69 each but are only charged if the parcel ends up at a branch, parcel shop or parcel locker instead, and booking both incurs only one fee. From January 1, 2027, DHL Kleinpaket, the small parcel service, gets a toll and CO2 surcharge of €0.10 per shipment for the first time (it stays at €0.19 for DHL Paket), the Kleinpaket parcel locker discount rises to €0.20, a usable recipient email in the shipment data earns a €0.02 discount from January, transport insurance rises from €6.99 to €7.99 for cover up to €2,500 and from €19.99 to €22.99 for cover up to €25,000, and from July 1, 2027 DHL charges €0.49 per shipment if electronic shipment data does not arrive within the agreed deadlines (waived for DHL Paket with an agreed tiered price); according to the report, DHL also plans an automatic pickup scan on successful collection, meant to protect sellers from marketplace penalties for delays at parcel centers, and parcel locker pickups without registration via an emailed code in spring 2027. Action items: FBM sellers shipping with DHL should build the Kleinpaket surcharge and the higher insurance rates into their 2027 shipping templates and prices, make sure their shipping software transmits shipment data automatically before handover, book the new paid options only for expensive or sensitive goods, ask their DHL sales contact whether and when the automatic pickup scan applies to their collections, and check the figures against their own contract, since individual terms may differ.

Legal & ComplianceOct 27, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Frankfurt court: 5.0 stars only from 4.95, shop ratings on products mislead

In a judgment of August 12, 2026 (case no. 2-06 O 133/26), reported by Wortfilter and the law firm Dr. Bahr on October 27, the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main found the advertising of a balcony solar system seller on the kaufland.de marketplace misleading: the product photos carried 5.0 stars from company ratings whose actual average on 11880.com was about 4.82 (about 4.93 including the portal Cylex) and which also included reviews of the seller's other products, while according to the court customers relate stars next to a product to that very product. According to the judgment, customer ratings are a material product characteristic under Section 5(2) No. 1 of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), a seller must accept every possible reading of ambiguous advertising, and rounding up to 5.0 is only allowed if the actual average is at least 4.95; according to Wortfilter this applies to offers on marketplaces as well as in a seller's own shop, and anyone displaying customer reviews must also state under Section 5b(3) UWG whether and how they ensure the reviews come from buyers who actually used or purchased the product. Action items: sellers should check product images, A+ content, banners and their offers on other marketplaces for star graphics, show only ratings of that exact product next to it, clearly label shop or portal ratings as such and keep them out of product images, round to one decimal place so that 5.0 only appears from 4.95, and replace star banners as soon as the average changes.

Legal & ComplianceOct 27, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Warning letters over Schmuddelwedda and Dreimaster photos, also on Amazon

According to Wortfilter on October 27, the Hamburg law firm von Have Fey is still sending warning letters on behalf of Leo E-Commerce Ltd., a company registered in Malta, to sellers who use product photos of the fashion brands Schmuddelwedda or Dreimaster without usage rights in their own web shop or on eBay, Amazon and Etsy: the wave has been running since late 2023, law firms report new letters from August and October 2026, and the targets are mainly business sellers, but also some private individuals offering used jackets with manufacturer images. The letters demand a cease-and-desist undertaking, removal of the images, damages calculated as a notional licence fee, reimbursement of legal costs and information on the type, scope and duration of use, with the sending firm only quantifying damages after receiving this information and, according to lawyer Stefan Loebisch, setting the value in dispute at €1,000 per photo used; according to Wortfilter, the brands and the image rights sit with different companies linked through mergers, renamings and the same law firm, which makes counterclaims and checking the chain of rights harder. Action items: sellers of Schmuddelwedda, Dreimaster, MO or related brands on Amazon, eBay or their own shop should check listings, images they uploaded themselves and shop pages for manufacturer photos, use manufacturer images, including those from the B2B portal, only with written permission and keep it on file, or otherwise replace them with their own photos; anyone who has already received a letter should have the warning letter and the pre-drafted cease-and-desist declaration reviewed by a lawyer before the deadline.

Legal & ComplianceOct 25, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Amazon “individual seller” profile exposes business sellers to warning letters

According to Wortfilter on October 25, Amazon.de shows some business sellers under “Impressum & Info zum Verkäufer” (legal notice and seller information) only as an “individual seller” instead of listing company name, address and VAT ID, together with a standard text saying the seller is not a business seller and that consumer rights such as the 14-day right of withdrawal and the two-year statutory warranty do not apply; according to the report, the cause is the business type chosen at registration, for example “Keine, ich bin eine Einzelperson” (none, I am an individual), not the Individual selling plan, and only Amazon's verification team can change the greyed-out field. Since May 28, 2022, marketplaces must show whether a seller is a trader and rely on the seller's own declaration for this, while legally only Section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB) counts: Wortfilter therefore sees warning letter risks for creating the false impression of not being a trader, a practice on the blacklist of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), for a missing withdrawal notice, which extends the withdrawal period to up to twelve months and 14 days, for a missing legal notice under Section 5 of the German Digital Services Act (DDG) and for the invalid warranty exclusion; competitors, qualified associations and consumer groups can send warning letters, courts usually set the value in dispute between €10,000 and €30,000 according to the report, and the report contains no statement from Amazon. Action items: sellers should open their seller profile in a private browser window and check under “Impressum & Info zum Verkäufer” whether their company details appear, check the business type on file in Seller Central under Settings, Account Info, Business Information, request a correction through a Seller Support case if they are misclassified, with trade licence, ID, tax number and VAT ID ready, keep the case ID and screenshots, and add their legal notice, withdrawal notice and terms to the seller information until the correction is made.

Legal & ComplianceOct 25, 2026via Wortfilter.de

Baby mattresses: 150 trusted flagger reports, risky Amazon listings stay online

According to Wortfilter on October 25, a mattress manufacturer that also sells children's mattresses on Amazon filed 150 reports on 137 baby and children's mattresses from other sellers through the Bundesverband Onlinehandel (BVOH), a German online retail association that the Federal Network Agency has certified as a trusted flagger under Article 22 of the Digital Services Act since June 2025: 18 offers were blocked, five of them are available again, and according to the manufacturer none of the 24 reports involving a concrete risk to children, for example because toddlers can open an unsecured cover, bite off foam and choke on it, led to permanent removal; one of the affected offers is sold by Amazon itself. The benchmark is the EN 16890 standard, under which a removable cover is only acceptable if the closure needs at least 50 newtons, two separate actions or a tool to open, or if a non-removable inner cover protects the core; according to the report there is no lab test and no statement from Amazon, although marketplaces must process notices about dangerous products within three working days under Article 22 of the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), and trusted flagger status only guarantees priority review, not a block. Action items: sellers of baby or children's mattresses should check closures and inner covers against EN 16890, keep test reports ready and not market sizes outside the standard such as 80 × 160 cm as baby mattresses, and brand owners reporting unsafe competitor offers should keep the report date, ASIN and evidence, since platform reports alone often fall short and the alternatives, a complaint to the market surveillance authority or a warning letter under Section 3a of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), reveal the reporter's name.

Seller CentralOct 23, 2026via My Amazon Guy

Black Friday: Amazon deal deadline reportedly extended to November 13

According to My Amazon Guy on October 23, Amazon has used a Seller Central notice to extend the window for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, which originally closed on October 20, to November 13, two weeks before Black Friday on November 27; Cyber Monday falls on November 30. According to the report, the notice only details Prime Exclusive Discounts, created in Seller Central under Advertising, Price Discounts via “Create a price discount” and the “Events” option; it is open whether Lightning Deals and Best Deals can be submitted again, until what time the window runs and whether it applies outside the US, since the report only links US Seller Central, and submitted deals are neither guaranteed acceptance nor protected from removal if price, stock or eligibility change. Action items: sellers who missed October 20 should check the Deals dashboard for which deal types are still open for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, create Prime Exclusive Discounts with a few days' buffer before November 13, first resolve open policy notices in Account Health and deals flagged as suppressed or at risk, build deal, referral, fulfillment, ad and return costs into the deal price, and check stock coverage, since the notice sets no later FBA inbound cutoffs; sellers on Amazon.de should check in their own Seller Central whether Black Friday events can still be selected there, as the report names no European deadline.

Legal & ComplianceOct 23, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letters: “CE certified”, missing ingredients and review requests

On October 23, Onlinehändler-News presented three new warning letter cases, one of them on Amazon: a perfume seller on Amazon received a warning letter from a competitor because the product information lacked the ingredient details that are mandatory for cosmetics and perfume; according to the report, no cost claim is known. In addition, the Verein gegen Unwesen in Handel und Gewerbe Köln, an association that pursues competition law violations, is claiming €350 from a seller who advertised products as “CE certified”: according to the report, the CE mark is not a certificate but a manufacturer's self-declaration and is mandatory for many product groups anyway, so the claim is misleading and advertises something that is a given; another claimant is demanding €572.21 for a review request in an order confirmation, which the report classifies as unsolicited email advertising without the customer's consent, since advertising is interpreted broadly. Action items: sellers should search the titles, bullet points, descriptions and images of their listings for “CE certified” and remove the claim, cosmetics and perfume sellers should add the full ingredient list to every listing, for example in the ingredients attribute, and anyone who also runs their own web shop should remove review requests from order confirmations and invoices unless consent has been given.

Seller CentralOct 22, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Fraud series: 13 camera orders, no returns received, about €15,000 in losses

An Amazon seller described a fraud series in the seller forum, as Onlinehändler-News reported on October 22: between September 22 and October 5, 13 orders for the same compact camera at around €1,160 each came in, all shipped with DHL to Warsaw under changing recipient names, since early October most of them were followed by return requests, mostly citing “item defective”, which according to the seller Amazon approved automatically although no camera has come back so far, and in one case Amazon refunded the full amount for “item not received” even though DHL had confirmed delivery. According to the seller, Amazon rejected the SAFE-T claim because fewer than 15 days had passed since the refund, Seller Support referred the seller to the abuse reporting channel, which in turn said it was not responsible, the buyer abuse form for returns is not enabled on the account, and because the cases feed unfiltered into the performance metrics, account health now shows “At risk”; an Amazon team member confirmed in the forum that a team is reviewing the cases. Action items: sellers who ship expensive items themselves should check for clusters of identical orders to the same city under changing recipient names before shipping, keep proof of delivery and order numbers, monitor account health, and file SAFE-T claims only after the waiting period or add to existing claims that a return was requested but the goods were never sent back; according to another seller in the forum, the chances are rather poor if there was neither a return label from Amazon or the seller nor a return address in the buyer's country on file.

Legal & ComplianceOct 22, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

EU standardisation reform: free access to harmonised standards planned

On October 6 the European Commission proposed a new regulation on European standardisation (COM(2026) 780) to replace Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012: as Onlinemarktplatz.de summarised on October 22, standards referenced in the EU Official Journal that support EU law would become freely available online without a mandatory account or subscription, the average time until a requested standard is referenced would fall from 6.1 to around four years, and if a standard does not arrive in time, the Commission could adopt common specifications that companies may use voluntarily. The Commission estimates possible savings in conformity costs of around €295 million a year, about €30 million of it from free access and mostly benefiting SMEs, while describing the figures as indicative only; the proposal goes through the ordinary legislative procedure, Parliament and Council can still amend it, and obligations only arise once it is agreed and published in the Official Journal. Action items: private-label sellers and importers who carry manufacturer obligations for their products should list the harmonised standards their declarations of conformity rely on, keep buying the standards they need as before until the new rules apply, and assign someone to follow the procedure; existing standards subscriptions and conformity processes do not need to change yet.

FBA & LogisticsOct 21, 2026via My Amazon Guy

US customs: fast-track rule could restrict foreign importers of record

According to My Amazon Guy, Amazon has told sellers that a new rule for foreign importers of record is under government review: the report says the rule implementing Executive Order 14411 of June 3 has been with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since September 25 as an interim final rule and could apply as soon as it is published, without a prior comment period, while Amazon stresses that nothing changes for now and that sellers with a US importer of record are likely to be less affected than those with a foreign one. Under the order, foreign importers are to be barred from filing informal entries and may only file formal entries if they are CTPAT-validated themselves or use a CTPAT-validated licensed customs broker, a company only counts as a US importer if it is organized under US law, located in the US and controlled at all times by US citizens or green card holders, so a US subsidiary with European owners will usually count as foreign, and on October 8 US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also proposed requiring a bond for every informal entry, with comments open until December 7. Action items: EU sellers who import FBA stock for Amazon.com should check on their latest CBP Form 7501 entries which company is listed as importer of record, ask their forwarder or customs broker about its CTPAT status and whether small express replenishments currently clear as informal entries, and plan first-quarter replenishment with a buffer for customs delays.

FBA & LogisticsOct 21, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Amazon shipping templates: FBM rates reset to €0 for some sellers in October

Since mid-October, FBM sellers on Amazon.de have reported shipping templates dropping overnight to €0.00 or lower shipping charges, Onlinehändler-News reported on October 21: according to seller posts on sellerforum.de, Premium shipping was sometimes affected too, previously disabled international regions were in some cases switched back on, and an Amazon forum moderator said the system works as intended. The background is the end of tiered, order-value-based shipping charges for seller-fulfilled orders, which Amazon announced for August 24, 2026 according to a notice quoted on sellerforum.de: only per-item or weight-based models remain, Amazon converted templates automatically where sellers had not switched them themselves, and according to Onlinehändler-News it is legally unclear whether Amazon has to cover losses from orders shipped without shipping charges. Action items: FBM sellers should open every shipping template under Shipping settings in Seller Central, not just the default template, check the rates for each region and shipping option as well as any international regions switched on unintentionally, re-enter shipping charges per item or by weight, and collect order numbers and the missing amounts for orders that went through without shipping charges since mid-October so they can claim reimbursement from Amazon in writing.

Legal & ComplianceOct 21, 2026via Council of the European Union

PPWR: EU Council wants EPR representative waiver below 1 tonne per country

Following the European Parliament, whose plenary voted on October 20 and referred the file back to the environment committee for negotiations with the Council, the Council of the EU agreed its negotiating mandate on October 21 to ease the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) requirement to appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility (EPR) in every country of delivery: under the Council text, the Article 45(3) obligation is suspended until January 1, 2032 for producers established in the EU in each other member state where they make less than 1 tonne of packaging, including the packaging of packaged products, available for the first time in a calendar year, batteries are no longer covered, unlike in the Commission proposal, and the competent authority can still order a representative if a producer breaches its EPR obligations. According to Onlinehändler-News, Parliament instead wants to limit the relief to micro and small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees and annual turnover of up to €10 million, both versions keep the existing rules for producers from outside the EU, and until Parliament and Council agree in trilogue negotiations and the regulation is published in the Official Journal, the representative requirement that has applied since August 12, 2026 remains unchanged. Action items: EU-based sellers should track the packaging volume they make available for the first time in each country of delivery per calendar year, since the Council threshold applies per country and year, cancel existing representative contracts only after the regulation is published and only in countries where they are safely below the threshold that then applies, and expect registration and licence fees in each country to remain even with the exemption.

FBA & LogisticsOct 21, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

Deutsche Post 2027: higher postage, Päckchen get tracking but a 1 kg cap

Deutsche Post plans to change postage and formats for letters and small parcels on January 1, 2027, as Onlinemarktplatz.de summarized on October 21 after the announcement the day before: the Warensendung goods mail service up to 1 kg rises from €2.70 to €3.10 (up to 2 kg from €3.55 to €4.00), the Großbrief large letter from €1.80 to €2.35 but may then weigh up to 1 kg and be 3 cm thick, and the Maxibrief costs €5.00 instead of €2.90 and is allowed up to 2 kg but only 3 instead of 5 cm thick, while the Maxibrief with a surcharge for larger formats is discontinued. Domestic Päckchen small parcels will come with tracking and liability up to €20 from 2027 but may only weigh 1 kg instead of 2 kg, and the Päckchen S may only be 5 instead of 10 cm high; Deutsche Post has not yet published Päckchen prices or parcel prices for private customers, business customers will be informed of their new parcel prices individually in the coming weeks, and the letter prices are subject to approval by the Federal Network Agency, whose final framework decision is expected in November according to Onlinemarktplatz.de. Action items: FBM sellers who ship small items as Warensendung, Großbrief or Maxibrief should re-measure their packaging, since flat items up to 1 kg and 3 cm thick can travel as a Großbrief for €2.35, cheaper than as a Maxibrief today, provided length and width fit, while items thicker than 3 cm can no longer go as a Maxibrief, build the higher postage into 2027 shipping templates and prices, and check whether the tracked Päckchen becomes an alternative to untracked shipments for items up to 1 kg, since Amazon rates the valid tracking rate on seller-fulfilled orders; Päckchen between 1 and 2 kg will need a different shipping method from January.

FBA & LogisticsOct 20, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon.com makes its January 31 holiday return deadline an annual rule

According to a Seller News notice dated October 16, reported by PPC Land on October 20, customers on Amazon.com can return items purchased between November 1 and December 31, 2026 until January 31, 2027, Apple products until January 15; what is new is the statement that this policy will now apply every year, eligibility depends on the purchase date rather than the usual 30 days from delivery, and according to PPC Land a purchase on November 1 thus stays returnable for up to 91 days. The extension applies automatically to all items sellers sell on Amazon.com, whether fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or by the merchant (FBM), Amazon requires no action, the notice mentions no opt-out, and all other return and refund conditions remain unchanged; according to PPC Land, most FBM returns in the extended window will travel on labels the seller pays for, especially since prepaid return labels become mandatory for FBM returns on Amazon.com from December 18, as PPC Land reported on October 19. Action items: anyone selling on Amazon.com, including from Europe, should only finalize fourth-quarter revenue, return on ad spend (ROAS) and contribution margin after January 31, plan first-quarter reorders and January ad budgets with a buffer for late returns, keep a return address and a budget for return labels ready for seller-fulfilled orders until the end of January, and check the FBA customer returns report for resellable returns before reordering stock.

Fees & PricingOct 19, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

FBA fuel and logistics surcharge in Europe rises to 2% from November 2

In an announcement in the German Seller Forum on October 19, Amazon said it will raise the fuel and logistics surcharge introduced in April from 1.5 to 2 percent from November 2, 2026: it applies to FBA fulfillment fees in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Ireland and the UK, and from November 19 also to Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The surcharge is still calculated on the fulfillment fee, not the item price, and according to Amazon the increase averages €0.02 per FBA unit, varying with item size; Amazon says the profit analytics, the revenue calculator and the fee and profitability preview in Seller Central already reflect the new rate, and that it will review the surcharge as costs develop. Action items: sellers should build the higher surcharge, together with the peak fee that has applied in Germany since October 15, into Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal prices and their bid limits, check low-priced items in particular, where the fulfillment fee makes up a large share of the price, and anyone using MCF to ship web shop orders should adjust shipping cost calculations there for November 19.

FBA & LogisticsOct 19, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon.com: prepaid return labels mandatory for FBM returns from December 18

According to an Amazon email to US sellers that PPC Land reported on October 19 and that sellers discussed the same day in the Sellers Ask Sellers forum, from December 18, 2026 all US returns of seller-fulfilled (FBM) orders will require a prepaid return shipping label, with only heavy and bulky items exempt for now; according to PPC Land, this ends the option where buyers only received the return address and paid postage themselves. Sellers must upload a prepaid label in the Manage seller-fulfilled returns workflow in Seller Central within seven calendar days of the return request or issue a full refund without requiring the return, otherwise Amazon may automatically issue a returnless refund and deduct the amount from the seller account; labels sent via buyer-seller messaging do not count, it is still open how Amazon defines heavy and bulky items, and whether sellers may keep deducting return postage from refunds for buyer-caused returns is disputed in seller forums. Action items: anyone selling FBM on Amazon.com, including cross-border from Europe, should review their return settings and check that a valid US return address is on file before mid-December, set up returnless refund rules for low-priced items where postage exceeds the item value, and check open return requests daily during the post-holiday return wave so that the seven-day deadline does not lapse.

Legal & ComplianceOct 16, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letter puts €850,000 value on tin signs with 85 brand logos

On October 16, Onlinehändler-News presented three new warning letters, the most expensive aimed at a seller on an unnamed online marketplace: Nostalgic-Art Merchandising GmbH, which according to the report holds official licenses for such signs itself, is using the law firm BRP Renaud to pursue tin signs bearing the logos of 85 well-known brands because the seller did not clearly disclose that the brand owners had not approved the sale, sets a value of €10,000 per brand, €850,000 in total, and claims €7,723.22 in pre-litigation legal fees. Blanken Küchenmesser & mehr Import Ltd., through the law firm Schleinkofer, is also claiming €1,590.91 from a web shop that offered a kitchen knife allegedly made in Taiwan as a “Japanese poultry knife”; in early October the same claimant had pursued “Japanese Damascus blades” for the same amount. Action items: anyone selling merchandise with third-party brand logos, such as tin signs, fan or nostalgia items, should keep proof of license per ASIN and take down offers without the brand owner's consent, since a mere disclaimer does not replace that consent and brand owners can also report such offers through Amazon Brand Registry; origin claims such as “Japanese” in titles, bullet points and images should only stay if the essential production steps demonstrably take place there, otherwise “Japanese style” is the safe wording.

Legal & ComplianceOct 15, 2026via Retail Insight Network

UK plans marketplace VAT collection for sellers above £90,000 turnover

According to a report by The Times, picked up by Retail Insight Network on October 15, the UK government plans to require marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Temu to collect VAT at source for business sellers with annual turnover above £90,000; details are expected with the Budget on October 28, and the plan has not been officially confirmed yet. It mainly targets overseas sellers who trade through UK shell companies with their own VAT numbers and disappear before the tax falls due; the expected revenue of up to £1 billion is meant to fund lower business rates for high street shops, Amazon welcomes the plan and puts the yield at around £700 million, and in substance it would match the extension of marketplace liability to UK-established sellers that HMRC consulted on this summer. Action items: sellers based in the EU are not directly affected, since Amazon has been collecting UK VAT on sales from UK stock for sellers without a UK establishment since 2021; anyone selling through their own UK company with FBA stock in the UK and turnover above £90,000 should model cash flow without VAT passing through their account (around 16.7 percent less payout on gross sales at the 20 percent rate) and check the start date and exemptions after October 28.

Legal & ComplianceOct 15, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

DIHK and HDE call for listing crawlers, fulfillment center checks and EPR audits

The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the German Retail Federation (HDE) have presented a joint discussion paper with ten measures that could be implemented quickly to enforce existing rules, mainly against sellers from outside the EU; according to Onlinemarktplatz.de on October 15, around 5.9 billion low-value items entered the EU in 2025, yet customs intervened only 65 times per million items on average, and in a coordinated EU action 64 percent of 20,040 inspected toys and small electrical devices failed the requirements checked. The demands include state task forces organized by platform or product group, a central digital reporting office for tips from companies, crawlers that flag offers lacking labeling, safety information or an EU-based responsible party, more checks of goods stored in EU fulfillment centers including test purchases, automated checks of whether EPR registrations exist and fees are actually paid, and faster DSA proceedings against very large platforms; the paper gives no figures on staffing, costs or deadlines, and none of it is law yet. Action items: sellers should keep GPSR data (manufacturer, EU responsible person, safety information) complete for every ASIN, since automated checks would read exactly these fields, be ready to prove their EPR registrations and paid fees in each country, and document FBA stock so that conformity documents are at hand if goods are inspected in a fulfillment center.

FBA & LogisticsOct 14, 2026via About Amazon Deutschland

Amazon Germany: SMEs topped €20bn in 2025 sales, FBA units up nearly 10%

In its Germany overview dated October 14, Amazon puts the sales that German small and medium-sized businesses generated on Amazon in 2025 at more than €20 billion, €5.9 billion of it from exports; the units these selling partners shipped via FBA grew by almost 10 percent over the same period. Amazon is also expanding its network: delivery stations opened in recent months in Salzgitter, Ettenheim, Kassel, Cottbus and Dahlewitz, another fulfillment center is under construction in Könnern (Saxony-Anhalt), and modernization of Bad Hersfeld, Dortmund and Werne is due to finish in 2027 while work in Koblenz, Pforzheim and Rheinberg continues into 2028; Amazon says it invested €15 billion in Germany in 2025 alone and more than €100 billion since 2010, but gives no figures on storage capacity, FBA fees or inventory limits. Action items: FBA sellers should keep planning Q4 inbound around the capacity limits shown in Seller Central, since Amazon promises no higher allowances with the build-out, and exporters should check whether their top sellers are already available in neighboring markets via Pan-EU or the European Fulfillment Network, as Amazon attributes €5.9 billion of German SME sales to exports.

FBA & LogisticsOct 14, 2026via Amazon Seller Central

FBA partial refunds: sellers now set rates per return reason in 7 markets

Amazon has extended FBA partial refunds, where eligible customers keep the item and get part of the price back, with return reason controls in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Canada, according to its Seller Central help page: sellers can set up to three configurations with their own percentage per reason for all ASINs, or upload an Excel template listing ASIN, reason and percentage per row for selected ASINs, whereas according to My Amazon Guy on October 14 enrollment previously covered every eligible return reason. Refunds are based on the original list price excluding promotional discounts, the program itself carries no fee, the referral fee is refunded minus the administration fee, dangerous goods, hygiene products and non-returnable items are excluded, and every partial refund still counts toward the ASIN's return rate and the frequently returned item badge; changes take effect immediately but only for returns created afterwards, and if a customer later sends the item back anyway, Amazon deducts the partial refund from the remaining amount. Action items: FBA sellers should open Partial refunds under the Fulfillment by Amazon settings in Seller Central, take return reasons that point to a defect out of the program so those returns can be inspected, and set high percentages only where returned units are rarely resellable according to the FBA customer returns report; for EU orders, the returns dashboard only shows whether a partial refund was final after 45 days.

Seller CentralOct 14, 2026via Nova Analytics

Virtual multipacks: US sellers must review the next wave by November 10

According to an Amazon notice from US Seller Central that sellers shared on October 13 in the Sellers Ask Sellers forum and that Nova Analytics explained on October 14, Amazon will create a new wave of virtual multipacks for selected brand-owned FBA ASINs by October 28, 2026: each pack, for example a 2-pack, gets its own ASIN and a SKU with the prefix VMP_, appears as a variation on the single-pack detail page and ships from the existing single-unit FBA stock. All multipacks that sellers do not delete by November 10 go on sale on November 11; the default price is the single-pack price times the pack size, the notice mentions no account-wide opt-out, FBM offers are excluded, and according to Nova Analytics a deleted multipack cannot be restored during the pilot, while edits made through templates or integrations can break the listing. Action items: FBA sellers on Amazon.com should filter Manage All Inventory for VMP_ now, check price, multipack discount and Q4 stock coverage, edit multipacks only on their dedicated edit page and delete unsuitable pack sizes before November 11, since the pack size is fixed; sellers in Europe should also check their inventory for VMP_ SKUs as a precaution, as it is still open whether the wave reaches Amazon.de.

Seller CentralOct 14, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

Amazon requires new dangerous goods answers for four categories from Oct 26

From October 26, 2026, sellers on Amazon.de must answer additional dangerous goods questions when creating or editing listings in four product groups, as Amazon announced in the German Seller Forum and Onlinemarktplatz.de explained on October 14: refrigeration units such as fridges, freezers and air conditioners (refrigerant properties), shock absorbers and gas struts (damping mechanism), markers and writing instruments (ink properties), and pool and hot tub water treatment chemicals (composition and packaging); according to My Amazon Guy, the same change takes effect on the same date in the US and the UK. Existing listings are not affected for now, as the questions only appear at the next creation or edit, including a title or bullet point correction; Amazon names no sanction for missing answers but says complete answers let listings go live without delay, and it is still open when the new fields will show up in inventory templates, product type schemas and the Listings API. Action items: sellers with ASINs in these groups should prepare safety data sheets and details on refrigerant, ink or ingredients per ASIN now so that Q4 edits to these listings do not get stuck, avoid opening existing listings without a reason, and anyone maintaining listings via flat file or API should re-fetch the German product type schemas around October 26.

Fees & PricingOct 13, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

FBA peak fee in Germany rises to €0.27 per item from Oct 15, up about 42%

From October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, Amazon again charges a peak fee on selected FBA orders in small and standard-size packages to buyers in Germany, averaging €0.27 per item according to Amazon's Seller Forum announcement; according to Onlinemarktplatz.de on October 13, last year's average was €0.19, which works out to an increase of about 42 percent, and the fee covers local FBA, Pan-EU, the European Fulfillment Network and cross-border fulfillment from the UK, but not oversize items, Low-Price FBA or deliveries to buyers in other EU countries. The actual fee depends on dimensions, weight and shipping route and is not a fixed rate per ASIN, the 1.5 percent fuel and logistics surcharge in place since April 17 comes on top, and for Black Friday promotions with the Prime badge, stock must have arrived at European fulfillment centers by October 21, according to Amazon. Action items: sellers should pull the FBA fee preview report, build the peak fee and surcharge per ASIN into Q4 margins, deal prices and bid limits, and plan Black Friday week replenishment so that it arrives by October 21.

Legal & ComplianceOct 13, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Bundestag passes new product liability law: risks for sellers of non-EU goods

On October 8, the German Bundestag passed the act modernizing product liability law, which transposes the EU Product Liability Directive 2024/2853, also covers software, makes it easier for injured parties to prove their case and applies to products placed on the market from December 9, 2026; the Bundesrat still has to deal with it, and older goods remain under the previous law. As Onlinehändler-News explained on October 13, for goods from a manufacturer outside the EU that has neither an importer nor an authorized representative in the EU, a retailer can be held strictly liable like a manufacturer for personal injury and property damage if, upon request, it fails to name the responsible business or its own supplier within one month; the reform does not, however, bring any new labeling or checkout duties. Action items: sellers of goods from non-EU manufacturers should check per ASIN whether an importer or authorized representative in the EU is identified, document supplier and manufacturer so that they can name both within one month, and check with their insurer before December 9 whether their product liability policy covers the extended liability; sellers who import themselves, substantially modify products or sell under their own brand carry a higher risk.

Legal & ComplianceOct 12, 2026via CEP Research

Leaked EU Product Act draft: new surveillance fee on every imported item

According to CEP Research on October 12, a leaked draft of the European Product Act, with which the European Commission wants to merge product rules and market surveillance into a single regulation, provides for a new EU-wide market surveillance fee on goods from non-EU countries: it would be charged per item at customs, be lower for bulk imports than for individual distance-sale parcels and fund inspections of imported goods sold online, and the reports so far name no amount. According to analyses by the law firms Noerr on September 24 and Osborne Clarke on October 1, marketplaces would also have to check before a listing goes live whether a digital product passport or a record of the responsible party exists, and would take on the duties of an authorised representative themselves if they skip that check and no responsible business established in the EU exists, alongside fines of up to 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover, mandatory professional liability insurance for authorised representatives and direct Commission action against non-compliant goods from outside the EU; none of this is law yet, because the Commission has postponed its proposal, planned for October 6, to later this year, Parliament and Council must then agree, and the text may still change. Action items: sellers importing goods from outside the EU, including bulk shipments for FBA warehouses, should note the fee as a future cost item in their landed cost calculations, make sure every product has a responsible business established in the EU, because marketplaces facing their own liability are likely to check more strictly, and store technical documentation, declarations of conformity and test reports per product in a digital, retrievable form; sellers without an EU establishment should check with their authorised representative whether the representative carries professional liability insurance.

Seller CentralOct 12, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

bevh: Temu, Shein and AliExpress lose 35.5% of German sales after duty change

According to the consumer survey of the German e-commerce association bevh, published on October 8 and analysed by Onlinehändler-News on October 12, Shein, Temu and AliExpress generated only €566 million in sales in Germany in the third quarter of 2026, 35.5 percent less than a year earlier, and their market share fell from 5.3 percent in the second quarter to 3.1 percent in the third, the first full quarter since the €150 customs exemption ended on July 1 and small consignments from outside the EU started paying a flat €3 duty per tariff line; a €2 handling fee will be added from November. Online goods sales overall grew only 2.9 percent to around €18.5 billion, below September inflation of 3.3 percent, online marketplaces grew fastest at 5.0 percent, pure online shops lost 0.8 percent, drugstore (up 14.3 percent) and food (up 9.1 percent) grew strongly, while electronics (down 4.6 percent) and furniture, lamps and decor (down 5.2 percent) shrank; according to bevh, domestic retailers have not benefited from the Asian platforms' weakness so far, and Andreas Frank of Selr sees part of the drop as an accounting effect, because Shein and Temu are moving to marketplace models with third-party sellers and EU warehouses and then only book commission instead of the value of goods. Action items: sellers should compare their own third-quarter performance per category with these figures to separate market movement from their own performance, should not count on permanently weaker competition in categories with many low-priced goods from Asia, since according to Selr Shein and Temu increasingly sell through sellers with EU warehouses, and should monitor these offers' prices and delivery times in their core categories.

Legal & ComplianceOct 11, 2026via wortfilter.de

European Product Act: German groups demand a liable EU party for every product

On October 8, Germany's retail association HDE, the brand association Markenverband and the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) urged the German government to make sure the EU's planned European Product Act gives every product a solvent, reachable responsible party established in the EU or EEA: sellers without an EU establishment that ship directly from third countries to consumers should appoint an authorised representative vetted and registered by the authorities, carrying full product responsibility including possible fines, marketplaces should check offers automatically against that register before they go live and only be liable like a representative themselves if they skip the check and nobody in the EU can be held to account, and imports without a responsible party should be stopped. None of this is law yet: the Commission had planned to present its proposal, which is meant to reorganise the EU framework for product rules and market surveillance, on October 6, but according to the news service MLex it has been pushed to a later date this year, and only then does the legislative process begin; Article 16 of the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and Article 4 of the Market Surveillance Regulation already require a responsible party in the EU, but their duties are essentially limited to documentation and contact with authorities, as wortfilter.de noted on October 11, and according to the associations' paper EU-based retailers should not face any additional or duplicate obligations. Action items: sellers without an EU establishment, especially those shipping directly from third countries to end customers, should plan for their current GPSR responsible person having to be registered, solvent and fully liable in the future, and build the extra cost into their EU pricing; EU-based brands and sellers need not change anything for now, but should keep manufacturer and responsible person details complete for each store in Seller Central, document offers from third-country competitors without a recognisable EU responsible party for reports to Amazon or market surveillance authorities, and follow the Commission proposal.

AdvertisingOct 11, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DSP: brand penetration maps in 9 countries incl. Germany, no AMC needed

According to a launch notice dated October 2, Amazon has added pre-built brand penetration indices to Geographic Insights and Activation (GIA), the geo tool in Amazon DSP: based on Amazon's retail data and the products an advertiser already tracks, they show on an interactive map where a brand sells strongly or weakly relative to its category, refresh weekly, and can be activated per ad group as targeting toward low or high penetration areas without setting up Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), which the GIA API beta of October 2025 still required. The feature covers the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Australia and Japan and is available to self-service advertisers and tech providers through the DVA+ advanced settings and the public API; since the DVA+ interface is still a closed US beta according to PPC Land on October 11 (open beta expected in late October), access outside the US will likely run mainly through the API and tech providers for now, and Amazon discloses neither the calculation method nor performance data. Action items: brands with a DSP budget should first test the indices in one ad group against a fixed control region and measure new-to-brand purchases rather than ROAS alone; brands with strong brick-and-mortar or direct-to-consumer sales should read the scores with caution, because they are based on Amazon data and regions with strong business outside Amazon can therefore look weak.

Legal & ComplianceOct 9, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

EU Parliament committee backs relief from EPR representatives for small EU firms

According to Onlinemarktplatz.de, the European Parliament's Environment Committee voted on October 5 to temporarily suspend the obligation to appoint a separate authorised representative for extended producer responsibility (EPR) in every country of delivery for small companies selling across borders, covering packaging and batteries as well as textiles, footwear, electrical equipment and certain single-use plastics; under the draft report, only EU-established micro and small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees and annual turnover or balance sheet total of up to €10 million would benefit, while companies from outside the EU, such as the UK, Switzerland, the US or China, would still need a representative. This is not law yet: the adopted committee report had not been published as of October 9, the plenary vote is tentatively planned for October 19, an agreement with the Council is needed afterwards, which paused its talks in June and has no negotiating mandate yet, and even with relief, national registration, volume reporting, scheme participation, licence fees and proof of compliance towards marketplaces would remain; until then, the representative requirement of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), applicable since August 12, stays unchanged. Action items: do not cancel representative contracts in countries you supply via Pan-EU or EFN, or rush to reactivate paused countries, based on the committee vote; instead check whether your business meets the thresholds for establishment, headcount and turnover, including linked companies, and follow the plenary vote and the Council's position; sellers established outside the EU should not plan on any relief.

Legal & ComplianceOct 9, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Würzburg court: RRP comparisons for exclusive private labels are misleading

In a ruling of July 17, 2026 (case 14 O 1180/25), the Würzburg Regional Court sided with the Wettbewerbszentrale, Germany's competition watchdog, and held that a furniture retailer could not compare furniture from its own brand with a considerably higher non-binding recommended retail price (UVP), because the products were sold under that brand and product name exclusively within the retailer's own corporate group. In the court's view, an RRP signals to customers a market price at which other retailers also sell; without a market of several independent sellers, the recommendation has no reference value and only makes the retailer's own price look cheaper, and selling identical goods under other names does not change that, although the ruling, which is not yet final, does not rule out RRP comparisons for private labels in general, since the actual distribution structure is decisive, as Onlinehändler-News reported on October 9, also with a view to exclusive private labels on Amazon and eBay. Action items: private label sellers who are the only ones selling their brand should check the list price stored per ASIN, which Amazon displays as the RRP (UVP), as well as strikethrough prices in deals, coupons, product images and A+ content, calculate discounts from their own lowest price of the last 30 days, and only state an RRP where the goods are actually distributed through several independent retailers.

Legal & ComplianceOct 8, 2026via Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv)

Ingolstadt court: sellers may not refer defect claims to the manufacturer

In a ruling of July 24, 2026 (case 1 HK O 1352/25), the Ingolstadt Regional Court, deciding a lawsuit brought by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv), barred MMS E-Commerce GmbH, the company running MediaMarkt's online shop, from referring customers with defect claims to the manufacturer: a buyer had complained a good year after purchase about a fridge-freezer whose door alarm kept sounding even with the door closed, and customer service replied that guarantee and warranty claims should be taken directly to the manufacturer. The court found this reply misleading about consumer rights, because the seller, as the buyer's contractual partner, is liable for defects and a manufacturer's guarantee only applies in addition; the fact that the customer was not deterred and kept insisting on MediaMarkt's statutory warranty changed nothing, as vzbv announced on October 8 regarding the first-instance ruling. Action items: Amazon sellers should check their templates for buyer-seller messaging, FAQs, product inserts and the scripts of outsourced customer service providers for phrases like “please contact the manufacturer”, handle defect claims themselves with repair or replacement, mention a manufacturer's guarantee at most as an additional option, and recover the costs from their supplier where possible.

Legal & ComplianceOct 8, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Frankfurt court: importers who delay defect checks lose their warranty claims

In a decision of May 29, 2026 (case 32 U 12/25), the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main ruled that a German outdoor clothing company is left with a loss running into the millions: it had ordered garments from a Chinese textile manufacturer that exceeded the European limit for nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEO), withheld payments and claimed damages, but had failed to inspect the incoming goods properly. A buyer does not have to commission an expensive full substance analysis on first delivery (around €1,050 and several weeks according to the proceedings), but once samples or test reports raise a concrete suspicion, it must follow up quickly with a targeted test (around €85, four to ten days) and report the defect citing the specific order or invoice; anyone who lets more than a few days pass loses their warranty rights because the goods are deemed accepted, and contract clauses that shift inspection entirely to the supplier are ineffective between businesses, Onlinehändler-News reported on October 8. Action items: sellers who have goods shipped straight from the manufacturer to an FBA warehouse should build fixed sample checks into pre-shipment or first receipt, order a targeted test as soon as anything points to restricted substances, report defects in writing within a few days quoting order and invoice numbers, and not rely on supplier specifications or test reports alone.

Seller CentralOct 8, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

IFH study: 63 percent of German online retail volume runs through Amazon

According to a study by IFH Köln and General Evidence, around €69.1 billion flowed through Amazon in 2025, roughly 63 percent of German online retail, with 46.1 percentage points coming from third-party marketplace sellers and 17.2 points from Amazon's own retail, so about three quarters of Amazon's volume is driven by marketplace sellers; the volume grew by about €3.2 billion year on year, while Temu and Shein together added around €1 billion to reach €5.6 billion. Onlinemarktplatz.de pointed out on October 8 that these are IFH model estimates rather than audited company figures, that trade volume is not the same as Amazon's revenue, and that the press release misleadingly calls the 46.1 percent a share of Amazon's German revenue, although according to the study chart it refers to total German online retail. Action items: calculate contribution margin per product after advertising, fees, returns and logistics, because reach and volume say nothing about whether sales stay profitable, and in categories where Temu and Shein are growing, regularly check your price gap and review base against them.

Legal & ComplianceOct 7, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Prime Deal Days: Amazon.de again shows median price instead of 30-day low

During Prime Deal Days, Amazon.de again did not measure discounts against the lowest price of the previous 30 days, as Germany's Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV) requires for price reductions, Onlinehändler-News reported on October 7, but against a “Statt-Preis” that Amazon describes as the median price customers pay for a product on Amazon.de, excluding limited-time promotional prices, and for some offers against the manufacturer's recommended retail price. The Munich Regional Court had already declared these price indications unlawful in a ruling of July 14, 2025 (case 4 HK O 13950/24), but Amazon has appealed and calls the rule ambiguous, so the ruling is not final and the Higher Regional Court has yet to decide. Action items: in your own channels such as your web shop, newsletters and social ads, only calculate discounts from the lowest price of the last 30 days, keep recommended retail and list prices in your Amazon offers up to date, and watch the appeal, because a confirmed ruling would change how Amazon displays discounts on deals.

Legal & ComplianceOct 7, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

EU forced labour ban from December 2027: sellers should map supply chains

Under the EU Forced Labour Regulation adopted at the end of 2024, products made with forced labour may neither be sold on the EU single market nor exported from the EU from December 14, 2027; authorities are to examine products and supply chains, request information from companies, carry out inspections and be able to have goods taken off the market, and for forced labour outside the EU the Commission can investigate itself. As Onlinehändler-News reported on October 7, Germany has still not named its competent authority despite the December 14, 2025 deadline, with the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) and customs' Financial Control of Undeclared Work (FKS) under discussion, while the Commission has already launched a central portal with a risk database and guidelines for authorities and companies are to follow; outside concrete cases of suspicion there is no new general reporting duty, but retail association HDE warns that even a poorly substantiated suspicion, for example from NGO allegations or country reports, can damage a business. Action items: private label sellers and importers should record the manufacturer, production site and origin of input materials for every product before the end of 2027, collect written supplier declarations, check countries of origin and product groups against the Commission's risk database, and file the evidence so it can be produced at short notice if an authority asks.

Legal & ComplianceOct 5, 2026via Handelsblatt

Germany plans plastic packaging tax of €550 per tonne from July 2027

According to a draft bill reported by Handelsblatt on October 5, Germany's CDU/CSU and SPD coalition wants to tax plastic packaging from July 2027: €550 would be due per tonne of plastic in packaging, covering films, transport and packaging materials, closures, lids and plastic capsules among others, as well as composite packaging with a plastic share above five percent. The tax would apply when packaging is manufactured, imported or brought into Germany, so it falls on manufacturers and importers, and packaging made from recycled plastic can be exempted on application; the paper goes back to the environment and finance ministries, is to be introduced in the Bundestag by the two coalition parties and has not been passed yet, and it follows the EU plastic levy of 80 cents per kilogram of non-recycled plastic packaging waste that Germany has paid from the federal budget since 2021. Action items: sellers who import goods into Germany themselves or buy their own shipping packaging should calculate the plastic weight per unit now, including films and poly bags (at €550 per tonne, a 20-gram bag costs about 1.1 cents), ask suppliers about recycled content and proof of it, check with a tax adviser or customs specialist once the final bill text is out whether the packaging of their imported goods is covered, and build the extra cost into pricing from July 2027.

Legal & ComplianceOct 5, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Limburg court: joining an existing listing makes sellers liable for later edits

On October 5, Onlinehändler-News reported a ruling by the Limburg Regional Court of April 30, 2026 (case 5 O 25/25): a seller had joined an existing Amazon listing for a foot patch made with bamboo fibers and ginger, whose description claimed it “can have a detoxifying effect”, would “stimulate the detox processes that work especially at night” and protect against cold viruses. The seller argued that the text came from the supplier, that they had changed nothing and could not even edit the description on the platform, but the court ruled fully in favor of the association that had sent the warning letter: anyone who lists an offer in their own name without fully controlling its content must expect changes by third parties, this liability is the flip side of the benefits of shared product pages, and health claims are only permitted if they reflect established scientific knowledge. Action items: sellers who attach offers to ASINs created by others should check title, bullet points and description at fixed intervals, especially for supplements, cosmetics and health products, keep dated screenshots of any changes, report inadmissible claims to Amazon and take their own offer offline until the page has been cleaned up.

Legal & ComplianceOct 5, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Berlin court bans no-reply email in Amazon's legal notice after vzbv lawsuit

In a ruling of August 11, 2026 (case 5 UKl 1/26), Berlin's Higher Regional Court (Kammergericht) barred Amazon from listing an email address in its legal notice (Impressum) that does not accept messages: anyone writing to it only received an automatic reply saying the address does not accept incoming emails and to log into the customer account instead, which the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) documented with its own test email after complaints in November 2025. Under Germany's Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG), providers must state an email address that allows quick contact and direct, efficient communication, and according to the court an address that does not accept messages at all fails that test; the ruling is final but was issued as a default judgment, because Amazon did not respond to the lawsuit and nobody appeared at the hearing, as Onlinehändler-News reported on October 5. Action items: sellers should check the email address in the seller information on their Amazon profile and in their own web shop's legal notice, replace no-reply addresses and auto-replies that only point to a customer account, contact form or messaging system with a mailbox that is actually read, and test the address once with an email sent from outside.

Legal & ComplianceOct 4, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

EU raid: over a million used phones sold as new, some via Amazon

In its Troja investigation, the European Public Prosecutor's Office uncovered a network suspected of selling smartphones assembled from used parts as new to EU shoppers via warehouses in Germany: over one million devices, at least €300 million in consumer damage, over €30 million in lost VAT, more than 160 searches in 19 countries and 7 arrests. According to research by German broadcasters WDR and NDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, some of the sales ran through Amazon, which says it is reviewing the case and cooperating with the authorities. Action items: brand owners should check their listings for suspiciously cheap new-condition offers from unknown sellers and report them via Brand Registry, and electronics sellers should keep purchase invoices and serial numbers at hand, since Amazon can request invoices as proof in condition complaints.

Legal & ComplianceOct 2, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

GARAN label: lifetime guarantees do not fit the mandatory years field

On October 2, Onlinehändler-News answered a practical question about the EU guarantee label (GARAN) that has been mandatory since September 27: a lifetime guarantee cannot be shown on it, because the template's “XX” field must always be replaced with a specific number of years, and the calendar symbol reading “365” and the mandatory footnote also count in years, so neither “lifetime” nor a plain conversion into months fits the rigid EU format. Onlinehändler-News sees two options: switch the guarantee to a fixed term such as 50 or 99 years and show the label with that number, or keep the lifetime promise, for which a label is in its editors' view neither required nor feasible; sellers may still advertise a lifetime guarantee outside the label, provided the product objectively reaches the promised lifespan and the guarantee terms state transparently what applies, so the guarantee does not become practically worthless for customers. Action items: sellers advertising a lifetime guarantee on Amazon or other EU marketplaces should decide per product line together with the manufacturer whether to keep “lifetime” or switch to a fixed number of years, which then goes into the listing data as the guarantee duration, have the guarantee terms checked for a clear definition of the term, and treat skipping the label as a legal opinion rather than settled law.

Legal & ComplianceOct 2, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letter over €1,590.91: Damascus blades advertised as Japanese

On October 2 Onlinehändler-News presented three current warning letters, two of them aimed at offers on online marketplaces: Blanken Küchenmesser & mehr Import Ltd., through the law firm Schleinkofer, is claiming €1,590.91 from a seller who advertised kitchen knives with “Japanese Damascus blades” although the blades were not made in Japan in all essential production steps, since geographic claims create customer expectations about quality and origin. Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb is claiming €416.50 each from a supplement seller who stated the unit price (Grundpreis) per piece instead of per kilogram and left out mandatory details such as the exact product name, ingredients, allergens, warnings and the instruction to store out of reach of children, and from a web shop that only wanted to accept withdrawals through its internal returns portal, although customers may withdraw in any form, and that also lacked the model withdrawal form and textile fibre information. Action items: check titles, bullet points and images for origin claims such as “Japanese” or “German” and keep them only if the essential production steps demonstrably take place there; supplement sellers should match the unit price basis and mandatory details per ASIN against the product label, and anyone running their own web shop should accept withdrawals in any form and offer the returns portal only as an option.

Legal & ComplianceOct 1, 2026via Nova Data

EU handling fee of €2 per item hits direct shipments from outside the EU

On September 21, the European Commission set a handling fee of €2 per item, not per parcel, for the customs clearance of goods that sellers in non-EU countries ship directly to customers in the EU as distance sales, including orders above €150; for shipments up to €150 it comes on top of the €3 flat customs duty per item that has applied since July 1. It is owed by whoever lodges the customs declaration, so depending on the setup the platform, the seller or a service provider; according to Nova Data, Dutch Customs names November 1 as the start date, formally the fee applies from the tenth day after publication in the EU's Official Journal, and goods already imported into an EU warehouse in the regular way, such as FBA stock, are not affected. Action items: sellers shipping directly to EU customers from the UK, Switzerland, the US or Asia should add €2 per item to their landed costs from November and check whether EU warehousing pays off for low-priced products, while sellers with EU stock should watch non-EU direct shippers, who will then carry €5 per item in duty and fees on shipments up to €150.

Seller CentralOct 1, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Climate Pledge Friendly: badge lifts revenue 15.5% in Europe, study finds

A study in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, picked up by IFH Köln and Onlinehändler-News, analyzed around 45,000 US products over roughly three years plus comparable data from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain: twelve weeks after joining Amazon's Climate Pledge Friendly program, revenue in Europe was 15.5 percent higher (US: 12.5 percent), while units rose only about 4 percent, and the effect lasted up to 48 weeks. According to the study, ignoring higher ad spend and promotions that ran at the same time overstates the effect by 19 to 27 percent; low-visibility products and consumables such as food and health and personal care items gain the most, durable goods and apparel less. Action items: sellers should check per product line whether their existing sustainability certifications qualify for the badge, especially since uncertified self-made seals have been banned in the EU since September 27, and measure the effect after joining with an unchanged ad budget and no parallel price promotion instead of crediting the entire sales lift to the badge.

Legal & ComplianceOct 1, 2026via oe24

Austria's parcel tax: Amazon now charges shoppers €2.40 per order

Since October 1 Austria has levied a parcel tax of €2 per delivered parcel, or per order if the merchant chooses; it is owed only by mail-order retailers with more than €100 million in domestic mail-order sales in the previous year, and according to the finance ministry, sales via online marketplaces are attributed to the platform, whether the goods ship from Austria, Germany or a non-EU country. Amazon passes the tax on to shoppers: the cart notes that €2.40 including VAT is added at checkout once per order, Prime orders included, and it is refunded only if every item in the order is returned within the return window. Action items: third-party sellers generally do not have to register anything for their Amazon sales to Austria, but should track their Austrian sales separately from October and, for low-priced single items where €2.40 noticeably raises the final price, test bundles or multipacks, since the tax applies per order.

AdvertisingSep 29, 2026via Amazon Ads

Amazon Ads unveils Review Requests, paid ads that ask buyers for reviews

At unBoxed on September 29, Amazon Ads introduced Review Requests: ads that ask customers who recently bought a product for a star rating or review, according to AdExchanger on the homepage, the order page and in confirmation emails, billed per click even when no review follows, and limited to products with fewer than 1,000 ratings and reviews in total; in Amazon's tests, products gained around three times as many ratings and reviews per week, and the open beta starts in the US in late October. Branded Conversations follow there in January 2027: a click on a Sponsored Brands prompt opens a conversation in Alexa for Shopping that is labeled as sponsored and draws on information the brand provides, for example on how it differs from competitors; according to Amazon, nearly 20 percent of shoppers who interact with such a prompt continue the conversation about the brand. Action items: US sellers should test Review Requests on new launches first and compare the cost per review actually gained with Amazon Vine, and brands in Europe should already write down differentiators and use cases per product line so the content is ready if the formats come here.

AdvertisingSep 29, 2026via Amazon Ads

Amazon's ad platform is now Ads Agent, Sponsored Display folds into DVA+

At unBoxed on September 29, Amazon Ads renamed its ad platform Amazon Ads Agent and brought three campaign types together there: sponsored ads remain their own type, Full-Funnel Campaigns combine sponsored ads, display, video and streaming TV in one campaign whose delivery the AI optimizes toward new-to-brand customers and long-term sales (available now to all advertisers in the US), and DVA+ merges Sponsored Display, Sponsored TV and programmatic campaigns. According to PPC Land, DVA+ currently runs as a closed beta in the US, an open beta is due in late October and general availability across 35 markets is targeted for Q1 2027; a new chat also applies targeting, bid and budget recommendations for Sponsored Products in one click. Action items: Sponsored Display advertisers should save cost, new-to-brand share and TACoS contribution per campaign now as a baseline for the switch to DVA+, and chat recommendations for Sponsored Products should only be applied after checking them against your own bid limits and target TACoS, not blindly in one click.

Legal & ComplianceSep 29, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Label check after deadline: Amazon, Otto and Kaufland lack warranty labels

On September 28, one day after the deadline for the EU's harmonized legal guarantee notice and commercial guarantee label, Onlinehändler-News tested the major marketplaces: on Amazon it found no label on product detail pages or in checkout, only a subtle reference to the statutory warranty hidden behind “Mehr anzeigen” (see more) in the right-hand sidebar. Otto and Kaufland did not show the required information either, with Kaufland's announced “Garantie-Informationen” section missing, eBay did best with a label in the sidebar below the buy buttons, and mixed results on Etsy point to an ongoing rollout; the report contains no statement from Amazon but warns that the risk of legal complaints grows as long as the platforms do not fix this. Action items: sellers should check their own product pages on every EU marketplace, enter guarantee details in the platform's editor for durability guarantees longer than two years so the label appears once the display works, and keep dated screenshots as evidence of what the platform showed at the time.

Legal & ComplianceSep 29, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

EU Data Act: sellers of connected products owe six disclosures before purchase

According to Onlinemarktplatz.de, the EU Data Act's pre-contractual information duties for connected products such as smart thermostats, robot vacuums, fitness watches, wall boxes or smart TVs have applied since September 12, 2025: before the purchase, the seller must state which data the device generates, in which format and estimated volume, whether the data is generated continuously in real time, where and for how long it is stored, and how buyers can access it, for example via an app, customer account or download. The duty lies with the contracting party, so on marketplaces with the third-party seller rather than the manufacturer, and for vendor goods it can lie with Amazon itself; a mere reference to the manufacturer or a vague more-information link is not enough, violations can have civil and competition law consequences according to Germany's Federal Network Agency, and the September 12, 2026 deadline only concerned the data-accessible design of newly marketed devices. Action items: sellers of connected products should request the six details per ASIN from the manufacturer and add them product-specifically to the listing itself, for example in the product description, since external links are not allowed on Amazon detail pages.

Legal & ComplianceSep 28, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Q4 legal deadlines: BNPL rules from Nov 20, new product liability from Dec 9

On September 28 Onlinehändler-News bundled the legal deadlines for the final quarter: from November 20 the transposition of the new EU Consumer Credit Directive brings stricter creditworthiness checks and disclosure duties for buy now, pay later and installment purchases, which will then also cover interest-free models and small loans, and from December 9 at the latest the modernized product liability law applies, under which software and AI systems count as products and strict liability also extends to deleted or damaged private data. From December 30 large and medium-sized companies must prove under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) that raw materials such as wood, cocoa, soy, rubber or coffee do not come from deforested land, with micro and small companies following in June 2027; how Amazon will handle its extended holiday returns this year is still open, according to the report. Action items: sellers with their own web shop should align checkout, terms and financing banners with their payment provider, sellers of smart devices and other products with software should review their update processes and product liability cover before December 9, and anyone selling goods made from EUDR commodities should request origin evidence from suppliers now.

AdvertisingSep 28, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

Shopper study: only 23% see Amazon's top search results as paid placements

According to the Amazon Shopper Report 2026 by Remazing and Appinio, which surveyed 6,000 people aged 16 to 65 in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US in May, only 23 percent of Amazon shoppers recognize the top search results as paid placements; 25 percent take them for the best-matching products, 24 percent for bestsellers, and 74 percent would in principle buy a sponsored product, 71 percent in Germany. At the same time, 63 percent of Amazon shoppers use external AI tools, mainly ChatGPT and Gemini, 43 percent for research and comparisons and another 20 percent to find a direct product link, and 47 percent now know Amazon's assistant Rufus, 19 points more than in 2025; these are survey answers, not measured purchases. Action items: before Prime Big Deal Days on October 6 and 7, check the placement report to confirm that the top-revenue keywords run at the top of search, and write titles, bullet points and A+ content so that AI assistants can pick up use case, dimensions and differences from competitors directly.

Legal & ComplianceSep 27, 2026via The White House

US tariffs: cuts planned for 77 Chinese products, truce extended to January 10

After the Trump-Xi summit in Washington, the US and China extended their trade truce, which would have expired on November 10, by two months to January 10, 2027, and on September 27 the White House published the lists for reciprocal tariff cuts on roughly 30 billion dollars of goods each under the new U.S.-China Board of Trade. The US import list names 77 Chinese products, including toys, Christmas decorations, tableware and kitchenware, sporting goods, child car seats and small appliances such as microwaves and toasters; the size and timing of the cuts are still open and will be set under each country's domestic procedures. Action items: US sellers sourcing from China should match their HTS codes against the list, keep costing Q4 at today's rates because no cut has been decided yet, and plan Q1 2027 purchase orders in two scenarios, since the truce now ends on January 10.

Seller CentralSep 25, 2026via The Register

Amazon UK: a wave of pending orders locks up sellers' high-value stock

Since September 20 sellers on Amazon.co.uk have been reporting unusually many orders stuck in Pending status, mostly for items priced at £100 or more: the quantity is deducted from available stock right away, sellers cannot cancel these orders themselves, and one seller reported 72 of them worth around £25,000 within three days. According to The Register, affected sellers suspect deliberate stock locking through bogus orders, but there is no evidence yet of intent rather than a glitch; Amazon has not commented officially, and a forum post only says the case has been escalated to its partner teams. Action items: anyone selling in the UK should check pending orders on high-priced ASINs daily ahead of Q4 and report anomalies to Seller Support with order IDs and a link to the forum threads, since Support initially claimed no other sellers had reported the issue.

Seller CentralSep 24, 2026via About Amazon

Seller Central now runs eBay, Shopify, TikTok and Walmart sales in one place

On September 24 Amazon introduced multichannel selling tools in Seller Central: sellers connect their eBay, Shopify, TikTok and Walmart accounts, import their live listings from those channels, see orders and sales from every channel in one place and send off-Amazon orders through Amazon's fulfillment network in a few clicks, with tracking flowing back automatically. A per-channel profitability view that includes ad spend and product copy that is edited once and reformatted for each channel are next; the rollout comes at no additional cost, runs gradually over the coming months and is limited to sellers in the US store for now. Action items: US sellers can switch it on via the multichannel page in the Settings menu and should decide before Q4 how much FBA stock to release for off-Amazon orders so their Amazon availability does not suffer; EU sellers should watch for the expansion.

FBA & LogisticsSep 24, 2026via About Amazon

Global Warehousing: one inbound shipment for eight countries incl. Germany

On September 24 Amazon unveiled new tools for selling internationally: with Global Warehousing and Distribution (GWD), sellers ship one production run to an Amazon facility near their factory, and stock moves into a country only when demand shows up there, flowing straight into local FBA; by year-end GWD adds the UK, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Canada to the US, with storage costs up to 45 percent below US AWD and FBA replenishment up to five days faster, according to Amazon. Alongside it come one-submission compliance testing that certifies for several countries at once (toys first, electronics and baby products by year-end, with pilot sellers reporting up to 60 percent lower compliance costs), end-to-end shipment tracking with one reconciled unit count, and Seller Assistant agents for aged inventory and inbound planning. Action items: brands that manufacture in Asia and supply several marketplaces should model GWD against today's per-country shipments once European terms are published, and toy sellers should plan the new testing route into their next certification.

FBA & LogisticsSep 24, 2026via About Amazon

MCF adds free Prime delivery to US web shops and up to 25% off fulfillment fees

On September 24 Amazon Supply Chain Services launched two offers for merchants selling in the US: MCF customers can add Prime delivery to their own web shop at no cost beyond standard MCF fees, the Prime badge shows on product pages, returns and customer service stay with the merchant, and among early adopters more than 40 percent of eligible orders shipped with Prime delivery on average. In parallel, the MCF Preferred Pricing Program cuts fulfillment fees for orders from the merchant's own site, other marketplaces and social channels by 15 to 25 percent for the first six months, tiered by volume, with no contract and one-click enrollment in Seller Central. Action items: US merchants on Shopify can switch on Prime delivery through the “Amazon MCF and Buy with Prime” app and should enroll in the discount program before Q4; the announcement covers the US only.

Legal & ComplianceSep 23, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

EmpCo from September 27: vague green claims and uncertified seals are banned

From September 27 the EU's EmpCo directive applies in Germany through the unfair competition act (UWG): generic green claims such as “eco-friendly”, “sustainable” or “climate-friendly” are only allowed with specific, verifiable details, a claim may not stand for the whole product if it only concerns one part, and “climate neutral” is off-limits if it relies solely on carbon offsetting. Seals are only permitted if a recognised certification scheme with independent third-party verification or a public authority stands behind them, and sellers who copy manufacturer copy or product images carrying seals may be liable themselves; a transitional rule for old stock under discussion in the Bundestag would only cover goods and packaging already placed on the market, not product copy in web shops or on marketplaces. Action items: before the deadline, search the titles, bullet points, A+ content and images of every listing for environmental claims and seals, and remove or substantiate right there anything that cannot be proven.

Seller CentralSep 23, 2026via My Amazon Guy

Brand Registry reseller role now shows a brand-approved label on seller offers

According to My Amazon Guy, Amazon now shows a label such as “Wilson approved” on third-party offers when the brand has connected that seller in Brand Registry with the Reseller role; only the brand owner assigns the role, can revoke it at any time, and it unlocks brand benefits such as A+ content and Brand Stores on a limited basis, without Brand Analytics access. The approval is a separate process from ungating restricted brands, and Amazon has neither announced removing non-approved sellers nor said that the role or the label affects the Buy Box. Action items for brand owners: check under Manage > Manage selling accounts in Brand Registry which accounts hold the Reseller role, assign it to authorised distributors via their merchant token and remove it from former partners.

AdvertisingSep 21, 2026via My Amazon Guy

Sponsored Products beta: one checkbox also launches a Sponsored Brands campaign

Amazon Ads is testing an “Increase Conversions” option in the additional settings of the Sponsored Products campaign builder: when it is checked, Amazon also launches a Sponsored Brands collections campaign on the same keywords, as a separate campaign with its own bids, whose targets, bids and name can still be edited before launch. That explains why some sellers find Sponsored Brands campaigns in their accounts that they never consciously built; it requires Brand Registry and at least three related products, and in Amazon's US tests collection ads at the top of search delivered 44 percent more conversions than the previous format. Action items: review the additional settings deliberately whenever you create new SP campaigns, bring auto-created SB campaigns in line with your naming convention and bidding logic, and judge them by TACoS rather than ACoS alone.

Seller CentralSep 23, 2026via About Amazon

Seller Assistant gains memory and a plugin for Amazon Quick and Claude

At Accelerate 2026, Amazon expanded Seller Assistant: it now remembers pricing patterns, inventory cycles and growth goals and monitors the account around the clock through automations, such as an alert when a top seller drops below 4 stars; actions only run with the seller's approval. A new Selling Partner plugin connects listings, performance metrics, inventory and sales data to Amazon Quick and Claude, in beta and for now only in Amazon's US stores, and every primary account holder worldwide can claim a free 12-month Amazon Quick Plus subscription through December 31, 2026, with two more users included at no cost. Action items: activate the free subscription before year end so your setup is ready when the plugin reaches Europe, and start automations as alerts only before letting them change prices or budgets.

Legal & ComplianceSep 23, 2026via Onlinemarktplatz.de

Import VAT in Germany: offset instead of prepaying customs planned for 2030

On September 10, Germany's conference of state finance ministers agreed that from January 1, 2030 importers will no longer pay import VAT to customs but declare it in their VAT return and deduct it as input VAT in the same step, which ends the prefinancing. A summer draft listed a German VAT registration, full input VAT deduction, a business identification number (W-IdNr.) and a permanent filing extension (Dauerfristverlängerung) as conditions, with small businesses excluded; the federal law and the final criteria are still pending. Action items: keep prefinanced import VAT on non-EU imports in your cash flow plan until then, and check now whether you already have the filing extension and a business identification number.

AdvertisingSep 17, 2026via AMZ Advertise

Sponsored Products run off Amazon by default in Europe since Sept 17

Since September 17 every Sponsored Products campaign in ten European countries (Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden) is set to “increase reach outside of Amazon” automatically, with no action taken by the advertiser. Ads therefore also serve on third-party websites and apps such as Pinterest and inside Influencer Program creator content, using the bids and budgets that were calculated for Amazon search. Action items: check the placement report for how much spend and what conversion rate this traffic accounts for, and use a bulk file to switch campaigns without a convincing result back to “limit reach to Amazon” instead of simply letting the default run.

Legal & ComplianceSep 16, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letter study 2026: unit prices and image rights remain the top risks

According to the Händlerbund warning letter study 2026, published on September 16, 9% of the 335 surveyed merchants received a warning letter in the past year; 48% of cases concern competition law, 23% of which involve incorrect unit price disclosures, while 26% concern copyright (almost always unlicensed images) and around 20% trademark law. Amazon and eBay together account for only a third of cases, and costs ran between 1,001 and 2,000 euros for 41% of those affected and above 3,000 euros for 19%. Action items for marketplace sellers: check unit prices per variation, document image licenses for all listing and A+ images, and match health claims in titles and bullets against the permitted claims.

Legal & ComplianceSep 16, 2026via PPC Land

Ninth Circuit lifts Amazon's block on Perplexity's AI shopping agent

On August 4 the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the preliminary injunction a district court had granted in March, which barred Perplexity's Comet AI shopping agent from accessing amazon.com (case 26-1444); PPC Land put the ruling into a retail context on September 16. The decisive question was who accesses Amazon's systems for the purposes of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: because the requests originate from the logged-in customer's own machine rather than from Perplexity's servers, the user is the one accessing the site, which removes Amazon's hacking argument, while terms of service, rate limiting and technical blocking remain available as tools. What this means for sellers: agent-driven purchases on Amazon cannot be litigated away under US federal computer crime law, the access question moves into contracts and interfaces, and product data should be maintained so that an agent without image access can reliably read size, quantity, material and compatibility from the text alone.

Legal & ComplianceSep 15, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

GPSR manufacturer address: a PO box does not work as contact address

On September 15 Onlinehaendler-News clarified that a PO box does not satisfy the GPSR manufacturer address requirement: what the rule asks for is an address where consumers and authorities can actually serve documents, and a PO box allows this neither by bailiff nor by registered mail. Sellers who do not want their private address shown in the listing and on the product can instead use a registered address or imprint service that provides a genuine, serviceable business address. Action items: for every own-brand ASIN review the manufacturer details in the listing as well as on the product and packaging, and replace any PO box with a serviceable address, because exactly this kind of documentation slip keeps showing up as individual cases in the German warning letter monitor.

Seller CentralSep 14, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Amazon loses EU reach: Germany down 1.7 percent, Netherlands up 4

Amazon's DSA transparency report to the EU Commission for the first half of 2026 shows monthly active users declining: across the EU from 195.2 to 193.9 million, in Germany to 52.8 million (down 1.7 percent), in France to 38.8 million (down 4.0 percent), in Italy to 38.1 million (down 0.1 percent) and in Spain to 27.9 million (down 1.0 percent), while the Netherlands grew 4.0 percent to 6.6 million. Important context: the figures count everyone using the platform rather than buyers, so a 1.7 percent drop is not a revenue signal but an indication that additional growth in Germany has to come from taking share rather than from a growing market. Action items: the only growing country on the list coincides with the Pan-EU requirement to offer on Amazon.nl that has applied since September 3, so check your Dutch listings for complete translation, images and keywords instead of merely switching them on.

Seller CentralSep 15, 2026via About Amazon

Prime Big Deal Days set for October 6-7, deal deadline extended to September 22

Amazon has officially scheduled Prime Big Deal Days for October 6 and 7, 2026, 48 hours of Prime member deals across 22 countries including Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK, with dates that may vary by country. Separately, a Seller Central update from September 8 extended the submission window for Best Deals, Lightning Deals, Prime Exclusive Discounts and coupons by 14 days to September 22; fees stay at USD 100 per promotion plus 1.5 percent of promotional sales, and the early submission discount has expired. Action items: submit deal candidates by September 22 at the latest, confirm the deadline for your own marketplace in Seller Central, and raise PPC budgets for October 6 and 7 ahead of time so campaigns do not run dry by midday on the event days.

AdvertisingSep 10, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DSP places ads inside ChatGPT in a US pilot without metrics

On September 10 Amazon and OpenAI started a US pilot that lets Amazon DSP buyers run ads inside ChatGPT without Amazon owning or hosting the surface, with Delta Vacations named as the first advertiser testing the conversational ad format. What is missing is exactly what retail budgets depend on: Amazon has so far said nothing about how a conversational impression is measured, how it is deduplicated against other DSP placements or how it is tied to a purchase, and nothing about pricing or eligibility either. Action items: treat this as a watch item and move no budget out of running DSP lines until Amazon evidences attribution, deduplication and pricing, since nothing changes for German accounts for now because the pilot is limited to the US.

Legal & ComplianceSep 10, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Guarantee label from September 27: how the marketplaces implement it

On September 10 Onlinehaendler-News set out how the marketplaces are technically implementing the statutory warranty and guarantee label that becomes mandatory on September 27: Amazon shows the statutory warranty notice automatically on all EU product pages and generates the GARAN label only where sellers supply structured data on brand, model and guarantee duration, meaning only for manufacturer guarantees running longer than two years. Kaufland displays the label automatically in the lower part of the product page and pulls the details from the seller portal, CSV, XML or API, Kleinanzeigen generates it through an integrated editor, and eBay had not commented by the time of publication. What matters in practice: despite the platform automation it is the seller who receives the warning letter, so by September 27 write brand, model number and duration cleanly into the listing data for every advertised manufacturer guarantee and then verify on the product page that the notice and the label actually appear.

Legal & ComplianceSep 9, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Hamburg court: Wish liable as perpetrator for counterfeit goods

In a judgment dated August 27, 2026 (docket 5 U 58/25) the Hamburg Higher Regional Court held that the Wish marketplace is liable for counterfeit GHD branded goods as a perpetrator rather than a neutral host: the listings ran in the platform's uniform layout, the individual seller was not recognisable to buyers, and the platform's terms allowed it to adjust prices on its own. The court attributed knowledge of the counterfeits to the platform because it operates its own verification programme and goods worth 200 to 300 euros were offered there for roughly 35 euros; GHD is awarded damages plus disclosure of sellers and sales figures. Action items for brand owners: when your own ASINs are counterfeited, do not chase only the anonymous sellers but name the platform too, and document the page layout, the missing seller identification and the price gap to the original by screenshot while the listing is still live.

Legal & ComplianceSep 8, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

PPWR: German government wants EU registration duty pushed to 2028

On September 8 the German government proposed postponing parts of the EU Packaging Regulation that has applied since August 12, 2026: the duty to register shipping packaging separately in every EU country would only take effect once the EU Commission provides a single unified registration system, at the earliest in mid 2028. It also proposes exempting sellers with less than 10 tonnes of packaging waste per year and per EU country from appointing a separate authorised representative in each country, because at low volumes those fees regularly exceed the value of the goods sold. What matters in practice: this is a proposal and not law, Council and Parliament still have to agree, and until then the legal position established on August 12 stands unchanged, even though the EU Commission has advised member states to hold back on enforcement. Action items: do not cancel running registrations or representative contracts, sign new per-country contracts only where your shipping genuinely forces it, and start documenting your packaging volume per country now so the 10 tonne threshold can be evidenced later.

Seller CentralSep 8, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon Business Deals: discounts for 11 million B2B buyers in 10 markets

Amazon has switched on Business Deals, a discount type reserved for registered business customers that runs through the Price Discounts tool in Seller Central and calculates against the Business Price rather than the public list price; it is live in ten marketplaces including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK, reaching what Amazon states are more than 11 million registered business accounts. Only offers with a configured Business Price, new condition and a rating of at least 3.5 stars qualify, the minimum discount is 10 percent and rises to 15 percent during high velocity events such as Prime Big Deal Days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with durations from one hour up to 30 days. Action items: before the Q4 season check which ASINs carry a Business Price at all, calculate contribution margin per item against the extra B2B discount instead of assuming the consumer margin, and reserve the additional email and push distribution, which runs without a stated extra cost until December 31, 2026, for items where volume actually covers the margin given away.

Fees & PricingSep 8, 2026via CEP Research

Amazon Shipping sets its US peak season surcharges for 2026/27

On September 8 Amazon Shipping, Amazon's own carrier service for seller-fulfilled parcels, published its peak surcharges for the US market: they run from October 25, 2026 to January 16, 2027, with the highest tier applying from November 22 to December 26. During the peak window the per-package demand surcharge rises from 0.50 to 0.75 US dollars, additional handling from 8.75 to 11.90, the large package fee from 96.25 to 117.50 and the extra heavy package fee from 530 to 590 US dollars, each applied automatically on top of contracted rates and in the US market only, since Amazon Shipping runs separate rate cards for the UK, France, Italy, Spain and India. Action items: these surcharges are separate from the FBA peak fulfilment fee that starts on October 15, so build them into the Q4 costing per parcel class for US seller-fulfilled orders and check bulky or heavy items against the 117.50 and 590 US dollar levels before they ship during the peak window.

Legal & ComplianceSep 7, 2026via Wortfilter

Marketplace bans in supplier terms: when sellers may ignore them

On September 7 Wortfilter set out when a marketplace ban in a supplier's terms actually binds a seller: since June 1, 2022 the EU Vertical Block Exemption has permitted such platform bans in principle, as long as neither supplier nor buyer exceeds a 30 percent market share, but being lawful does not automatically make a ban enforceable. A seller who no longer buys from the manufacturer is not captured by newly introduced terms, and remaining stock is covered by trademark exhaustion because the goods leave the manufacturer's control with the first sale; bans are further open to challenge where the manufacturer sells on those platforms itself, applies the rule unevenly, or bans price comparison sites along with marketplaces. Action items: on a takedown demand do not confirm compliance, record in writing that the supply relationship ended and what stock remains, keep the purchase invoices for that stock, and argue exhaustion towards the platform rather than pulling the listing as a precaution.

Legal & ComplianceSep 7, 2026via Novadata Seller News

Liability cover from the first sale: new duty from November 2

Effective November 2, 2026 Amazon is removing the sales threshold behind its liability insurance requirement for categories with enhanced safety listing requirements: anyone listing there needs cover from the first sale, not only once monthly sales pass 10,000 US dollars. Required are 1 million US dollars per occurrence and in the annual aggregate, a deductible of no more than 10,000 US dollars and Amazon.com Services LLC named as additional insured, and the policy has to cover the entire Amazon catalogue rather than only the regulated items; trade coverage counts eleven affected categories including children's products, supplements, cosmetics, lithium battery items, small kitchen appliances, mattresses and tyres, while sellers based in Mainland China must place new policies through Amazon's Insurance Accelerator. Action items: reconcile the catalogue including inactive and discontinued ASINs against the category list, check the insurance status in Seller Central and get quotes now, because the premium bites hardest on accounts with only a few items in an affected category and can make individual slow movers unprofitable.

Legal & ComplianceSep 4, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Advertising PPWR compliance is a warning letter risk, not a selling point

On September 4 Onlinehaendler-News set out that advertising with PPWR compliant, with phrases such as this shop meets the EU packaging regulation, or with self-made eco seals breaches German unfair competition law, because selling a statutory obligation as a special benefit is not permitted; the PPWR has applied directly across the EU since August 12, 2026. What stays allowed is anything that goes beyond the legal minimum and can be evidenced, for example a higher recycled content share than required, while vague claims such as climate friendly packaging or future promises without a published implementation plan are open to attack. Action items: by September 27 review listings, A+ content, packaging print and shipment inserts for sustainability claims, back every remaining claim with a certificate and its scope, and delete anything that merely restates what the law already demands.

Legal & ComplianceSep 4, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Hamburg court: sealed hygiene items are exempt from the right of return

In a judgment dated March 27, 2025 (docket 327 O 222/24) the Hamburg Regional Court classified electric toothbrushes as hygiene products: once the sealed packaging is opened after delivery, the right of withdrawal lapses. What matters, the court held, is not an objective health hazard but direct contact with body areas that transmit germs plus whether the buying public would still use a device returned in opened condition; the reasoning should carry over to electric razors, epilators and shaver heads, though no ruling covers those items yet. Action items: check the affected ASINs for a genuinely recognisable seal, because plain outer packaging is not enough for the court, and put the exclusion notice visibly on the seal and into your withdrawal terms before the Q4 return wave arrives.

Legal & ComplianceSep 4, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letters: wrong GPSR manufacturer data hits marketplace sellers

The warning letter monitor of September 4 lists three cases that bear directly on marketplace sellers: Ledlenser is pursuing a seller who gave a wrong manufacturer website under the GPSR, stated deviating delivery times and used third-party product photos and copy; the Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb is claiming 416.50 euros over missing biocide warnings, missing hazard labelling and missing unit prices; and Lauterer Wettbewerb is claiming 357 euros over contradictory energy efficiency classes on light bulbs. What stands out is that there is no broad GPSR crackdown, only individual documentation errors being enforced, and those are exactly the errors created by building listings from templates and unchecked supplier data. Action items: reconcile the GPSR fields per ASIN against official manufacturer sources, spot check unit prices and mandatory notices in sensitive categories such as biocides and lighting, and use only your own or contractually licensed product images.

AdvertisingSep 3, 2026via EcommerceBytes

Amazon joins YouTube Shopping: creators tag products inside videos

Since September 3, 2026 Amazon has been part of the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme: creators can tag Amazon products directly in videos, Shorts and livestreams, either manually from a still limited product selection or through auto-tagging, where YouTube identifies eligible items itself. For brands this removes the detour through the link in the video description, but early feedback from affiliates tempers expectations: the taggable selection is small, conversion through YouTube tags has been low so far, and creators need full channel monetisation plus enrolment in several programmes. Action items: check whether your own ASINs are taggable at all, move existing creator partnerships onto the new format, and keep YouTube traffic cleanly separated from your other off-Amazon traffic before you move budget into this channel.

AdvertisingSep 2, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DSP adds VAST 4 support on third-party supply in 34 markets

On September 2 Amazon DSP switched on support for VAST 4.0 through 4.3 on third-party publisher inventory in 34 countries, among them the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, 17 European markets, seven Middle Eastern countries and six in Asia Pacific. The bidder reads per impression which version the publisher's video player handles and serves the highest compatible one; publishers still on VAST 2 or 3 keep receiving those versions, and there is no migration, no deadline and no change to campaign setup. What this opens up is premium video inventory from publishers that require VAST 4, but Amazon's own properties such as Stores and Fire TV stay on VAST 2/3, so events from the two inventory types land in different technical schemas. Action items: change nothing, but on video campaigns spanning both inventory types read the metrics separately, so that a pure reach gain is not mistaken for a performance effect.

Legal & ComplianceSep 1, 2026via Shopbetreiber-Blog (Trusted Shops)

France's fast fashion law is live: new duties for Amazon.fr sellers

Since September 1, 2026 the French fast fashion act of July 8, 2026 has been in force, modulating EPR eco-contributions on textiles by catalogue breadth, offer frequency and repairability: the 2026 penalty runs from 0.25 to 12 euros per item and rises to between 2 and 20 euros by 2030. It captures anyone selling clothing, footwear or home textiles into France regardless of where the company sits, and it adds a duty to state manufacturing locations right next to the price in the same font size, a requirement to appoint a representative established in France for EPR handling, and from January 1, 2027 an advertising ban on ultra fast fashion including a ban on promoting such items as free, which also binds influencers. Action items: list your textile ASINs on Amazon.fr, check with your EPR provider whether the new modulation hits your own costing, get the French representative confirmed in writing and plan the manufacturing-location statement into your product pages, because the concrete thresholds only arrive with the implementing decrees.

Legal & ComplianceSep 1, 2026via ad-hoc-news

Cyber Resilience Act: 24-hour reporting duty starts on September 11

From September 11, 2026 the EU Cyber Resilience Act requires a three-stage notification for actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe security incidents: an early warning within 24 hours of discovery, a detailed report within 72 hours and a final report once the issue is fixed, with penalties of up to 15 million euros or 2.5 percent of worldwide annual turnover. What decides the exposure for marketplace sellers is the role, not the country of production: selling a connected product under your own brand or substantially modifying it makes you the manufacturer with the full reporting duty, while reselling unmodified third-party brands triggers the lighter distributor or importer duties, and the obligation covers products that have long been on the market. Action items: filter your catalogue for items with digital functions (Bluetooth, WiFi, app connection, USB data transfer), record your role for each one, set up a reporting path with a named owner and contractually bind suppliers to security updates, before full conformity assessment follows on December 11, 2027.

FBA & LogisticsSep 1, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Pan-EU FBA from September 3: no Amazon.nl offer means losing the rates

From September 3, 2026 Amazon requires an active offer on Amazon.nl for Pan-EU FBA, now covering every product in the programme rather than only those added since mid 2025; Belgium follows on February 26, 2027, there for new registrations only. You do not need stock in the Netherlands, only the live listing counts, and exemptions apply to products that may not legally be sold there, that miss local labelling requirements, or that have no product detail page at all. Action items: before September 3, reconcile your Pan-EU ASINs against the .nl catalogue and create the missing offers, because without an active NL offer the affected product drops out of Pan-EU pricing and is billed cross-border through the European Fulfilment Network, which noticeably raises per-unit fulfilment costs.

AdvertisingAug 31, 2026via My Amazon Guy

Sponsored Brands: product collections retire, collections take over

The classic Sponsored Brands product collection format with brand logo, custom headline and lifestyle image is being retired: since the rollout on January 28, 2026 new campaigns run as Sponsored Brands collections with three to ten ASINs, no lifestyle image and an optional logo, either as a manual collection with keyword and product targeting or as an automatic collection where Amazon's AI picks the products and only keyword targeting remains. According to My Amazon Guy, from September 2026 newly created product collections convert automatically into manual collections and the Ad Optimizer stops building product collections, with the old format shut down entirely in January 2027; existing campaigns keep running until then. Action items: review your live Sponsored Brands campaigns for product collections, pull the current bulk templates because the columns change for the new format, and decide per product line whether to run manual or automatic selection before the switch is forced on you.

AdvertisingAug 31, 2026via PPC Land

FTC sues Amazon over 20 billion dollars in hidden ad surcharges

On August 31 the FTC and 22 state attorneys general sued Amazon in federal court in Seattle (case 2:26-cv-03097): the complaint alleges that since 2019 Amazon has quietly added a markup its own documents call a soft reserve price to its ad auctions, overcharging some 1.2 million advertising customers by roughly 20 billion dollars while publicly describing the auction as a second-price mechanism. According to the filing, the share of clicks billed at the advertiser's full own bid rose from 4 percent in late 2020 to 79.1 percent in 2024, and by 2024 Sponsored Brands winners paid exactly their own bid half the time; Amazon rejects the claims and points to inflation-adjusted cost per click staying flat. The case formally covers US accounts only, but the bidding logic behind it is the same everywhere. Action items: stop modelling bids as a pure second-price auction, measure the CPC actually paid per campaign against the maximum bid you set, and cap automated bid adjustments with hard ceilings.

Legal & ComplianceAug 31, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Düsseldorf court: a struck-through RRP must not look like a discount

In a judgment dated July 17, 2026 (docket 38 O 219/25) the Duesseldorf Regional Court held that a struck-through recommended retail price must not create the impression of a genuine price cut; the case concerned a bathroom mirror advertised as 55 percent off against the higher manufacturer price. Comparing your price to the RRP stays permissible, but it has to be recognisable as a comparison rather than a reduction, because once you advertise a cut, German price indication rules make the lowest price of the past 30 days the reference; case law is inconsistent here, with the Cologne appeals court siding with a retailer in May 2026. Action items: review deals, coupons, listing images and A+ content for percentage claims and savings wording next to struck-through prices, and either tie them properly to the 30-day low or present the RRP neutrally as a comparison figure.

Legal & ComplianceAug 31, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

GPSR: having goods made under your own brand makes you the maker

Under the GPSR the manufacturer is whoever produces goods themselves or has them produced under their own name or brand, and according to Onlinehaendler-News that captures print-on-demand too: if your name is on the garment label, you carry the full manufacturer obligations. Those include the risk assessment and its documentation plus your name, address and a contact channel on or with the product and additionally in the listing; there is no blanket answer, because labelling depends on the individual service provider. Action items: get written clarification from your print or fulfilment provider on who acts as manufacturer and who runs the risk assessment, and ask the same question for every private label you have made externally, because the rule applies there in exactly the same way.

Seller CentralAug 31, 2026via PPC Land

Account deactivated after ASIN reinstated: buyer-account sabotage

A UK seller has documented a two-week attack through buyer accounts in the Seller Central forums, involving fake orders, refund requests, one-star ratings and counterfeit complaints; the suspended ASIN was reinstated once invoices were filed, and three days later Amazon deactivated the entire selling account on the same grounds. An Amazon moderator named the mechanism in the forum: invoices prove a product is authentic but not that you are authorised to sell it, and as long as a brand requires prior written authorisation the account stays under review even though the listing is back online. This is not a one-off but a recognised pattern, and no protective status exists for accounts under demonstrated attack. Action items: keep written distribution authorisation from the rights owner on file for every third-party brand you carry, not just purchase invoices, log unusual ordering and review patterns continuously, and treat an ASIN reinstatement as no all-clear, following up on the account review as a separate case with complete supply chain documentation.

Legal & ComplianceAug 31, 2026via PPC Land

EPR complaint in Brussels: representative fees are 70 to 90 percent

A one-person shop in The Hague has shown the European Commission what cross-border packaging compliance actually costs a micro-business: roughly 4,300 euros in total outlay against 130 euros of genuine eco-fees across nine member states, Germany, France, Spain and Austria among them. The cost driver is not the volume-based licence fee but the flat fee for an authorised representative, 150 to 1,000 euros per country per year, entirely insensitive to volume and accounting for 70 to 90 percent of the bill in every country that requires one. Nothing changes legally for now, as the filing asks for a consistent de minimis threshold, recognition of a single registration for small cross-border volumes, an exemption for micro-enterprises and one EU-level registration point instead of 27 national portals. Action items: split your own EPR costs per country into representative flat fees and volume-based licensing, then check every low-volume country against whether its revenue even carries the fixed cost alone, because that calculation is what decides between staying on a marketplace country and withdrawing from it in an orderly way.

FBA & LogisticsAug 29, 2026via EcommerceBytes

Amazon opens paid Sub Same Day placement to FBA sellers by bid

Amazon is opening its Sub Same Day network, which delivers within two to five hours around some 2,300 US metro areas, to additional products for a surcharge: sellers place a per-unit bid and pay only for units that actually ship through SSD. The existing free placement based on Amazon's own demand signals stays in place, so the bid only buys room for products Amazon would not add by itself, and Amazon points to roughly 12 percent higher sales as the argument, which consultants consider unproven once bid costs are netted out. This does not apply to German accounts yet, but the pattern does, because delivery speed shifts from being the result of your own logistics to being a paid placement. Action items: if you sell in the US, test the bid on a handful of high-margin fast movers and measure against a control group to see whether the sales are genuinely incremental or merely migrating out of standard fulfilment at a higher cost.

Legal & ComplianceAug 28, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Düsseldorf court limits Amazon's power to suspend accounts without cause

On June 30, 2026 the Düsseldorf Regional Court barred Amazon by injunction from suspending a self-publisher's Kindle Direct Publishing account in the form it had used (docket 36 O 77/26 Kart): a blanket reference to policy violations is not enough when Amazon names neither the affected title nor the specific rule and gives no real opportunity to respond. The competition law reasoning is what carries the case, because the court treats Amazon as dominant in self-publishing and reads the suspension practice in that form as an abuse, a line of argument that transfers to seller accounts. Action items: on any suspension or deactivation, first check whether the notice names concrete ASINs and rule violations, document the full correspondence including screenshots and lost revenue, and file one structured plan of action instead of several quick appeals.

Legal & ComplianceAug 28, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letter over 1,202 euros for a used iPhone listed as new

The August 28 Abmahnmonitor carries a case that concerns any seller handling returns or demo units: an iPhone listed as "new" had already been activated, and Handy Deutschland GmbH sent a warning letter through the Scholz law firm claiming 1,202.61 euros. New means unused, and listing opened, activated or returned goods as new without a condition note invites the warning letter, on Amazon just as much as on eBay. Action items: check returns for activation and signs of use before relisting them and, when in doubt, list them with an explicit condition description; the monitor's second case, again animal feed with health claims at 1,372.78 euros, is a reason to search your own catalogue for wording such as pain-relieving.

Legal & ComplianceAug 28, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Green claims and GDPR-compliant shipping now carry a legal risk

Two phrases from everyday shipping copy now count as warning letter candidates under German unfair competition law, according to Onlinehändler-News: "certified environmentally friendly" for shipping packaging without naming who certified what, and "GDPR-compliant shipping", because it sells a legal obligation as a customer benefit. From September the EU rules on environmental claims tighten further, so every green statement needs concrete evidence, and it is the same reform that brings the guarantee label on September 27. Action items: search listings, A+ content and packaging print for eco claims and statements of the obvious, back every remaining environmental claim with a certificate and its scope, and delete anything that merely restates what the law already requires.

Legal & ComplianceAug 27, 2026via Novadata Seller News

Canada's counter-tariffs from September 8 hit Remote Fulfillment

After the US imposed 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods on August 22, Canada's dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs follow on September 8, covering electronics, appliances, steel and paper among others. Internal documents show Amazon is already moving its Canadian direct-import sourcing from the US to China, a route third-party sellers cannot copy. Anyone serving Canada through Remote Fulfillment from US warehouses now pays duty per order instead of once on inbound: before September 8, screen the affected SKUs by country of origin and HS code, recalculate per-unit economics and book duty separately rather than burying it in COGS, otherwise the margin drop will look like a PPC problem weeks later.

FBA & LogisticsAug 24, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Amazon raises its Prime delivery speed thresholds from September 7

From September 7, 2026 Amazon tightens its Prime policies in Germany: for standard-size and low-price products 15 percent of deliveries instead of 10 must arrive within one day and 50 percent instead of 45 within two days, while the 80 percent mark for four days stays unchanged. It applies to Amazon Retail, FBA users and self-shipping sellers alike, and that is exactly where it bites, because late FBA shipments count against the seller's Prime metrics even though the seller has no control over Amazon's own fulfilment. Action items: measure your delivery performance per fulfilment channel against the new thresholds now, tighten cut-off times and carrier transit times on self-shipped orders, and review inventory placement in FBA so the one-day rate does not hang on a single warehouse.

Legal & ComplianceAug 24, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Bamberg court rules Amazon's ranking notice and report flow unlawful

On August 24 the Bamberg Higher Regional Court ruled in a case brought by the Bavarian consumer association (docket 3 UKl 13/25 e) that three Amazon functions breach the Digital Services Act: the explanation of how search results are sorted under Article 27, because Amazon merely lists the criteria instead of disclosing how they are weighted, the "Report a problem with this product" link under Article 16, because it reads as a route for quality complaints rather than illegal content, and the forced login for such a report, which has to be possible anonymously. The classification matters more than the three individual points: the court expressly treats the DSA rules as consumer protection law, which opens the door to collective actions against large platforms, and an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice remains open, so the judgment is not yet final. Action items: nothing changes on your Amazon account for now, but if you also run your own shop, check its ranking transparency and reporting routes against the same DSA articles, and on the brand protection side watch whether Amazon reworks its illegal content reporting flow.

Legal & ComplianceAug 24, 2026via Wortfilter

PPWR shifts the EPR duty for plain shipping cartons to the manufacturer

Since August 12, 2026 extended producer responsibility for shipping packaging under the PPWR no longer depends on who fills the box but on when the packaging takes its final form: for plain standard cartons the carton manufacturer carries the registration duty, not the seller, and according to the EU Commission that holds even when the cartons arrive flat and are only folded up at the seller's warehouse. Only printed or custom cartons turn the seller into the producer, yet supplier karton.eu keeps telling its customers the old packaging law logic that whoever first fills the packaging must register it, which drives sellers into duplicate filings and unnecessary licensing costs. Action items: obtain written confirmation from every carton supplier that they are registered as the manufacturer, document plain and printed cartons separately, and keep up your scheme participation until the national authorities have settled their final reading.

Legal & ComplianceAug 21, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Warning letters hit ad emails, marketplace bans and health claims

The August 21 Abmahnmonitor lists three cases that hit marketplace sellers directly: a promotional email sent without prior consent, settled at 380 euros, a demand by manufacturer Mepal that sellers delete their Amazon and OTTO listings on the basis of claimed exclusive distribution rights, and a 416.50 euro claim from the Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb over missing biocide warnings and prohibited health claims such as pain-relieving on animal feed. The second case is the one worth pausing on, because a brand asserting a marketplace ban has not thereby made it enforceable, and delisting too quickly gives away revenue with no legal need. Action items: keep documented double opt-in evidence for every promotional email flow, have the legal basis checked before you deactivate anything in response to a delisting demand, and review listings in sensitive categories such as biocides, animal feed and supplements for mandatory warnings and disease-related claims.

Seller CentralAug 20, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Amazon starts showing price history directly on the product page

Amazon's shopping app is starting to show a "price history" link next to the price that opens a Rufus-powered chart over one month, three months or a year, moving the feature out of the AI assistant and onto the surface every shopper actually sees. The rollout does not yet cover every product or every channel, which points to an A/B test ahead of a full launch, and Rufus additionally flags artificially inflated prices and cheaper alternatives to customers. Action items: review your promotion logic per ASIN, base strikethrough prices and coupons on a genuine, defensible reference price, and drop short-term price increases ahead of deal windows, because from now on they sit visibly in the chart for every buyer.

Legal & ComplianceAug 20, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

New EU guarantee labels from September 27 also hit marketplace sellers

From September 27, 2026 the EU requires two standardised notices in B2C sales: a general reference to the statutory warranty and a product-specific guarantee label for voluntary durability guarantees that are free of charge, cover the whole product, run longer than two years and are actively promoted. The legal basis is Directive (EU) 2024/825 together with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960; the label has to appear in colour, prominently and before the contract is concluded, and must state the duration, the geographic scope and the fact that statutory rights remain untouched. The workload is easy to underestimate, because the details have to be collected from the manufacturer per item and turned into a dedicated graphic, and anyone promoting a guarantee in a listing without the label risks a warning letter over pre-contractual information duties. Action items: pull the list of items whose manufacturer guarantee you advertise, request the guarantee details from your supplier, and check which marketplaces will generate the label themselves, as Kaufland has already announced it will.

FBA & LogisticsAug 20, 2026via Wortfilter

Amazon launches AWD bulk storage in Europe without a rate card

On August 20 Amazon switched on Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK: a storage tier upstream of FBA that holds pallet stock long-term at a flat rate and replenishes the European FBA network automatically, which also sidesteps restock limits during peak. Unlike the US version, European AWD inventory may only supply Amazon itself, and there is still no European rate card at launch, with seller forums reporting that the help pages continue to show US rates only; in the US, AWD fees rose by roughly 19 percent in January 2026. Action items: model AWD for slow-moving buffer stock first and weigh the total cost of storage, handling, transport and prep against your current FBA setup instead of looking at the storage flat rate alone, because without published EU rates every calculation stays provisional.

Seller CentralAug 20, 2026via EcommerceBytes

INFORM Act recertification suspends accounts over document mismatches

This year's annual recertification under the US INFORM Consumers Act is running noticeably rougher: consultants report suspensions triggered by small technical glitches and mismatched documents, statuses stuck on "In Progress" for weeks, and cases where Amazon asks for a residential rather than a business address. It applies to every seller on the US marketplace above 200 transactions and 5,000 dollars in revenue over twelve months, and missing the ten business day response window means an automatic suspension with payouts on hold. Action items: actively monitor Seller Central notifications and the mailbox on file instead of waiting to be prompted, reconcile your legal entity name, address, tax ID and bank details character by character against your commercial register and bank paperwork, and keep clean scans ready so the ten days are not spent chasing documents.

FBA & LogisticsAug 18, 2026via Wortfilter

Manipulated return labels: a refund scam that hits Amazon sellers twice

Fraudsters list branded goods on eBay 10 to 20 percent below market price, buy the same item from the Amazon seller once an order comes in and have it dropshipped to the eBay buyer; they then open a return with Amazon and manipulate the label so the parcel is rerouted to a different address while the tracking flips to delivered. The seller refunds, never gets the goods back and absorbs the full loss, with at least one brand reporting damages in the six figures, and tests show the gap exists at both DHL and Hermes. To-do: actively screen returns for mismatched recipient addresses or names, unusually fast refunds and parcels marked delivered that never reach the warehouse, document affected cases with the full tracking history, report them to Amazon and the carrier, and file a police report where the amounts justify it.

Seller CentralAug 16, 2026via EcommerceBytes

Amazon throttles how many reviews shoppers can read on a listing

Shoppers have been reporting for weeks that Amazon shows only a fraction of the reviews on a product page, in some cases as few as eight, and anyone asking to see more is told to wait up to five business days for approval; Amazon says the restriction targets unauthorised data scraping for AI tools and describes the reports as isolated cases it has already worked on. This is not a side issue for sellers, because when only a handful of reviews are visible every negative one carries more weight, and tracking review trends or reporting abusive reviews becomes markedly harder. Action items: check your top ASINs in an incognito window to see how many reviews actually render, measure conversion on the affected pages for two weeks against an unaffected control set, and secure your key purchase arguments through the main image, A+ and bullets instead of leaving them to the reviews.

Legal & ComplianceAug 14, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon reinstates binding arbitration and its class action waiver

Amazon changed its Conditions of Use effective August 14, putting US customers back into individual arbitration at JAMS and adding a class action waiver; there is no opt-out window, disputes require a 60-day good-faith negotiation period first, and batching rules kick in once 25 coordinated demands arise within six months. A second change matters just as much: personal injury and property damage claims are now judged under the law of the state where the damage occurred instead of Washington state law across the board. Action items: this governs Amazon's relationship with shoppers rather than the seller contract, but anyone selling in the US should re-read the dispute clauses in their own Business Solutions Agreement and keep order, fee and refund records per SKU in order, because product liability cases will now follow local state law.

Legal & ComplianceAug 13, 2026via Nova Analytics

US trade court upholds the end of the $800 de minimis exemption

On August 13 the US Court of International Trade ruled that scrapping the $800 duty-free de minimis threshold for low-value parcels was lawful: the court drew a line between withdrawing an existing trade privilege and creating new tariff obligations, and found only the former covered by the statute invoked. Sub-$800 shipments therefore stay fully dutiable, refunds through this case are off the table, and an appeal to the Federal Circuit is still possible; for scale, around 1.36 billion such parcels entered the US in 2024, roughly three quarters of them from China. Action items: if you ship into the US, take any refund assumption out of your margin model, recalculate landed cost per unit at current duty rates, and confirm in writing which party is importer of record.

Seller CentralAug 13, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Bug wipes listings from Seller Central accounts, Amazon silent so far

Since the weekend several sellers have reported products vanishing from their Seller Central catalogue without warning; the agency My Amazon Guy says it is receiving many reports of a bug that deletes listings from accounts en masse. Amazon has issued no official statement and given no numbers, though it confirmed a technical fault after a similar incident in the past. Action items: first establish whether the ASIN was actually deleted or merely suppressed, because suppression usually has a content cause such as health claims, image defects or a wrong category; where listings are genuinely gone, open a case with a concrete ASIN list and evidence, and export a copy of your current catalogue while the data is still retrievable.

Legal & ComplianceAug 13, 2026via Wortfilter

EPR registration across 27 EU states: September and November deadlines

Alongside the PPWR obligations in force since August 12, the national registration deadlines are now concrete: in Germany, newly liable sellers must complete initial registration by September 12, 2026, and existing registrations must be revised by November 12, 2026. One point matters for shippers: since August 12 shipping boxes count as transport packaging rather than sales packaging, so sellers sourcing them domestically are exempt from registering and licensing them; per-country costs run at roughly 247 to 877 euros a year for authorised representatives, with France the most expensive market at 18 separate EPR categories. Action items: correct your LUCID declaration for the new classification of shipping boxes instead of continuing to license them, and check per destination country whether a registration is missing, because Amazon, eBay and Kaufland are ramping up automated checks on this.

Seller CentralAug 13, 2026via ecomRanker

New provider authorisation: agency access starts expiring on September 3

On August 10 Amazon retired the multi-step delegation of the old invite process and moved agencies and tool vendors onto an authorisation flow through the Solution Provider Portal, where sellers can only grant the Seller Central roles approved for that specific service. From September 3 only the approved role set counts: roles a provider uses today without formal approval drop out at reauthorisation, and sellers who ignore Amazon's September prompt let all existing access lapse. Action items: as a seller, review the list of active provider permissions and do not let Amazon's September email sit unread; as an agency, check in the Solution Provider Portal whether the approved role set actually covers your daily work, and request any missing roles through the service registration form before the cut-off.

AdvertisingAug 12, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DSP opens GAM guaranteed deals to publisher-hosted creatives

On August 10 Amazon added a „Publisher-hosted“ option for third-party display and video creatives inside the DSP: buyers can now access Google Ad Manager programmatic guaranteed deals where the publisher serves the creative itself, inventory that was previously closed to DSP buyers. It covers 33 countries including Germany, Austria and Switzerland; China is missing compared with the 34-market structure announced on July 30, and Amazon gives neither a rollout schedule nor any statement on managed-service accounts. Action items: only DSP budgets are affected, Sponsored Products and Brands stay untouched. Anyone who has been buying premium environments through a second DSP should check whether that inventory can move into Amazon DSP, and measure it against the existing buy instead of switching blind.

Seller CentralAug 7, 2026via EcommerceBytes

Title limit enforced since August 3, item highlights visible from Aug 10

On August 7 Amazon published an FAQ on its new title rule: the 75-character limit on the item name has been enforced since August 3 (it was originally announced for July 26), alongside 125 characters in the item highlights field, for 200 characters in total. From August 10 the highlights field is rendered beneath the item name on desktop and mobile, both fields remain search inputs according to Amazon, and titles already under 75 characters and compliant with the policy will not be rewritten by AI; more than 984 million titles have been updated since the June announcement, and the rule explicitly covers Amazon's own retail listings too. Action items: check per account which ASINs still exceed 75 characters and are therefore exposed to an automatic AI rewrite, fill the item highlights yourself instead of letting Amazon decide, and use the 14-day window in which brand owners can review the AI recommendations before they go live.

FBA & LogisticsAug 6, 2026via PPC Land

TikTok Shop documents fulfilling its orders from FBA stock via MCF

On August 6 TikTok Shop published a reference guide consolidating how TikTok orders can be routed into Amazon's Multi-Channel Fulfillment: nine middleware apps are approved, among them Pipe17, Rithum, WebBee, CedCommerce, ChannelEngine, Order Desk, Lingxing, 4Seller ERP and GeekSeller. This is not a new product but documentation of a path that already existed, it currently covers US sellers only, and it matters because TikTok shut down independent seller shipping on February 25, 2026; sellers already on FBA need no Amazon-side setup and only have to authorise the app for both accounts. Action items: if multichannel is on the roadmap, price the app subscription against the per-unit MCF fee before opening the channel, and keep in mind that MCF orders draw on the same FBA stock as your Amazon revenue and can eat into your own availability in Q4.

Legal & ComplianceAug 4, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

Amazon drops the voluntary 30-day return window from September 1

From September 1, 2026, the voluntary 30-day return window disappears in 16 categories and only the statutory 14-day withdrawal right remains; affected categories include baby, beauty, groceries, furniture, musical instruments, tyres, wine, luggage, pet supplies and garden, regardless of fulfilment method. Orders delivered up to October 1, 2026 stay under the old window during the transition, and Amazon displays the correct period per category automatically on the detail page. Action items: review your own withdrawal-right legal texts against the new period before September 1, since outdated texts carry an immediate warning-letter risk, and decide per category whether a voluntarily longer return window is worth it as a differentiator.

Legal & ComplianceAug 4, 2026via Onlinehändler-News (Händlerbund)

AI images in listings need an in-image label under the EU AI Act

Since August 2, 2026, Article 50 of the EU AI Act applies to product imagery, and the label must sit inside the image itself rather than in the description text. It is mandatory for photorealistic visuals that reproduce real people, places or objects and read as genuine photography; infographics, technical drawings and comic-style graphics are exempt, as are basic edits such as cropping, background removal, retouching and colour correction. The main image must show real product photography, AI lifestyle scenes belong in the gallery, and images published before August 2 are grandfathered but lose that status once re-uploaded. Action items: walk through the gallery per ASIN, add a clearly legible label in the top right corner that no overlay covers, and avoid re-uploading legacy assets unchanged during the next image refresh.

AdvertisingAug 4, 2026via PPC Land

Sponsored Products start running inside creator content on August 10

On August 4 Amazon updated its help page on off-Amazon placements: from August 10, Sponsored Products ads can also appear inside content from Amazon Influencer Program creators, such as reviews and guides, and existing campaigns are enrolled automatically at their current bids and budgets. Campaign settings for ads served off Amazon offer two options, increase reach (the default) and limit off-Amazon spend, plus deny lists for individual creators; the rollout covers the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa and selected EU countries, with the UK excluded. Action items: before August 10, check per account whether the placement is live at all, deliberately confirm the default or switch to the limited setting, and afterwards compare the placement report and conversion rate against the prior week, because this traffic carries no search intent.

Legal & ComplianceAug 4, 2026via wortfilter.de

EU packaging rules: PPWR conformity declaration becomes mandatory Aug 12

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applies from August 12, 2026 with no transition period: every packaging type needs a signed EU declaration of conformity backed by technical documentation, plus an identification mark (batch or serial number), the name and address of the manufacturer or importer, and compliance with new PFAS limits for food-contact packaging (25 ppb per substance, 250 ppb in total). German LUCID registration and system participation under the VerpackG stay in place, but liability shifts: anyone importing directly or selling under their own brand counts as the producer and carries conformity responsibility, even when the packaging was made in China. Action items: collect supplier data per packaging type, issue and file the declaration before the deadline, because goods without one may no longer be placed on the EU market after that date.

Seller CentralJul 31, 2026via Amazon Seller Blog

Amazon Brand Registry consolidates violation reporting into one guided tool

On July 31 Amazon launched a Report a Violation tool inside Brand Registry that merges the previously separate paths for intellectual property infringement, store policy violations and regulatory compliance concerns into a single guided experience. Free-text submissions are replaced by structured forms, and a Submission History tab shows the status and outcome of every report in real time; any Brand Registry user attached to an enrolled brand can file store policy reports, so the Rights Owner role is no longer required for those. Action items: review who holds Brand Registry access on your accounts, re-check open legacy cases through the new tool, and file all future reports there so the audit trail stays complete.

AdvertisingJul 30, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon Q2 call: sponsored prompts convert 48% better, Ads Agent cuts CPA by 6%

On the July 30 Q2 earnings call Amazon disclosed the first performance figures for sponsored prompts, which became billable on a cost-per-click basis on March 25: according to Andy Jassy, shoppers who click a sponsored prompt convert 48% more often and spend 21% more on average. The prompts run through Alexa for Shopping across the app, the website and Echo Show devices and are available for both Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands; Amazon separately reported 8% lower cost per impression and 6% lower cost per acquisition for campaigns using Ads Agent targeting. Action items: treat these as Amazon's own numbers rather than an audited benchmark, first confirm whether prompt placements are actually serving in your German account, and test Ads Agent on a separate budget measured against your existing manual structure.

AdvertisingJul 30, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DSP moves to one advertiser account covering 34 countries

On July 30 Amazon restructured Amazon DSP accounts: existing advertiser accounts are upgraded automatically to a unified structure that manages 34 countries from a single login, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Each account additionally receives a Global Account ID plus regional identifiers, legacy CFIDs keep working, and the migration is additive at the API layer rather than breaking existing integrations; it also brings multi-country buying, unified billing and permissions, and provisioned access to Amazon Marketing Cloud. Action items: do not file this away as a pure admin convenience but review the permissions, because one login spanning 34 markets means a wrongly assigned role now reaches considerably further than it used to.

Seller CentralJul 29, 2026via PayPal Newsroom (Presseportal)

Amazon adds PayPal installment payments at checkout in Germany and Austria

On July 29 PayPal and Amazon confirmed that PayPal installment payments will roll out gradually into the amazon.de and amazon.at checkout from early August, covering order values between 30 and 10,000 euros. Standard terms are 3, 6, 12 and 24 months, with 36 and 48 months available exclusively on Amazon, the effective annual rate is 11.49 percent, and 0 percent financing is planned for selected products; neither company has said whether sellers carry any share of the financing cost. Action items: flag every ASIN priced above 30 euros, measure conversion and average order value there against the July baseline for the first four weeks after rollout, and only feed the result into bundle and pricing decisions once it is measured rather than assumed.

AdvertisingJul 26, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon DSP adds Adsquare location segments in Germany and five more markets

ID-Precise segments from Berlin-based Adsquare went live in Amazon DSP's 3P Audience Hub on July 23 across the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. The segments are built on real place visits, brand affinity and shopping patterns, are automatically matched to Amazon IDs and can be activated for mobile, display and video without manual provisioning; Amazon has not disclosed pricing. Only DSP is affected, Sponsored Products and Brands are unchanged. Action items: before buying, check whether third-party location data actually adds anything on top of Amazon's own shopping signals, measure it in a clean A/B test against a pure Amazon-audience setup, and keep an eye on the privacy side after New Jersey banned the sale of precise location data on July 8.

AdvertisingJul 22, 2026via Amazon Ads

Amazon Ads adds ten AI capabilities to Brand+ and Performance+ campaigns

Amazon Ads shipped ten new capabilities for Brand+ and Performance+ on July 22: advertisers can feed their own audience signals into the AI optimisation at no extra cost (open beta), audio is generally available for Brand+ across 16 locales including Germany and in open beta for Performance+, and Prime Video signals, brand outcome optimisation plus asynchronous remarketing round out the release. It affects the AI-driven Amazon DSP campaign types only; Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands are unchanged. Action items: attach your own audience lists as signals wherever Brand+ or Performance+ budget is already running, and test audio on a separate budget measured against display instead of quietly folding it into existing campaigns.

FBA & LogisticsJul 21, 2026via PPC Land

Amazon freezes holiday fees but pulls every FBA inbound deadline earlier

Amazon is holding holiday fees at last cycle's levels, meaning the USD 100 promotion fee plus 1.5% of promotional sales and the peak surcharge averaging USD 0.32 per unit, but it has pulled every inbound deadline forward. For Prime Big Deal Days, stock must land by September 2 (AWD), September 9 (FBA with minimal shipment splits) or September 16 (Amazon-optimised splits), and for Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday by October 14, 21 and 28 respectively; anything arriving later loses the Prime badge for those events and with it search and detail-page visibility. Action items: plan the top ASINs backwards from their applicable cut-off, book replenishment ahead of the AWD date, and budget extra PPC to compensate for the lost badge visibility on any stock that misses the window.

Legal & ComplianceJul 20, 2026via Nova Analytics

EU hits AliExpress with record 550 million euro DSA fine over unsafe goods

The European Commission fined AliExpress 550 million euros for failing to consistently remove unsafe products from its EU platform. It is the first ruling to establish that a cross-border marketplace is financially liable for the safety of individual listings, which raises the pressure on Temu and Shein and should push them toward stricter listing vetting and higher per-unit costs. For compliant sellers in categories such as toys, beauty, phone accessories and novelty apparel, that opens pricing room for the first time in years. Action items: check your own product-safety and GPSR documentation for completeness, rebuild the competitive scan in the affected categories, and test whether a 5 to 8 percent price increase holds.

Seller CentralJul 20, 2026via Nova Analytics

Amazon opens B2B selling tools to third-party sellers ahead of October Reshape

Ahead of the fifth Amazon Business Reshape conference in Nashville this October, Amazon is opening core B2B features to a much wider set of third-party sellers: quantity-tier pricing, business-only prices, purchase-order acceptance and quote workflows. Amazon Business is running at roughly USD 35 billion annualised and growing faster than the consumer marketplace, so the upside for sellers with B2B demand is material. Action items: identify the SKUs where more than 10% of units go to business buyers, switch on quantity discounts for 5-10 test SKUs after modelling the margin impact, and track B2C and B2B contribution margin separately so the tiers do not quietly cannibalise retail sales.

Legal & ComplianceJul 15, 2026via Nova Analytics

HMRC consultation would extend marketplace VAT collection to UK sellers

UK tax authority HMRC wants to extend the deemed-supplier rule, under which the marketplace withholds and remits VAT, to UK-established sellers as an anti-avoidance measure whenever the goods sit physically in the UK at the point of sale; today it only applies to overseas sellers. The consultation opened June 23 and closes August 18, 2026, and would cover VAT-registered UK sellers holding Amazon FBA UK inventory, while own shops and wholesale stay outside it. If enacted, payouts on standard-rated SKUs drop by roughly 16.7% because the 20% VAT no longer flows through the seller's own account. Action items: model UK cash flow without VAT passing through, and consider filing a response before August 18.

FBA & LogisticsJul 13, 2026via Nova Analytics

USPS adds a new noncompliance fee for label mismatches, hitting light FBM SKUs

Separate from the July 12 Ground Advantage rate restructuring, USPS now charges a noncompliance fee whenever the label bought does not match the parcel actually scanned: wrong weight, wrong dimensions, wrong service class, or a reused label. The charge does not appear at purchase but shows up later as a line item on the carrier statement, so sellers only notice it after the margin is gone; FBM sellers with sub-pound SKUs are hit hardest, where a single charge can wipe out profit across several orders. Action items: calibrate scales (a 2-4 oz drift is the main culprit), audit default service classes in shipping profiles, and reconcile carrier statements specifically for label-versus-actual variance.

FBA & LogisticsJul 12, 2026via Value Added Resource

USPS restructures Ground Advantage Commercial July 12, hitting light FBM parcels

Effective July 12, USPS eliminates the 4-oz and 8-oz pricing tiers on Ground Advantage Commercial and applies the former 12-15.999-oz rate to all sub-pound parcels; it also rounds every dimension up to the next whole inch and cuts the dimensional divisor from 166 to 139 for shipments over one cubic foot. The net effect is an average Commercial price increase of roughly 11.8%, with sub-one-pound parcels hit hardest (8-15% of line items rerating upward depending on zone). It affects Amazon FBM and merchant-fulfilled sellers buying USPS labels directly or via Stamps, Pirate Ship, ShipStation or Shippo, only negotiated commercial rates are spared. Action items: reprice Buy Shipping and shipping-template costs for sub-1lb SKUs, and decide before Q4 whether light FBM items should shift to FBA or another carrier.

FBA & LogisticsJul 8, 2026via Amazon Seller Forums

Holiday deal submissions open July 8 with earlier deadlines and peak fee

Amazon opened Q4 deal submissions on July 8, this year with markedly earlier deadlines: Prime Big Deal Days run through September 8, Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday through October 20; submitting Prime Big Deal Days deals by August 5 or Black Friday deals by September 5 saves USD 50 on the upfront promotion fee. In parallel, the holiday peak fulfillment fee applies October 15 to January 14 (averaging +USD 0.32 per unit over standard rates) with a 3.5% fuel-and-logistics surcharge stacked on top. Action items: lock in Q4 deal candidates per ASIN now and submit before the Aug 5 / Sep 5 dates to secure the discount and slots, and price the peak fee into deal margins and PPC bids for the October-to-January window.

FBA & LogisticsJul 6, 2026via Nova Analytics

Seller Fulfilled Prime speed thresholds rise nationwide from July 6

Effective July 6, Amazon raised the minimum delivery-speed bar for Seller Fulfilled Prime and switched from regional to nationwide coverage: standard-size offers must now show a one-day date on 40% of Prime page views (up from 30%) and a two-day date on 75% (up from 70%), which for single-warehouse sellers effectively means more locations or pricier carriers. A roughly four-week grace period from June 8 pauses Prime-badge suppression; after that, offers below the threshold lose the Prime badge and exit the Prime Buy Box pool. Action items: check real two-day ZIP coverage from 90 days of shipment data, re-price SFP offers for the higher carrier cost, and decide SFP-versus-FBA per ASIN before Prime Day.

FBA & LogisticsJul 6, 2026via Nova Analytics

FBA New Selection: legacy program benefits expire for good on October 31

When the new FBA New Selection Program starts on July 30, ASINs enrolled under the old program keep their existing benefits, but only until the hard cutoff of October 31, 2026. Three categories are affected: referral-fee reductions stop accruing after Oct 31, coupon and Vine credits expire if unused, and storage and returns waivers also end at the deadline; any branded ASIN listed on or after July 30 automatically falls under the 2026 rate schedule from first inbound. Action items for the next 90 days: audit active legacy benefits per ASIN, front-load coupon/Vine spend before Oct 31 (Prime Big Deal Days, Q4 launches), list any August launch before July 30 to lock in legacy rates, and re-forecast Q4 margins and PPC bids before the waivers drop off.

FBA & LogisticsJul 3, 2026via Nova Analytics

Amazon ends FBA prep and labelling in Canada effective July 1, 2026

On July 1, Amazon discontinued prep and labelling services for Canadian FBA shipments: every unit must now arrive at the fulfillment center fully prepped and labeled. The critical part is the loss of protection: unprepped units are still processed, but there is no reimbursement claim if that inventory is lost or damaged. Options are in-house prep, third-party prep centers (roughly CAD 0.50-2.00 per unit, with Ontario/Quebec capacity filling fast), or SIPP for eligible standard-size ASINs. Action items: freeze new Canada inbound until prep is decided, contract prep capacity immediately, add the new cost line to per-SKU contribution margins, and monitor received-quantity variance and unfulfillable rate daily during the transition.