This Week's Top Amazon Seller News

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This week’s edition dives into how Amazon is setting the stage for a record-breaking Q4 — from Black Friday insights and dashboard updates to global expansion and new ad tools designed to give sellers more visibility than ever. Let’s unpack what’s shaking up the marketplace this week.
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News

​Amazon Just Dropped All the Details About Its Black Friday ​Sale​

Amazon’s official Black Friday sale will run from Nov. 20 to Dec. 1, featuring deep discounts across top categories like tech, home goods, toys, and kitchen appliances. The company is already teasing record-low prices on items from Apple, Shark, Bose, and LEGO, as well as up to 80% off Kindle editions and 65% off print books.

For Amazon sellers, this event signals massive traffic surges and heightened competition as Amazon pushes its own devices and major brands to the top of search results. Sellers should prepare inventory, monitor pricing, and leverage coupons or ads early to capture pre-Black Friday shoppers before the marketplace floods.

​Amazon Announces New Dashboard Ahead of Expected January Returns Ts​unami​

Amazon has launched a new centralized Returns & Recovery Dashboard designed to give sellers clearer insight into return trends, top ASIN issues, critical reviews, and recovery performance—just in time for the huge return surge expected after the extended holiday window ending January 31, 2026. The dashboard also supports sellers enrolled in Grade & Resell, offering visibility into net recovery, graded unit sales, and overall resale performance.

For Amazon sellers, this tool could help diagnose high-return ASINs and mitigate return-related losses, though concerns remain that Amazon still accepts buyer claims too easily and often resells returned items without proper inspection. With returns fraud rising and seller margins shrinking, this dashboard may become essential for navigating January’s “returns tsunami.”

​Amazon Is Now Just 40​% Retail​

Amazon’s latest earnings show that retail now makes up only 40.5% of its total revenue, with the majority coming from high-margin services like seller fees, advertising, subscriptions, AWS, and logistics. Amazon’s ad business alone produced $17.7 billion in Q3—now nearly 10% of total revenue—and without this income, its retail operations would be running at a significant loss.

For Amazon sellers, this shift confirms what many already feel: Amazon’s real business model increasingly depends on monetizing third-party sellers through fees, ads, and supply-chain services, not selling products itself. As Amazon becomes the infrastructure powering other retailers—including Shopify, TikTok, and SHEIN—sellers should expect continued fee pressure but also expanded service offerings designed to keep them tied into Amazon’s ecosystem.

​Drive Product Discoverability with A+ Shoppable Col​lections​

Amazon has introduced A+ Shoppable Collections, allowing brand-registered sellers to build interactive carousels that highlight best sellers, highly rated items, seasonal picks, and even shoppable videos directly within the “From the Brand” section. This gives customers a more engaging way to browse your catalog and click through to additional product pages or your Brand Store.

For Amazon sellers, this feature replaces the Brand Story module and offers a powerful new method to increase cross-selling, improve product discovery, and boost overall sales. Sellers who already rely on A+ Content now have a more dynamic tool to guide shoppers toward their broader catalog.

​Amazon Ads Launches Location-Based Interactive Ads on Prime Vi​deo​

Amazon has introduced new location-based interactive video ads on Prime Video, allowing small and local businesses to target viewers by state or ZIP code using Amazon’s first-party retail data. The format supports customizable calls to action—such as booking appointments or signing up—expanding Amazon’s interactive ad capabilities beyond simple “add to cart” overlays.

For Amazon sellers, this signals a major expansion of Amazon’s advertising ecosystem, opening the door for hyper-local targeting and new off-Amazon engagement paths. As Amazon pushes deeper into CTV ads, sellers may soon find new ways to reach audiences both locally and nationally with more personalized, data-driven video ad units.

​$2.5 Trillion and Counting: 25 Years of Amazon’s Independent Seller Par​tnership​

Amazon is celebrating 25 years since opening its marketplace to third-party sellers, a move that has now grown into one of the most powerful partnerships in retail—where independent sellers generate over 60% of all Amazon store sales. In 2024 alone, U.S.-based sellers employed more than 2 million people and earned over $100 billion in wages, showing how deeply the marketplace now impacts local economies.

Amazon highlights major innovations like FBA, Pan-EU FBA, Multi-Channel Fulfillment, and its new agentic AI Seller Assistant, all designed to help small businesses scale faster and operate more efficiently. For Amazon sellers, this article reinforces that the platform is increasingly built around third-party growth—offering more tools, more automation, and more global reach than ever before.

​Amazon Expands Low-Cost “Bazaar” Service to 14 New Count​ries​

Amazon is taking its ultra-budget shopping service, Amazon Bazaar (known as Haul in the U.S.), global—expanding into 14 new markets including Hong Kong, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Taiwan. The service competes directly with Shein and Temu by offering $2–$10 products shipped from Amazon’s global fulfillment network.

For Amazon sellers, this signals Amazon’s increasing push into the ultra-low-cost segment—raising competitive pressure on categories like fashion, accessories, and home goods, especially for private-label brands. As tariff pressures strain consumer spending, Amazon’s investment in Bazaar shows it expects bargain-priced marketplaces to grow rapidly worldwide.

​New Amazon Metric: Brand Store Page Views for Sponso​red Brands​

Amazon has introduced a new Brand Store Page Views metric, showing how many Brand Store pages shoppers viewed as a direct result of your Sponsored Brands ads. This finally gives sellers a clear connection between ad spend and Brand Store engagement—something previously invisible in campaign reporting.

For Amazon sellers, this metric helps measure brand-building impact, optimize ad investment, and understand which Sponsored Brands campaigns actually drive deeper customer exploration of your catalog. The metric is available globally and can be viewed in Campaign Manager or pulled through the API under BSPV.

Seller Tips & Tricks

​Top Amazon Inventory Traps To Avoid This Holiday Sea​son​

Jon Stojan warns that many Amazon sellers lose holiday sales not because of weak marketing, but because of avoidable inventory mistakes that cripple Buy Box wins and listing performance. The biggest pitfalls include running out of FBA stock, relying on FBM as a backup (which slows delivery and hurts ranking), and assuming AWD will auto-replenish quickly enough during peak demand.

For Amazon sellers, maintaining 60–90 days of FBA inventory, rehearsing stockout backup plans, and actively managing AWD are essential to protect Q4 revenue. The message is clear: during the holidays, operational discipline—not bigger ad budgets—is what determines who wins.

​Maintain a Good Account Health Rating During the Holiday Sea​son​

Amazon reminds sellers that a strong Account Health Rating (AHR) is critical during peak season, as accounts falling below 100 points are at high risk of deactivation. You lose points for new violations and regain them by resolving issues or fulfilling every 200 orders, with updates typically reflected within hours.

For Amazon sellers, maintaining AHR is essential to stay active when holiday traffic is highest—meaning faster responses to performance notifications, accurate listings, and strict quality control are non-negotiable. A healthy AHR protects sales momentum and prevents costly downtime during Q4.

​How Amazon Sellers Can Prep for a Profitable (And Chaos-Free) Black Frid​ay​

Black Friday on Amazon offers massive traffic and Prime-driven demand, but sellers are warned to prepare carefully or risk losing profitability to stockouts, razor-thin margins, and costly return waves. Before running Prime deals or coupons, sellers should analyze margins, run breakeven checks, and test pricing to avoid discounting themselves into losses.

Inventory planning is critical—Q4 delays, IPI limits, and rapid sell-through can tank rankings, so sellers are urged to forecast more aggressively, send stock early, and maintain an FBM backup plan. Finally, post-holiday returns will surge due to Amazon’s extended window, so sellers should monitor return reasons, optimize listings, and use Grade & Resell to recover value.

​Common Legal Challenges for Amazon Selle​rs​

Amazon sellers face a growing list of legal risks—from IP disputes and authenticity claims to safety compliance and tax obligations—that can quickly lead to listing removals or account suspension. With regulatory scrutiny increasing, even small mistakes in trademarks, product claims, or documentation can trigger costly problems, making proactive compliance essential.

Sellers must also protect customer data, follow strict advertising rules, and stay updated on international trade laws, especially when expanding globally. For Amazon businesses, strong recordkeeping, clear product information, and professional legal guidance can be the difference between long-term growth and sudden shutdowns.

Video of the Week

​Amazon’s New Price History Feature: How It’s Changing Seller Pricing Strat​egies​

Strong Opinions

​You Have Seconds to Convert a Buyer on Amazo​n​

​Steven Po​pe highlights that most Amazon sellers lose sales because they treat their listings like brochures instead of sales funnels. He stresses that the main image only gets the click, while secondary images, A+ Content, and videos are what actually convert shoppers—making strategic visuals essential for Amazon sellers who want to compete.

He warns that embedding text inside images kills keyword indexing, hurting organic ranking, and urges sellers to use real text modules, alt text, Brand Story, and comparison charts to drive both SEO and conversion. Every asset must have a clear job in the funnel, because any friction sends shoppers straight to competitors—often ones with inferior products but better listing strategy.

​$375,000 Stolen from Amazon Seller Account — Founder Warns of Major Security​ Gap​

​Peter Goodwi​n, founder of Groove Life, reports that his Amazon Seller Central account was hacked, resulting in $375,000 being drained after a fraudulent Swiss bank account was added to his disbursement settings. Despite strong security practices—including two-step authentication—Amazon provided no warning, kept all associated ad spend and fees, and later claimed the transfer was “seller-initiated” without supplying login or IP evidence.

For Amazon sellers, this highlights a serious vulnerability in Seller Central security and the lack of human support when major financial events occur. Goodwin urges other sellers to share similar experiences and calls for accountability, transparency, and real safeguards to prevent catastrophic losses.
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Amazon’s Q4 is shaping up to be one of the most dynamic yet. Between AI shopping tools, global service rollouts, and a heavy emphasis on empowering sellers, there’s never been a better time to innovate your strategy and stand out.

God Bless,

Todd Welch
Amazon Seller School

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