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Five Seller Central changes landed between August 28 and August 31, 2026, and two of them change how your account gets penalized. Amazon now deactivates individual FBM offers instead of risking your whole account, opened B2B deals to third-party sellers, launched a total-quantity variation theme, cut MCF 35 percent for TikTok Shop, and reopened FBA to meltables.
Amazon publishes these announcements inside Seller Central, where you only see them if you’re logged in and happen to scroll past the dashboard. Most sellers don’t. We read every item as it posts because we manage accounts for more than 50 brands, and one missed effective date has cost a client a Black Friday before. This roundup is the version we send our own team, with the parts Amazon leaves out.
The week at a glance
| Change | Effective | Who it hits | Do this now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offer-level Account Health deactivation for FBM | Aug 31, 2026 | Every seller with a merchant-fulfilled offer | Check the four metrics per SKU, not per account |
| Amazon Business Deals (exclusive B2B discounts) | Aug 31, 2026 | Sellers with Business Prices set | Test on 2-3 ASINs before Prime Big Deal Days |
| Total product quantity variation theme | Live now, 193 product types | Multipack and bulk sellers in hardlines | Relist multipacks under the new theme |
| 35% off MCF for TikTok Shop orders | Jul 16, 2026, for 12 months | Anyone selling on TikTok Shop | Run the rate card math against your current 3PL |
| Meltable inventory returns to FBA | Aug 31 (gummies) / Sep 21 (chocolate) | Food, supplement and candy brands | Create shipments now, sell from Sep 14 / Oct 5 |
Before you act on any of these: test it in your own account first
Here’s the rule we follow, and it’s the reason this roundup exists. Seller Central announcements describe what Amazon intends to do. They do not describe what happens in your account on the day. Features roll out by product type, by marketplace and by seller cohort, and the help page is often updated weeks after the news post. So for every item below, we tell you what Amazon said, then what we’d verify before changing anything.
Josh made a short video on exactly this habit, and it’s worth four minutes of your time before you read on:
Video: Do Not Trust Amazon's Seller News Until You Test It on the EHP Consulting Group channel.
Does an FBM policy problem still put my whole Amazon account at risk?
What Amazon announced (Seller News, Aug 31, 2026)
Starting August 31, 2026, when a Fulfilled by Merchant offer puts your Account Health at risk, Amazon temporarily deactivates that offer. Before this change, a single problem listing could put your entire selling account at risk. Under the new approach, your other active listings and your overall Account Health rating are not affected.
You get a warning email before anything is deactivated, with the issue and the steps to fix it. Deactivated offers show up in the Account Health dashboard under Other Policy Violations, where you follow the instructions to reactivate them. The four policies Amazon evaluates are Cancellation Rate, Late Shipment Rate, Order Defect Rate and On-Time Delivery Rate.
What this means for you
This is genuinely good news for hybrid sellers who run FBA and FBM on the same catalog. A shipping problem on one slow-moving FBM SKU no longer threatens the FBA business that pays your bills. If you’ve been holding off on adding FBM backup offers because of account-level risk, that objection just got weaker.
But read the fine print the way we read it. The four metrics haven’t changed. The thresholds haven’t been announced as changing. What changed is the blast radius, not the trigger. An offer-level deactivation still means lost sales on that ASIN, still requires an appeal, and still leaves a record on your account. Sellers who hear “offer-level” and relax their shipping discipline will find out the hard way that a deactivated hero SKU hurts more than a warning ever did.
Our take: treat this as permission to run FBM backups on your FBA listings, not as permission to run FBM badly. Josh covers the switch decision in detail here:
Video: Amazon Is Pushing FBM Sellers Into FBA. Should You Switch? on the EHP Consulting Group channel.
Do this now
- Open Account Health and note your current Late Shipment Rate and On-Time Delivery Rate at the account level. Then pull the Order Defect Rate report by SKU. The account average hides the one offer that’s about to get pulled.
- If you use a 3PL for FBM, confirm they upload tracking the same day. Late confirmations are the most common cause of an On-Time Delivery Rate problem we see.
- Set a Seller Central notification for policy violations so the warning email doesn’t sit in a shared inbox for three days.
Amazon Business Deals: exclusive B2B discounts open to third-party sellers
What Amazon announced (Seller News, Aug 31, 2026)
From August 31, 2026, sellers can create exclusive, limited-time deals for Amazon Business customers. The feature is live in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Mexico and Australia. Deals can run from one hour to 30 days, as either Fixed Price or Percent Off. Eligibility requires a 3.5-star rating or higher, new condition, and meeting Amazon’s pricing and seller performance requirements. Discounts must be at least 10 percent for a regular deal and 15 percent for High Velocity Event deals such as Prime Big Deal Days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Through December 31, 2026, deals during major shopping events may get extra visibility through Amazon’s dedicated email and push campaigns at no additional cost. Amazon says the program reaches more than 11 million registered business organizations. You’ll find it in the Price Discounts tool for products that already have Business Prices, or under Promotions with the audience set to All Business Customers.
What this means for you
Business buyers behave differently from consumers, and Amazon’s own numbers back that up: in a separate July post, Amazon told sellers that Amazon Business customers buy about 70 percent more per order and return about 50 percent less than other customers. If your product is something an office, a clinic, a school or a contractor buys in quantity, a B2B deal is a cheaper way to win that order than a Sponsored Products bid.
Where sellers will get burned is discount stacking. If you already have a Business Price below your consumer price, and quantity discounts on top of that, a 10 or 15 percent deal comes off that already-reduced number. Do the margin math on the stacked price, not the list price. And the “no additional cost” visibility only runs through December 31, so this is a fourth-quarter test, not a permanent channel yet.
There’s a related item worth pairing with this. Josh walks through the three B2B settings to check before you run a deal here:
Video: Amazon Shuts Off B2B Offers Oct 30: Fix These 3 Settings on the EHP Consulting Group channel.
Do this now
- Pick two or three ASINs that already have Business Prices and real B2B order history. Run a one-week Percent Off deal at exactly 10 percent and watch units, not revenue.
- Check your star rating per ASIN. A 3.4 disqualifies the listing. Check the rating Amazon shows on the child ASIN you plan to discount, not the family average.
- Put Prime Big Deal Days and Black Friday on the calendar with the 15 percent floor in mind. Decide now whether your margin survives it.
New “total product quantity” variation theme for multipacks
What Amazon announced (Seller News, Aug 28, 2026)
Amazon launched a variation theme for total product quantity across 193 product types, mostly in hardlines, with more categories promised later in 2026. The theme displays quantity in a standardized format: “X count” for single packs and “X count (Y packs of Z)” for multipacks. It separates quantity from attributes like size and color so shoppers can compare like with like.
When you list under the theme you provide a Unit count (the total number of individual units, for example 72 pods or 24 bottles) and a Number of packs (how many separately packaged groups are inside). For a single box of 72 zip ties, number of packs is 1 and unit count is 72. The theme is optional for new and existing listings. If you adopt it, unit count is required, and number of packs is required only when the product contains multiple packs.
What this means for you
This solves a real returns problem. “I thought I was getting six” is one of the most common negative reviews on multipack listings, and it usually traces back to quantity being buried in the title instead of shown on the variation selector. A standardized quantity display on the variation selector should cut those returns, and quantity confusion is what turns a return into the negative feedback or A-to-z claim that actually moves your Order Defect Rate, which, as of this week, can now deactivate an offer.
The catch is that relisting under a new variation theme touches your parent-child structure, and Amazon’s variation tooling has been unreliable this year. Josh found a missing button in the new variation wizard last month:
Video: Amazon's New Variation Tool Is Missing the Button You Need on the EHP Consulting Group channel.
Do this now
- Check whether your product types are among the 193. The list is on the Total product quantity variation theme help page linked from the announcement inside Seller Central.
- Do not touch a parent ASIN that’s carrying reviews during Q4 without a full backup of your listing data. Pull the Category Listings report first.
- If you sell single units and multipacks of the same item as separate listings, this theme is your path to merging them and pooling reviews. Plan it for January, not November.
35 percent off Multi-Channel Fulfillment for TikTok Shop orders
What Amazon announced (Seller News, Aug 28, 2026)
Since July 16, 2026, Multi-Channel Fulfillment has offered 35 percent off Standard and Expedited fulfillment rates for TikTok Shop orders in the US, for 12 months. The discount applies automatically to eligible orders submitted through a supported integration partner. Amazon cites its own data that 96 percent of MCF orders dispatch and 99 percent deliver within TikTok Shop’s required timelines, and that sellers using MCF alongside FBA reduced out-of-stock rates by 19 percent and improved inventory turnover by 12 percent.
What this means for you
Those performance numbers are Amazon’s, and they describe Amazon’s network, not your account. The number that matters is on your own MCF rate card. MCF fees are typically higher than FBA fees for the same unit, and 35 percent off a higher rate can still land above what a good 3PL charges you for a TikTok Shop order. It can also land well below it, especially for small, light items where the per-unit fee dominates. You have to run it.
The strategic upside is real, though: one inventory pool. If you’re currently splitting stock between FBA and a separate TikTok Shop warehouse, the stockouts on one side while the other sits on inventory are costing you more than any fee difference. That’s the 19 percent figure Amazon is pointing at, and in our experience it’s directionally right.
Do this now
- Export your last 90 days of TikTok Shop orders with fulfillment cost per order. Price the same orders on the MCF rate card at 65 percent. If MCF wins on more than half of them, integrate.
- Confirm your integration partner is on Amazon’s supported list. The discount doesn’t apply to orders you create manually.
- Remember the discount runs 12 months from July 16, 2026. Build your Q3 2027 plan on full price.
When can I send meltable inventory to FBA again?
What Amazon announced (Seller News, Aug 28, 2026)
FBA reopens to meltable inventory starting August 31, 2026, staggered by product type. Meltable inventory is anything that melts when exposed to 155 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods, which covers chocolate, gummies and select jelly- and wax-based products.
- Gummies (coated and pectin), protein bars, cookies and coated candy: send inventory from August 31, 2026. Available for customer orders September 14, 2026.
- All chocolate, chocolate-coated nuts, fruit and caramel, and gelatin gummies: send inventory from September 21, 2026. Available for customer orders October 5, 2026.
What this means for you
The two-week gap between “send” and “available for sale” is the detail that catches people. Your inventory can be checked in at a fulfillment center and still not be buyable until the availability date. If you plan launch ads or a deal for the first week of September on a gummy product, you’re advertising something nobody can buy.
The other trap is the September 21 chocolate date colliding with Q4 inbound congestion. Anyone shipping chocolate for the holidays should create shipments the day the window opens, because receiving times in late September and October stretch out every year.
Do this now
- Download the meltable ASIN list from the Meltable FBA inventory help page (linked from the announcement) and check which of your SKUs are on it. Some products you’d never call meltable are.
- Build shipments now so they’re ready to book the moment your window opens.
- Move any September launch dates for gummies to September 14 or later, and for chocolate to October 5 or later.
Still rolling out: the 75-character title rule
This isn’t from this week, but it’s still the change generating the most support tickets we see. Amazon split the 200-character product title into an Item name of up to 75 characters and Item highlights of up to 125 characters. Since July 27, Amazon has been generating recommended changes on non-compliant listings, and brand owners get 14 days to review AI-generated edits in Review Listing Changes before they go live. Item highlights display beneath the item name on desktop and mobile as of August 10.
Amazon says search discoverability is unchanged because both fields feed search. Our advice is unchanged too: keep your brand name and your most important variating attribute in the 75-character Item name, move everything else to highlights, and check Review Listing Changes weekly so an AI-rewritten title doesn’t go live without you seeing it.
How to read Seller News like an operator
Three habits, from eight years of running accounts:
- Find the effective date and the availability date. They’re often different, as the meltables item shows.
- Find what didn’t change. The FBM announcement changed the penalty scope, not the metrics. Business Deals changed who you can discount to, not your margin.
- Test on one ASIN before you change the catalog. Amazon rolls features out unevenly. The help page is written for the finished state, not the one you’re in.
If you’d rather someone else read every announcement and tell you which ones apply to your account, that’s a big part of what our Amazon management team does every week. We’ll also tell you when a change like the variation theme isn’t worth the Q4 risk on your catalog, even when that means less work for us. If you want the weekly review routine we run on client accounts, start with 3 Critical Strategies for Perfect Amazon Account Management.
Frequently asked questions
Does the FBM offer-level deactivation change the Account Health thresholds?
No. Amazon’s announcement changes what gets deactivated, not what triggers it. The same four policies apply: Cancellation Rate, Late Shipment Rate, Order Defect Rate and On-Time Delivery Rate. What’s new is that only the affected FBM offer is deactivated, and your other listings and overall rating are not touched.
Do I need a Business Price before I can run an Amazon Business Deal?
Yes, for the Price Discounts route. Amazon Business Deals appear in the Price Discounts tool only for products that already have Business Prices. You can also create one under Promotions by choosing All Business Customers as the audience. Either way the product needs a 3.5-star rating or better and new condition.
Is the total product quantity variation theme required?
No. It’s optional for both new and existing listings, and it’s currently available on 193 product types, mostly hardlines. If you do use it, the unit count field becomes required, and number of packs is required only when the listing contains more than one separately packaged group.
How much does MCF cost for TikTok Shop orders with the discount?
Amazon hasn’t published a single number because MCF fees vary by size tier, weight and speed. The promotion takes 35 percent off Standard and Expedited rates for eligible US TikTok Shop orders placed through a supported integration, for 12 months from July 16, 2026. Price your own orders against the MCF rate card to see where you land.
When can I sell chocolate through FBA again?
You can send chocolate, chocolate-coated products and gelatin gummies to FBA starting September 21, 2026, and they become available for customer orders on October 5, 2026. Pectin and coated gummies, protein bars, cookies and coated candy open earlier: send from August 31 and sell from September 14.
Where do I find Seller News inside Seller Central?
Seller News lives under the Seller Central menu at sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-news. It shows featured stories Amazon recommends plus the latest posts in date order, and you can filter by category or bookmark items. It’s only visible when you’re logged in, which is why most of these changes go unreported outside Amazon.
Josh Hackett is the founder and CEO of EHP Consulting Group, a full-service Amazon agency in Tampa, Florida, that manages Seller Central accounts for more than 50 brands. New Seller Central walkthroughs post daily on the EHP Consulting Group YouTube channel.