Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) has long held a pivotal position in the global cross-border e-commerce landscape, serving as a key enabler for many sellers to expand their global businesses. In 2025, with shifts in the global economic landscape, evolving consumer demands, and intensified industry competition, Amazon FBA policies underwent a series of significant adjustments, profoundly impacting sellers’ operational strategies. Promptly understanding these trends and accurately adjusting operational strategies are key to maintaining competitiveness and achieving sustainable growth on the Amazon platform.
I. Key Changes in Amazon FBA Policies in 2025
(I) New FBA Warehouse Split Regulations: Optimizing Consolidation Options
Starting February 20, 2025, Amazon has made significant adjustments to its inbound configuration services for standard-sized items, eliminating the “Partial Shipment Split” option and streamlining it into two inbound options: “Amazon Optimized Shipment Split” and “Minimum Shipment Split.”
Amazon Optimized Shipment Split is an optimization solution for sellers based on Amazon’s extensive logistics data and advanced algorithms. Sellers who can ship at least five identical cartons or pallets to multiple US fulfillment centers can waive the inbound placement service fee. This helps improve logistics efficiency and reduces sorting time at transit centers. Minimum Shipment Split, on the other hand, does not require specific carton or pallet packaging. Sellers can ship inventory to a single warehouse within their chosen geographic region (West, Central, or East US), but will pay the applicable inbound placement service fee.
This policy change will have varying impacts on sellers of different sizes and types. For sellers with a certain scale, uniform packaging, and high sales volume, Amazon Optimized Shipment Split offers cost reduction opportunities. However, for newer sellers, smaller sellers, or sellers with low shipping volumes or multiple SKUs, choosing Minimum Shipment Split may result in higher unit costs and squeezed profit margins.
(II) Adjustments to Delivery and Storage Fee Policies
From October 15, 2025, to January 14, 2026, Amazon will implement peak season delivery fees. While fees on the US and Canada sites will remain the same as in 2024, sellers should utilize Amazon platform tools to accurately calculate cost impacts in advance. Additionally, Amazon has announced the deadlines for warehouse entry into its warehouses for both the AWD and FBA platforms. Sellers are advised to prepare inventory in August and September to mitigate storage capacity constraints during peak season.
Amazon’s storage fees are based on factors such as inventory storage time, product size, and weight. Long-term storage fees (for inventory stored for more than 365 days) are significantly higher than monthly storage fees, forcing sellers to manage inventory turnover and promptly clear excess inventory.
(3) Restrictions on Accepting Meltable Inventory
From April 15 to October 15, 2025, Amazon fulfillment centers will no longer accept meltable inventory. This policy change affects a wide range of categories, including food products like chocolate, jelly, and cheese; beauty and personal care products like lip balm; household items like candles; and certain heat-sensitive products and suppositories. Meltable inventory stored or shipped to Amazon fulfillment centers after April 15 will be marked as “unfulfillable” and disposed of starting May 1, with sellers incurring applicable fees. However, sellers can continue to sell these products through self-fulfillment from May 1 to October 15.
(4) New Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) Policy for Self-Fulfilled Orders
Starting January 15, 2025, Amazon will update its Valid Tracking Rate policy for self-fulfilled orders to provide customers with greater clarity on order tracking. The policy requirements differ slightly between the European and US marketplaces. The European marketplace stipulates that domestic shipments valued at over €15 must be included in the valid tracking number rate calculation, and sellers must maintain a valid tracking number rate of at least 95% at the category level. The US marketplace requires that packages valued at less than $5 must have at least one valid carrier scan; packages valued at over $5 must provide two valid scans: one at the carrier’s facility and one at delivery or attempted delivery. While some shipments are exempt, this policy still increases sellers’ logistics costs, posing a particularly significant challenge for sellers of low-priced items.
II. Recommendations for Adjusting Seller Operational Strategies
(I) Logistics Strategy Optimization
Facing the new FBA warehousing splitting regulations, sellers should first comprehensively evaluate their existing warehousing splitting model. Carefully analyze historical shipment splitting data, compare the cost differences between the new “Amazon Optimized Shipment Split” and “Minimum Shipment Split” options, and simulate logistics budgets for 2025 in advance. If you choose “Amazon Optimized Shipment Splitting,” for products with high projected sales and sufficient inventory, sellers should pack them into at least five identical cartons or pallets and ship them to multiple fulfillment centers to benefit from the waived warehousing service fee. For products with relatively stable sales but higher logistics costs, consider “Minimum Shipment Splitting,” which can balance overall logistics costs by reducing front-end freight costs and improving inventory turnover.
Sellers must pay special attention to the packaging process. If you choose “Amazon Optimized Shipment Splitting,” when preparing inventory, ensure that each carton or pallet contains the same product mix and quantity. This requires sellers to establish strict quality control systems throughout procurement, sorting, and packaging to avoid mixups and misplacements.
Sellers should also consider other logistics optimization options. For example, sellers of medium- to large-volume goods can use overseas warehouse dropshipping, which can potentially reduce logistics costs by 20%-30%, shorten order fulfillment times to 2-5 days, and reduce the risk of out-of-stock situations by 40%. By optimizing first-leg transportation, such as adopting a bulk ocean freight + LCL strategy, first-leg costs for large items can be reduced by 60%-70% compared to air freight. Furthermore, by establishing a regionalized warehouse network based on target markets and utilizing an intelligent order distribution system to automatically match shipments to the nearest warehouse based on the buyer’s location, final-leg costs can be reduced by an additional 30%.
(II) Inventory Management Upgrade
Inventory management is a key component in responding to policy changes. Under FBA’s restrictions on accepting inventory for meltable items, sellers should promptly review their inventory and develop a plan for inventory clearance. For meltable items with a long shelf life, promotional activities such as discounts, purchase discounts, and bundle sales can be implemented to expedite inventory turnover. Suppliers can also be contacted to negotiate returns, exchanges, or adjustments to purchasing plans. If you decide to adopt a self-fulfillment model during the policy period, you should identify a reliable logistics partner in advance and move your inventory to a temperature-controlled US warehouse to ensure direct orders from the warehouse and maintain normal sales of your listings. Furthermore, timely updating of logistics information on the Amazon platform will enhance customer satisfaction.
In daily operations, sellers should utilize intelligent inventory management systems to track inventory status in real time. This system, combined with historical sales data and market trend forecasts, automatically triggers restocking reminders. Using a warehouse management system (WMS), sellers can set safety stock thresholds to reduce out-of-stock rates and slow-moving inventory. For example, a home furnishings brand used a WMS to reduce its out-of-stock rate from 25% to 5% during Black Friday, and its slow-moving inventory was reduced by 40%. Furthermore, by leveraging big data to analyze popular categories, sellers can centralize inventory in core warehouses based on demand, reducing inefficient inventory. Data shows that warehouses in the Western United States account for over 40% of inventory stocked in the US market.
(III) Product Strategy Adjustment
In terms of product selection, sellers can appropriately adjust their category layout. Given that high-value items face increased risk under the new FBA compensation regulations, sellers may consider increasing the proportion of low-value, high-turnover categories, such as household goods and fashion accessories. These categories have high turnover and a lower risk of slow-moving inventory, helping sellers reduce inventory costs and operational risks. At the same time, we should continue to promote brand development, using Amazon Brand Registry to enhance brand awareness and product premiums, thereby offsetting the cost pressures brought on by policy adjustments. Branded products can strengthen consumer loyalty and trust, allowing sellers to stand out from the competition.
(IV) Cost Control and Profit Guarantee
Faced with rising costs brought on by policy changes, sellers need to control costs across the board. Regarding logistics costs, in addition to optimizing warehouse distribution and transportation methods, we can also reduce costs by streamlining the service chain. Retaining only core dropshipping functions (warehousing + local delivery) and eliminating non-essential value-added services (such as excessive packaging and complex quality inspections) can reduce storage fees (approximately $0.5 per cubic foot per month). Establishing our own sorting and packaging processes, completing SKU sorting, packaging, and labeling operations domestically, can reduce labor costs in overseas warehouses (labor costs in Europe and the United States are 3-5 times higher than in China). For example, a 3C accessories seller waived storage fees by using standardized packaging (minimum order of 5 boxes), reducing costs per box by $0.5 and saving over one million yuan in annual shipping costs.
Regarding procurement costs, sellers should conduct in-depth negotiations with suppliers to secure more favorable prices and payment terms. Unit procurement costs can be reduced by increasing purchase volumes and establishing long-term partnership commitments. Furthermore, product design should be optimized to select lower-cost raw materials or packaging materials without compromising product quality or functionality.
III. Improving Operational Efficiency with Tools
(I) Amazon Platform Tools
Amazon provides sellers with a wealth of tools to support operations. The “Inventory Health Dashboard” helps sellers clearly understand inventory status and identify slow-moving inventory. The “FBA Fee Analyzer” breaks down fees by ASIN, allowing sellers to accurately understand their cost structure. Sellers should fully utilize these tools and regularly analyze data to inform operational decisions. For example, the “FBA Fee Analyzer” allows sellers to identify products with unusually high logistics cost ratios, conduct in-depth analysis of the causes, and make targeted adjustments to operational strategies.
The series of changes to Amazon’s FBA policies in 2025 present both challenges and opportunities for sellers. Sellers must closely monitor policy developments, thoroughly analyze their impact, precisely adjust operational strategies across multiple dimensions, including logistics, inventory, and product offerings, and leverage various tools to improve operational efficiency. This is the only way to maintain a competitive advantage and achieve steady business growth in an ever-changing market.
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