Overview

Amazon will tighten its product‑listing bullet‑point rules and introduce a new fee structure in early August. The updates also include a three‑day Labor Day promotion window in September. Sellers need to revise copy, recalculate profitability, and align seasonal campaigns to stay competitive.

Key Points

• Bullet‑point length cap — Each bullet is limited to a shorter character count, so a 250‑character description for a kitchen gadget must be trimmed to roughly 150 characters.
• Mandatory keyword placement — Core search terms such as “water‑resistant” must appear in the first two bullets, e.g., a smartwatch listing now starts with “Water‑resistant, 24‑hour battery life”.
• Prohibited promotional language — Terms like “best‑selling” or “limited‑time offer” are blocked, forcing sellers to replace them with factual statements such as “Top‑rated by 4,500 customers”.
• High‑volume surcharge — Sellers who exceed a monthly order threshold (e.g., 5,000 units) will incur an extra fee of a few basis points on every sale after the threshold is crossed.
• Referral fee increase — Categories such as electronics and home goods see a modest rise in referral percentages, turning a 6 % fee into 6.5 % for a $30 Bluetooth speaker.
• Labor Day promo window — Amazon will open a dedicated sales period from September 2‑4, offering limited‑time discounts and boosted visibility for participating SKUs.

How the New Bullet‑Point Rules Work

1. Length validation — When a draft is saved, the system highlights any bullet that exceeds the new character limit and displays the exact number of excess characters; for example, a 180‑character bullet will show “30 characters over limit”.
2. Content filter — The platform scans each bullet for banned promotional phrases and prompts the seller to replace them; a bullet containing “best‑selling” will be flagged and suggested to change to “ranked #1 in sales”.
3. Keyword check — If the required search terms are absent from the first two bullets, a tooltip offers placement suggestions based on recent query data; a listing for a “silicone spatula” will receive a prompt to insert that phrase early.