Update to US Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping program policies
We wanted to let you know that we're making some updates to our Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping policies. In October 2023, we reopened Seller Fulfilled Prime to new seller enrollment with updated program requirements. Since then, we’ve gathered data on program performance and listened to sellers’ feedback to provide additional clarity, address frequently asked questions, and help sellers succeed in SFP. To consistently meet customers’ evolving expectations and ensure that the Prime badge and Premium Shipping continue to represent the experiences that customers have grown to trust and expect, we’re updating Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping program policies, effective June 29, 2025.
If you're interested in enrolling in Seller Fulfilled Prime or are currently enrolled as a Seller Fulfilled Prime seller, we're updating our program enrollment and eligibility requirements. For more details, go to Upcoming changes to Seller Fulfilled Prime.
If you have or would like to have Premium Shipping enabled, we're updating our performance requirements. For more details, go to Upcoming changes to Premium Shipping.
Additionally, to protect your account health when Amazon is setting promises on your behalf, Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping offers will now receive on-time delivery rate (OTDR) protection from late deliveries if Shipping Settings Automation is enabled on your shipping template, you've purchased shipping labels marked as "OTDR Protected" when using Amazon Buy Shipping or Veeqo, and you have shipped on time. We designed these tools to set accurate delivery dates, reduce late deliveries, and to meet or exceed the minimum OTDR requirement. Even if you do not use these tools, if there is a major disruption event that impacts all sellers shipping to a specific region (as determined by Amazon), Amazon will not count deliveries that are late as a result in your OTDR. For more details, go to On-time delivery.
Update to US Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping program policies
We wanted to let you know that we're making some updates to our Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping policies. In October 2023, we reopened Seller Fulfilled Prime to new seller enrollment with updated program requirements. Since then, we’ve gathered data on program performance and listened to sellers’ feedback to provide additional clarity, address frequently asked questions, and help sellers succeed in SFP. To consistently meet customers’ evolving expectations and ensure that the Prime badge and Premium Shipping continue to represent the experiences that customers have grown to trust and expect, we’re updating Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping program policies, effective June 29, 2025.
If you're interested in enrolling in Seller Fulfilled Prime or are currently enrolled as a Seller Fulfilled Prime seller, we're updating our program enrollment and eligibility requirements. For more details, go to Upcoming changes to Seller Fulfilled Prime.
If you have or would like to have Premium Shipping enabled, we're updating our performance requirements. For more details, go to Upcoming changes to Premium Shipping.
Additionally, to protect your account health when Amazon is setting promises on your behalf, Seller Fulfilled Prime and Premium Shipping offers will now receive on-time delivery rate (OTDR) protection from late deliveries if Shipping Settings Automation is enabled on your shipping template, you've purchased shipping labels marked as "OTDR Protected" when using Amazon Buy Shipping or Veeqo, and you have shipped on time. We designed these tools to set accurate delivery dates, reduce late deliveries, and to meet or exceed the minimum OTDR requirement. Even if you do not use these tools, if there is a major disruption event that impacts all sellers shipping to a specific region (as determined by Amazon), Amazon will not count deliveries that are late as a result in your OTDR. For more details, go to On-time delivery.
32 replies
Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
1.) When can we expect UPS Letters and Fedex Envelopes will be supported by ABS for OVERNIGHTS?!? That's a difference between paying $15-$20 for your real envelope rate versus $28-$40 per INCORRECT packaging because ABS doesn't have a letter/envelope selection... so therefore you get billed as though you're shipping a BOX, but you're NOT.
The accurate letter/envelope packaging rate is doable, the other incorrect rate is not feasible to eat for SFP. OH and do NOT get me started on the BS where I was slapped saying charging $24.95 for Overnight shipping for non-Prime members was TOO HIGH.... even though I only get $19.96 of that after 20% category fees..... but I'm paying $28-$40 per piece through ABS, ONLY BECAUSE OF AMAZON'S refusal to support the proper packaging selections to ship with. SO SERIOUSLY FU FOR THIS!!!!!! Yes, I am and will be VERY angry and bitter about this UNTIL YOU FIX IT.
And NO this is NOT a carrier issue. This is 100% ABS issue not having a way to 'select' the letter/envelope packaging, like you do for USPS flat rate envelopes. This packaging is supported on EVERY 3rd party shipping integrator, but NOT with ABS and therefore also NOT with Veeqo @VeeqoMatt.
SURELY you're fixing this before the deadline, right? I'm happy to ship everything through ABS, but you need to FIX IT FIRST.
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2.) If it's "effective June 29", does that mean you're required to ship 100 during the month of June? Or starting in July?
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3.) The email makes it sound like you're required to ship 100 Prime packages per month, period. But then when you go to the Changes to SFP page it says:
"As a result, if you have not shipped at least 100 Seller Fulfilled Prime packages per month, or if you have not shipped Seller Fulfilled Prime packages consistently throughout the month, we will limit your maximum daily Prime order volume until you resume shipping Prime packages consistently and ship at least 100 Seller Fulfilled Prime packages in a month."
3A.) PLEASE TRANSLATE. Does NOT meeting the 100 per month kick you out of SFP, or slap you with a limit? WHICH IS IT?
And I LOL'ed at this concept of "you don't ship enough, but we're going to limit how many you can ship" 🤡🤡 ONLY Amazon would think this is okay.
3B.) Define "consistently" in this context. Technically the rule said 100 per month. Is it ALSO 25 per week?...... Or what? Expand on this.
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4.) Speaking of "misclassification" SFP rules.... Would be nice if SOMEONE would address an ongoing issue for SEVEN WEEKS without any response of substance, that includes a FALSE misclassification issue, from this thread where the last response from a mod was 2 weeks ago, with ticket 17477701811.
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5.) This "Exemption period to address performance issues.".... I think ya'll are confused about how this works, and need to fix your workflow first, before saying WE are responsible for it. I just had my 1st SFP issue a few weeks ago (see #4 above), and when they deactivated my SFP I could NOT toggle on OR OFF my SFP. So when SUPPORT reactivated my SFP it was midweek. THEY chose this, not me. And then I had to submit escalations to get this sorted because I got performance notifications for a partial week, even though I had no control over that. So you're pointing the finger at the wrong direction here, unless if you've "fixed" this?
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6.) The increase in OTDR from 93% to 97% is DISGUSTINGLY HILARIOUS, given that Amazon Shipping delivers late 30% of the time and gets people kicked out of SFP. I tried to join Amazon Shipping when I had a couple Fedex's deliver late in February and had me borderline on metrics. But guess what the Amazon Shipping rep response was when I asked if they handle SFP too, he said "we don't recommend Amazon Shipping for SFP right now" 😆 Geez, ya don't say!! What a joke! Rules for thee, but not for Amazon.
Seller_DZk3glRxmRBpe
Totally agree with everything you've laid out here. This whole situation is beyond frustrating. It’s honestly ridiculous that ABS still doesn’t support UPS Letters or FedEx Envelopes for Overnight shipments. That’s a basic, critical feature every other 3rd party platform offers, and not having it is costing sellers real money every single day. Being forced to pay inflated rates because we can’t select the correct packaging type is not sustainable, especially when you're penalized for trying to recoup some of those costs.
And while we’re at it, can we talk about how absurd it is that Amazon won’t even allow sellers to offer Prime for local customers in 1- to 2-day zones unless they meet all these unrealistic nationwide SFP thresholds? That should be the entire point of Seller Fulfilled Prime — letting sellers who can meet fast shipping locally still serve their customers with the Prime badge. Instead, Amazon just shuts the door entirely and makes it nearly impossible for anyone to enter or stay in the program.
The new 100-package requirement and “consistency” rules are murky at best. And let’s be real, most of the time it’s not even the seller’s fault when a package is late. Delays from carriers, weather, or Amazon’s own shipping partners — which they seem to conveniently overlook — all come back to bite the seller. It feels like another calculated move to push people out of SFP and into FBA, just so Amazon can grab a bigger slice of the pie.
It’s all such a huge shame and completely laughable. But Amazon needs to fix the tools, fix the logic, and stop shifting blame onto sellers for issues we can't control.
Jim_Amazon
Hi there @Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
Thank you for your feedback and questions! The team has responded below, one by one:
1) We have shared the feedback on providing new ship methods to our Amazon Buy Shipping team
2) The Policy will go in effect on 6/29, but we will not begin evaluating the number of your SFP shipments for purposes of policy compliance until the month of July.
3) Your SFP eligibility won’t be impacted if you don’t meet the 100 order limit. Instead, the number of SFP orders you receive will be limited. Sellers who ship Seller Fulfilled Prime orders only during major sales events often struggle to meet customer expectations associated with the Prime badge. These minimum shipping requirements ensure sellers enrolled in Seller Fulfilled Prime are prepared to manage the program’s expectations prior to major sales events.
3A) If you haven’t shipped at least 100 Seller Fulfilled Prime packages per month, or if you haven’t shipped Seller Fulfilled Prime packages consistently throughout the month, we’ll limit your maximum daily Prime order volume until you demonstrate that you can consistently ship Seller Fulfilled Prime packages throughout the month, and that you can manage at least 100 packages in a month.
3B) We expect enrolled sellers to consistently demonstrate their ability to maintain the Prime customer experience, and to deliver this experience year round. While we don’t require you to receive Seller Fulfilled Prime orders every day, you may be flagged for inconsistent shipping if you’ve reached the minimum requirement of shipping 100 Seller Fulfilled Prime packages in short succession but haven’t shipped Prime packages during multiple weeks of a month.
4) We are currently reviewing your case. Our operations team is investigating and will provide feedback shortly.
5) The case has been resolved and was unrelated to a performance notification. For these reasons your reinstatement date was determined as soon as your case was reviewed and determined that the issue was corrected. When Amazon pauses Prime alongside a performance notification, sellers have the capability to reactivate their Prime status, and as of 6/29 as mentioned in our policy, sellers will receive a grace period for any full week their Prime status remained deactivated.
6) The minimum required on-time delivery rate (OTDR) for Premium Shipping will be updated from 97% to 93.5%, starting from June 29. Today, Amazon Shipping provides ground delivery for Amazon selling partners and may meet Prime shipping speeds for some nationwide Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) orders depending on the shipping arc. You can determine whether Amazon Shipping can meet the SFP delivery promise on a particular order by using Amazon Buy Shipping, which displays carrier and ship method combinations that have a high probability of meeting the Customer delivery promise.
-Jim
Seller_DZk3glRxmRBpe
Jim,
We really appreciate the response, but honestly — this doesn’t even begin to cover how frustrating and backwards the entire SFP eligibility system is right now.
Let’s start with the OTDR requirements. How are sellers supposed to hit 97% when we’re at the mercy of carriers who routinely miss deliveries due to weather, mechanical delays, staffing issues, etc.? We can use every carrier Amazon offers, choose the fastest method, and still get dinged when something out of our control goes wrong. It's exhausting. And meanwhile, Amazon's own shipping arm can't hit those numbers either — so how is it fair to hold us to a higher standard?
Then there's the 100-package minimum. Why does it even matter how many packages we ship if we’re doing it right? If someone ships 85 SFP orders in a month and crushes every metric — fast handling, on-time, no issues — why should they be limited? That makes zero sense. It's like saying, "You're doing great, but not enough great, so here's a penalty."
And honestly, this all feels like a very clear push to drive sellers toward FBA. We see it. It’s no secret. But not every business can or should use FBA — especially sellers like us dealing with oversized packages. Amazon used to offer tools like Regional Prime that actually worked well for sellers and customers. Why not bring that back instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all model that clearly doesn’t fit?
Lots of us sellers have done everything they can to meet these goals. It's not like we are asking for special treatment — We just want a system that actually makes sense and sets sellers up to succeed, not fail. At the very least, we deserve fairness. Right now, it doesn’t feel like we’re getting that.
Please escalate this. We’re tired of getting blamed for things we can’t control, and this policy update just adds more stress to an already impossible situation.
Jim_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DZk3glRxmRBpe
Thanks for your comments and feedback!
The OTDR requirement for SFP is 93.5% and with this update we are reducing the OTDR requirement for Premium Shipping also to 93.5%, as it previously was 97%. Additionally, for SFP and Premium shipping orders, you'll get OTDR protection from late deliveries if you use Shipping Settings Automation, purchase shipping labels marked as "OTDR protected on Amazon Buy Shipping", and ship on time.
We're making these changes to consistently meet customers’ evolving expectations and ensure that the Prime badge and Premium Shipping continue to represent the experiences that customers have grown to trust and expect. As such, we're creating minimum requirements to ensure sellers are well prepared to manage Seller Fulfilled Prime orders during the high demand seasons, and we have observed sellers are best equipped to meet these requirements when they are consistently fulfilling Seller Fulfilled Prime orders.
Sellers who do not ship 100 Prime packages a month or consistently ship Prime packages will still be allowed in the SFP program, but their order limit will be capped to avoid them getting order surges which may lead to downstream delivery issues and account health issues.
Please let me know if you have any other questions!
-Jim
Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
@Jim_Amazon
1.) When can we expect a response for adding UPS Letters and Fedex Envelopes to ABS? I'm *not* asking when it's going to be done..... I'm asking, now that you've shared the feedback, WHEN can they be reasonably expected to give a response as to whether it is going to be done or not? Before the announcement I was planning to start some tests later this month to determine if SFP is even worth it for us, and one of the top issues is the lack of ABS protection for INR+OTDR. So I would appreciate a true follow-up about getting Letters and Envelopes added, as this will sway our tests.
2.) When does SFP ABS labels get OTDR protection? Has it already started? Or does it start at the June 29 deadline?
3.) If the 100 minimum does NOT impact SFP eligibility... then I guess I don't understand what this 100 order is about... because I have had an Amazon-imposed Prime order limit that I could SEE the actual order limit number right on the "Control Prime Volume" page, and it had been there since I completed the trial and enrolled in SFP right after Christmas. Technically there was 2 different numbers there, 1 is the limit that *I* set, and there was another number right next to it that said what Amazon's limit is for me. And it was NOT due to OTDR or anything like that. Amazon's chosen Prime order limit for me just went away as of this month, which I suppose makes sense since Mother's Day is big for us. Was I basically already on this new 100 minimum, but it just hadn't been officially stated anywhere, and now it is? And I suppose the next month that I fall below the 100 again that the Prime order limit number will reappear again?
4.) Ok.
5.) The issue I'm referring to was ENTIRELY about a performance notification based on a partial week of SFP, because SUPPORT decided to reactivate me midweek. You can see it in ticket 17611790261, which is resolved. I don't know what you're talking about, but the enable/disable Prime toggle button was literally greyed out while I was temporarily suspended. I did NOT have control over when I was suspended OR when I was reactivated. You can even see in the ticket where support explicitly states they reactivated my SFP. And within minutes the Prime badge reappeared on everything, and I did *NOT* click to re-enable anything.
6.) ....
New questions....
7.) Do I understand correctly that the new "SSA ENABLED" badge for NON-SFP Premium shipping template will only appear on the template starting June 29?
8.) I don't understand how you'll add SSA for Premium Shipping to NON-SFP Custom products with a handling delay? Because as it stands in my NON-SFP template I have carriers selected with Standard shipping and it says SSA-ENABLED..... but if I add carriers under Premium shipping then it will FORCEFULLY add 1-day and 2-day shipping to the template (and does NOT allow you to disable), which THEN ALSO overrides your Custom/Manual handling time 😒 I complained about this a while back, because it makes no sense that they built the templates this way, and nobody had an answer for why it does this.
Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
@Jim_Amazon
9.) For the Envelope issue, I don't understand why they purposely cut us off from using Envelopes ONLY for Overnights... but ABS supports Envelopes for Fedex's 2-Day OneRate. So obviously at some point someone at Amazon realized Envelopes matter... but they decided it shouldn't be possible with Overnights 😒🤦♀️
This seems like the easiest low-hanging fruit for ABS... take the same logic they've already had in place for using Envelopes with 2-Day, and allow it for 1-Day too. But also don't forget UPS, as UPS is currently excluded from BOTH 2-Day and 1-Day with Envelopes.
Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
@Jim_Amazon I think we 'solved' 7 & 8 on the call..... and it sounds like the confusion with this is that I didn't realize "Premium Shipping" does NOT include "Expedited Shipping", and excludes it. I never really noticed the difference in the lingo. I didn't realize it's 2 different names for the same 1 function, which is to offer faster delivery options to the buyer.
So scratch 7 + 8, and now I have a new question: why not give Expedited Shipping the same opportunity? Of course I'm irritated that my Expedited Shipping still won't qualify for the new OTDR protection.... HOWEVER, I'm even more irritated that my Expedited Shipping is STILL excluded from being able to link carriers and display more accurate delivery times to the buyer (isn't that what Amazon claims they care about?!?!?). Is this going to change? Is this even in discussion to include Expedited Shipping with this rollout? Or has this already been 'voted' off as a non-issue in Amazon's eyes and is intended to stay this way?
Seller_NSbl7f707brUh
@Jim_Amazon I am confused and trying to get some clarity of 2 things
1.) Is this now saying that any SFP template with SSA enabled and shipped according to "Amazon Buy Shipping" recommendations and scanned "shipped on time" will now be exempt from OTDR rates? (So basically if we buy all Shipping thru buy shipping and ship according to "plan" we have no reason to worry about OTDR)
2.) Is SFP requirement OTDR 97% or still 93.5%? It is not clear to me if the change is referring to SFP or Premium Shipping separately of SFP?
Seller_Voz2CFVuAvKkx
Are you saying FBM sellers will be required to use Prime and Premium shipping? My items are inexpensive. I can't afford using free shipping option and every time you push premium (even though I don't offer it) you don't charge them enough and I have to cancel the order because I would literally lose money.
Seller_LAhuiXJ4eMubd
I have been doing SFP for many years now, but I do not even get close to the new requirement of 'ship at least 100 Seller Fulfilled Prime packages a month'.
So, I guess I will no longer be participating in the SFP program. What's going to happen to my SFP SKUs? Should I just go ahead and change the shipping template to a non-Prime template for the affected ASINs?
Seller_RnoJYdlqCE5Tw
Jim, the crazy thing from our perspective is that we would dearly love to ship way more than 100 SFP packages per month but Amazon doesn't give the Buy Box often enough to provide that. We offer 1 day shipping to anywhere in the USA from Texas which is better than most FBA offerings. But still Amazon prefer to give the buy box to an FBA seller. I had a product that i looked at yesterday where there was just me and another seller on the listing. The other seller was FBA and it looked like their stock was still clearing the book in process at FBA as it gave a 1 week estimate for the delivery. My listing was next day SFP and guess who got the buy box.
All i'm trying to say is that we have the capacity to ship way over 100 SFP orders per month but we dont always get the traffic from our listings. So in turn we would be penalized for not getting enough orders by getting even less orders. It doesnt make sense.
