Amazon just dropped its 2027 fee schedule — and fulfillment fees are only the opener. Storage, low-inventory penalties, and even your Buy X Get Y promotions are all getting more expensive starting January 15.
Meanwhile, Alexa started texting customers back with Sponsored Products baked into the replies, fraudsters stole over £86,000 posing as Amazon support in just nine days, and TikTok Shop's new app, Shopify's payment options, and fresh AI-ad research round out what's moving before Black Friday.
Here's what changed, and what it means for your business.
AMAZON NEWS
Amazon's Alexa for Shopping agent now takes orders over text message — and starting this week, Sponsored PrAmazon dropped its 2027 fee schedule this week, and fulfillment is just the opener — storage, low-inventory penalties, and your Buy X Get Y promotions are all getting a rework too. Most changes land January 15, 2027, with storage and inventory rules following February 1.
🔍 What's happening
What this means for sellers
Run your own ASINs through Amazon's Fee Change Comparison Dashboard in Seller Central before January 15 — the per-unit hit looks small until it's multiplied across your catalog, and premium-priced, small-standard items take the biggest hit. If you're carrying aged inventory, the February 1 storage change is the one to watch: a SKU that's been sitting since summer is about to cost noticeably more to store, so this is a good week to run a clearance pass before the new rate card lands.
HOT TOPIC
Amazon's Alexa for Shopping assistant now takes orders over text message — and as of this week, Sponsored Products can show up right inside the reply, free for advertisers for now.
🔍 What's happening
What this means for sellers
A new, free ad placement is rare — if you run Sponsored Products, there's currently no extra cost to show up in a text-based recommendation, so make sure your titles, bullet points, and images are written to win a quick-scan decision on a phone screen, not just a search results page. Treat early performance data from this channel as directional, not gospel, until Amazon publishes real reporting on how an "impression" is even defined here — and don't assume your current sponsored strategy automatically carries over to a conversation-based format.
BLACK MARKET
Criminals posing as Amazon representatives called shoppers, claimed unauthorized items had been added to their basket or that someone was trying to buy on their account, then talked victims into handing over remote access to "secure" it — and it worked often enough to net more than £86,000 in just nine days last month.
🕵️ What's happening
What this means for sellers
This hits your customers, not your seller account — but a scammed customer who loses money "because of Amazon" can still turn into a chargeback, a bad review, or a support ticket landing on your plate, especially if your brand name or order confirmation gets name-dropped in the call. Point customers who ask toward Amazon's official channels only, and remind your team that Amazon will never ask for remote access, payment, or ID over the phone — that one line, repeated, is the best defense you can hand a confused buyer.
ECOMMERCE NEWS
TThree more marketplace moves worth tracking as Black Friday closes in:
What this means for sellers
Checkout friction and ad creative are both back in play this week: if you're on Shopify, check whether the new local payment methods apply to your market and turn them on before Black Friday traffic hits. And if you've been leaning on AI tools to crank out BFCM ad creative, the HBR data is a nudge to keep a human pass in the loop rather than publishing straight from the generator — the performance gap shows up even when shoppers can't spot the AI.sh, you're ceding ground to competitors who are already live there with established brands.
