FBA
Amazon Updates
Amazon New Selection Program: The 31 October Deadline
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10 min read
Amazon replaced the FBA New Selection program on 30 July 2026 with New Selection Program (2026), and sellers already enrolled keep the new benefits automatically only until 31 October 2026. After that date they apply to ASINs you list only if you have confirmed enrolment. Amazon called the new terms "increased benefits". Measured against Amazon's own earlier page, most caps did rise, and one window shrank.
Amazon's New Selection Program 2026 gives new-to-FBA products capped referral fees on the first 200 units, free storage and returns on those same 200 units for 120 days, and waived low-inventory-level fees. Sellers in the old programme must confirm enrolment by 31 October 2026 to keep the benefits.
What is the New Selection Program (2026)?
New Selection Program (2026) is Amazon's launch subsidy for products that have never been in FBA before. The programme waives or credits a set of FBA costs on the first units of each new-to-FBA parent ASIN, so the cost of getting a product through its first few months is lower than the fee schedule alone would suggest.
Amazon announced the current version in a Seller Central post, Get increased New Selection Program (2026) benefits starting July 30. The same post ended the previous programme on the same day. The benefits now run from what Amazon calls the first inventory received date, not from the day you enrol.
One enrolment covers every store
Amazon's programme page is explicit: no matter how many countries you sell in, you enrol once, and benefits apply to your sales in each eligible Amazon store. A seller running Germany, France and the US does not need three clicks, and the 31 October date is not a US-only deadline.
What do you actually get?
Six things, all tied to new-to-FBA parent ASINs. Amazon's FBA New Selection program page and the announcement post describe them in slightly different words, so the list below uses the wording common to both.
- Referral fee credits. Instant fee credits equivalent to capping referral fees at 10% on the first 100 units and 5% on the next 100, or your existing rate if it is already lower. Credits apply across major fee transactions, referral and fulfilment, on the same order.
- Free monthly storage on the first 200 units of each new parent ASIN for 120 days.
- Free customer returns and liquidations on the first 200 units for 120 days.
- No low-inventory-level fee and no storage utilisation surcharge on the first 200 units for 120 days.
- USD 75 in Vine enrolment credit and USD 50 in coupon variable fee credits, usable within the first 60 days.
- A 45-day extension on all of the above when you use the Vine Pre-launch service.
One restriction is easy to miss: benefits do not stack with New Seller Incentives. Amazon says that if you qualify for both, New Seller Incentives are applied first. A brand-new account should not assume the two subsidies add up.
Did the benefits really increase?
Mostly yes, and in one respect no. Amazon published no before-and-after with the announcement, but its own programme page is in the Internet Archive from 6 April 2026, under the old terms, which makes the comparison checkable rather than a matter of opinion.
| What changed | Programme that ended 30 July 2026 | New Selection Program (2026) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referral fee relief | A monthly rebate of 0% to 12%, set by each category's referral fee, paid against the next month's fulfilment costs, with no stated unit ceiling | Instant credits capping referral fees at 10% on the first 100 units and 5% on the next 100, applied on the same order | Sideways, and newly capped |
| Free monthly storage | First 100 units standard-size, first 50 units non-standard, 120 days | First 200 units of each new parent ASIN, 120 days, no size split | Up, 100 to 200 units |
| Returns processing waiver | Up to 20 units per standard-size parent ASIN | Up to 200 units per parent ASIN | Up tenfold |
| Window to receive returns under the waiver | 180 days from first inventory receipt | 120 days from first inventory receipt | Down 60 days |
| Low-inventory-level fee and storage utilisation surcharge | Not mentioned on the April 2026 page | Waived on the first 200 units for 120 days | New |
| Amazon Vine | 25% off Vine enrolment for 3 to 10 units per parent ASIN | USD 75 credit for Vine enrolment for 3 to 10 units per parent ASIN | Sideways |
| Coupon fees | Not mentioned on the April 2026 page | USD 50 credit against coupon variable fees | New |
| Vine Pre-launch | Not mentioned on the April 2026 page | 45-day extension on the benefits | New |
| Eligibility bar | IPI 300 or higher | IPI 300 or higher | Unchanged |
A seller replying to the announcement thread argued the increase was overstated, pointing at a shorter returns period and a lower headline percentage while allowing that the unit numbers had genuinely gone up. Checked against the archived page, part of that holds. The returns window did fall from 180 days to 120. The old 12% figure was the top of a rebate range, not a cap, so comparing it with the new 10% cap compares two different things.
The unit caps are where the money moved. Twenty free return units per ASIN was a rounding error on a real launch; 200 is a meaningful share of a first shipment. Doubling free storage from 100 units to 200 matters most to anyone who previously fell in the 50-unit non-standard bracket, which has disappeared entirely.
The trade Amazon made
More units, less time. The programme now covers ten times as many returned units but gives you 60 fewer days for them to come back, and pays the referral relief on the order instead of against next month's fulfilment bill. For a product that sells through in a quarter, that is clearly better. For a slow starter whose returns arrive in month five, the old terms were kinder.
Why does 31 October matter?
Because the automatic benefits stop there. Amazon's wording is that sellers enrolled in the old programme receive the 2026 benefits for new branded FBA ASINs launching from 30 July through 31 October 2026 as an introductory offer, and that to continue receiving them after 31 October you must confirm enrolment.
Amazon ties the automatic grant to ASINs launching between 30 July and 31 October, then says only that benefits stop after 31 October without a confirmation. It does not spell out whether an ASIN launched in October keeps the rest of its 120-day window into November. Treat the click as protecting everything rather than only future listings, because the cheaper reading is the one Amazon has not put in writing.
Confirming is a separate action from being enrolled
Being in the old programme is not the same as being in this one. Amazon requires an explicit confirmation on the enrolment page, because the terms changed. Sellers who read the announcement as informational and did nothing are inside the introductory window right now and outside it from 1 November.
Who is eligible?
Four of Amazon's six conditions are unchanged, and two moved. The IPI requirement is the only one that can drop you out after you join.
- A Professional selling plan.
- Registered for FBA.
- Parent ASINs that are new to FBA, meaning they have never been received at an Amazon fulfilment centre before.
- An Inventory Performance Index of 300 or higher. If you have not been assigned a score yet, you can still enrol.
- Maintaining that IPI through your enrolment. Amazon can remove you if it falls below 300 during an assessment period.
- FBA enabled for the eligible ASINs.
Two of the six did change. The April 2026 page required you to enrol before your first new-to-FBA ASIN was received at a fulfilment centre, and that condition is gone. The current page also limits the waivers to new-to-FBA branded parent ASINs, a word the April page did not use, so a generic unbranded product that qualified then may not qualify now.
New sellers do not have to confirm anything: Amazon enrols you automatically if you create your first shipment within 90 days of listing your first buyable product. Everyone else goes to the FBA New Selection page and selects the 2026 enrolment.
When does the 120-day clock start?
At the fulfilment centre, not at your warehouse, though Amazon's own pages are not perfectly consistent about it. The announcement says benefits are applicable from the first inventory received date. The programme page says free storage runs for 120 days after the unit is received at a fulfilment centre, then says the surcharge and low-inventory-level waivers run for 120 days after your first FBA inbound date.
Inbound date and received date are not the same event, and the gap widens whenever fulfilment centres are backed up. Until Amazon reconciles the wording, plan against the later of the two and treat any extra days as a bonus. The practical consequence is that a shipment booked in mid-December against a promised January receipt is spending part of its 120 days in transit.
How to confirm enrolment before 31 October
- Open the FBA New Selection page in Seller Central - Go to the FBA New Selection programme page and look for the option to enrol in New Selection Program (2026). Confirming accepts the updated terms, which is what the deadline is actually asking for.
- Check your IPI before you rely on the benefits - The threshold is 300 and Amazon can remove you if the score drops below it during an assessment period. A score that is drifting down in October is worth fixing before it costs you the waivers in January.
- Confirm your next launches are new to FBA - A parent ASIN qualifies only if it has never been received at an Amazon fulfilment centre. Products you once sent in, pulled back and are relaunching do not count, which catches sellers reviving an old catalogue.
- Read the dashboard rather than the fee report - Amazon shows programme savings in the FBA New Selection dashboard, including your status, eligibility and which products qualify. That is the fastest way to confirm the credits are actually landing on the ASINs you expected.
Worth timing a launch around?
The waivers reward getting units in and selling them through inside 120 days, so they favour a tight first shipment over a large one. Two hundred units is the cap on the storage, returns and surcharge waivers, which makes a first shipment near that number the efficient size. Anything beyond it pays full storage from day one, and the Vine and coupon credits run on their own much smaller ceilings.
The waived costs are the ones that hurt a slow launch most, which is why the programme is worth planning around rather than just accepting. Three of them have their own mechanics worth knowing: the low-inventory-level fee, monthly FBA storage fees and the utilisation surcharge, and the returns processing fee. Choosing which product to put through the programme first is the same question as choosing which product to launch, and a product research tool that shows demand and competition per ASIN answers it faster than the dashboard will.
Do I have to re-enrol if I was already in the FBA New Selection program?
Yes. Amazon grants the 2026 benefits automatically only through 31 October 2026 as an introductory offer and says you must confirm enrolment to keep receiving them afterwards. It does not say whether an October-launched ASIN keeps the rest of its window.
What counts as new to FBA?
A parent ASIN that has never been received at an Amazon fulfilment centre. You can check a product by ASIN, EAN or UPC on the FBA New Selection page before committing a shipment.
Does the programme apply outside the United States?
The programme runs in seven stores: the US, the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Japan. Amazon applies one enrolment across your eligible stores, so the 31 October confirmation is a single action, but a store outside those seven is not covered by it.
Can I combine this with New Seller Incentives?
Not at the same time. Amazon says the benefits do not stack and that New Seller Incentives apply first if you qualify for both; its programme page adds that brand-registered new sellers qualify for the New Selection credits afterwards.
What happens if my IPI drops below 300?
Amazon can remove you from the programme if the score falls below 300 during an assessment period. The requirement applies throughout your enrolment, not only when you join.
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