Overview

Amazon has tightened the rules for using coupon promotions on its marketplace. Effective immediately, most items must show at least one completed sale, the post‑coupon price must be lower than the current list price or the product’s recent lowest price, and the discount must stay within a 5 %–50 % window. Sellers who depend on coupons for new‑product launches or ongoing price‑driven campaigns need to adapt quickly to avoid blocked promotions.

Key Points

• Sales‑history prerequisite — An ASIN must have recorded at least one sale before a coupon can be attached.
• Pricing benchmark enforcement — After the coupon is applied, the final price must be lower than either the listed price or the lowest price the item has sold for in the past 30 days.
• Discount range unchanged — Coupons continue to be limited to discounts between 5 % and 50 % of the selling price.
• Automatic ineligibility blocking — If any of the above conditions are not met, Amazon’s system will automatically prevent the coupon from activating until the issue is resolved.

How Coupon Eligibility Works

1. Confirm sales history — Amazon checks the ASIN’s transaction record.

   • Example: A brand new kitchen gadget listed at $25 that has never sold will be flagged; once a single unit is sold through any channel (e.g., a small external website), the ASIN becomes eligible for a coupon.

2. Validate pricing benchmark — The platform compares the price after the coupon is applied with two reference points: the current list price and the product’s recent lowest price.

   • Example: An item listed at $30 with a recent lowest price of $27 receives a $5 coupon (≈17 % off). The final price of $25 is lower than both $30 and $27, so the coupon passes the benchmark test.
   • Counter‑example: Raising the list price to $35 and then applying a $5 coupon yields a final price of $30, which is still above the recent low of $27; the coupon is rejected.