New Developments in Amazon Platform Policies: A Comprehensive Analysis of Prime Day, Fulfillment by Merchant, and Anti-Fencing Policies

Prime Day: Extended Duration and Upgraded Standards for Promotional Products​

The 2025 Amazon Prime Day is quite remarkable, with the event duration significantly extended from the usual 1-2 days to a full four days, running from July 8th to 11th. This adjustment covers 20 countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, creating more ample shopping time for Prime members worldwide and bringing longer sales windows and more business opportunities for sellers. In terms of sales forecasts, Adobe Analytics, a leading U.S. data analysis firm, predicts that during this Prime Day, online sales of U.S. retailers will surge to $23.8 billion, an increase of nearly 28.4% compared to the same period last year.​

In addition to the change in event duration, Amazon has imposed stricter requirements on promotional products. Starting from June 15, 2025, products with high return rates or prices higher than those on other platforms will be excluded from promotional activities. This regulation aims to ensure that the products participating in promotions have good quality and price competitiveness, enhancing consumers' shopping experience. For sellers, this means they need to pay more attention to the return rate of their products, optimize product quality and after-sales service, and closely monitor market price trends to set reasonable prices, so as to meet the platform's promotional requirements and seize major sales opportunities like Prime Day. For example, sellers in the apparel category, where return rates are generally high, need to be more precise and clear in product descriptions, size labeling, and image display to reduce returns caused by information asymmetry; in terms of pricing, they should ensure price advantages by optimizing supply chain costs and accurately calculating profit margins, thus not being excluded from promotional activities.​

Fulfillment by Merchant Policies: Adjusted Trial Opportunities, Increased Order Volume and Compliance Requirements​

Fulfillment by Merchant Prime (SFP), an important logistics service option provided by Amazon for sellers, has also undergone policy adjustments recently. Starting from June 29th, new sellers will only have 3 trial opportunities for SFP each year, and each trial must be separated by 30 days. This change is intended to make new sellers cherish the trial opportunities more, make full preparations, and ensure that they can meet the platform's service standards during the trial period.​

For existing sellers, they must complete 100 SFP orders per month; otherwise, the daily Prime order volume will be restricted. This places higher demands on sellers' operational capabilities and order processing efficiency. Sellers need to optimize operational processes, improve order processing efficiency, and strengthen inventory management to ensure sufficient order volume to maintain a good SFP service status. For instance, sellers can introduce advanced order management systems to achieve rapid order processing and tracking; strengthen cooperation with suppliers to ensure sufficient inventory and avoid insufficient order volume due to stockouts.​

Furthermore, starting from July 28, 2025, when sellers create or update self-fulfilled battery products, they must complete a safety compliance questionnaire; otherwise, the product listings may be deactivated. This reflects Amazon's high emphasis on product safety, especially for products with potential safety risks like batteries. Sellers must take the safety compliance questionnaire seriously to ensure that the battery products they sell meet relevant safety standards, safeguarding consumers' rights and interests and the safe operation of the platform from the source.​

Cracking Down on Fencing: Building Traceable Supply Chains and Strengthening Platform Compliance Management​

Starting from June 30, 2025, Amazon US officially implemented a new policy against fencing, which can be regarded as the strictest supply chain compliance review measure in the platform's history. This policy requires sellers to establish a full-link traceable supply chain system, covering core links such as tax certificates, supplier qualifications, brand authorization, logistics documents, procurement agreements, and inventory records.​

Specifically, in terms of supplier qualifications, sellers need to provide the business license, tax ID, and address of their partners (for cross-border businesses, customs declarations are also required) to prove the legal business identity of the suppliers. In terms of brand authorization, if selling non-owned brand products, a complete authorization letter from the brand owner to the supplier and then to oneself must be obtained to ensure the legal and compliant source of the products. The procurement contract must detail key information such as product details, price, and delivery method, and must clearly include clauses such as "suppliers of stolen goods shall compensate" to restrict suppliers' behavior from the contractual level. As an important proof of the product transportation trajectory, the shipper and consignee information in the first leg of transportation must be consistent with the supplier to avoid "discrepancies between goods and descriptions". At the same time, sellers also need to provide relevant documents such as inventory records to prove the authenticity and rationality of product inventory.​

If sellers cannot prove the compliance of their product supply chains, the platform will take severe sanctions such as product removal, account suspension, and fund freezing. The implementation of this policy, on the one hand, is to respond to government regulations, crack down on illegal supply chain products, and maintain market order; on the other hand, it is to improve the quality of platform products, protect consumers' rights and interests, and enhance consumers' trust in the platform. For sellers, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of the supply chain immediately, eliminate unqualified suppliers, and establish long-term and stable cooperative relationships with partners who can provide complete qualification documents. Meanwhile, a sound document management system should be established to digitally archive various supply chain documents, label them by category, update and check them regularly, ensuring that relevant materials can be provided quickly and accurately during platform inspections.​

These new policies recently introduced by Amazon, whether extending Prime Day to stimulate consumption, adjusting FBM policies to improve service quality, or implementing strict anti-fencing policies to purify the platform environment, all reflect the platform's determination to continuously adapt to market changes, enhance user experience, and strengthen compliance management. Sellers need to pay close attention to these policy developments and adjust their operational strategies in a timely manner to achieve sustainable and steady development on the Amazon platform. In the upcoming sales peak season and future operations, compliant operation, optimization of products and services will be the key for sellers to gain a foothold on the platform.