Key Takeaways
- Amazon fees are going up for most sellers, despite earlier promises.
- Lightning Deals and Best Deals now include daily charges plus 1% of sales, with Lightning Deals capped at $2,000.
- Coupons got pricier, now costing $5 per coupon plus 2.5% of sales.
- Prime Exclusive Discounts have doubled in cost, now $100/day.
- Many sellers are flying blind, lacking the data insights to calculate true ROI.
- Only 5-15% of brands evaluate deals strategically; the rest react emotionally.
- Rufus AI is not revolutionary; it’s just the latest face of Amazon’s long-standing data mining.
Promotional Amazon Fee Changes and What They Mean for Sellers
Amazon’s updated promotional fee structure is more than just a pricing tweak. It’s a strategic shift that redistributes who pays what and how much. For sellers running Lightning Deals, the cost has changed from a flat $150 to $70 per day plus 1% of sales, with a $2,000 cap. While that cap offers relief, the variable component changes the game.
Best Deals follow the same structure as Lightning Deals but without a visible cap. This introduces risk for high-volume sellers who might now pay significantly more.Coupons, once a minor expense at $0.60 per unit, have now become a $5 per coupon plus 2.5% of sales endeavor, according to Amazon’s latest updates.
That 2.5% is a straight-up margin killer. Sellers who aren’t running the numbers will feel the pain fast.
Abe Chomali
Founder @ XP Strategy | Amazon & Walmart PPC, Consulting, Account Management
Prime Exclusive Discounts also doubled in cost, going from $50 to $100 per day, with no added value in return. This is where Amazon’s previous claim about not raising fees starts to look more like wishful PR than reality.
Strategic Implications: Only the Data-Driven Will Thrive
These updates aren’t just pricing changes; they’re strategic filters. Over half of Amazon sellers don’t fully understand their margins or promotional ROI. That lack of insight could lead to accidental overspending or worse, profit erosion.
If you’re not doing the math, you’re already losing. Sellers must now become more selective. Blanket coupons or across-the-board discounts are no longer sustainable. Brands will start reserving promotions for top-performing SKUs or use them strategically for visibility boosts, not just sales spikes.
Expect a drop in the number of deals, but those that remain will stand out more. This scarcity could enhance the value of promotions for data-savvy sellers.
The Rufus Reality Check: It’s Not AI Magic, It’s Just More Data
Rufus, Amazon’s new AI-powered recommendation engine, has been touted as a next-gen solution. Rufus is a big fat nothing burger. Amazon already tracks clicks, hovers, scrolls, video views—even your backspace key strokes. Rufus is just a name for the data surveillance they’ve done for years.
Let’s be real: Amazon’s data game is already elite. The tech giant doesn’t need a fancy name to know that if you’re clicking on V-neck black t-shirts, that’s what they’ll show you. Rufus is just the friendly AI face of an already-powerful recommendation engine.
The Data Divide: 5–15% of Sellers Do the Math
One of the most revealing insights is that only 5 to 15% of sellers approach deal-making analytically. The rest are either flying blind or reacting emotionally.
The thoughtful few examine:
- Post-deal sales lift
- Duration of BSR improvement
- Keyword indexing gains
- ROI per promotion type
The majority? They either skip deals because “it’s not that type of product” or run them because “we have too much stock.” These gut-based decisions leave profit on the table and waste valuable resources.
Deal Fatigue: Thinning the Herd = Bigger Visibility for the Few
As promotional costs rise, fewer sellers will run deals. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. With fewer discounts crowding the Buy Box and search pages, the deals that do run will be far more noticeable. That means increased visibility, better CTRs, and higher conversion rates for sellers who stay in the game. Here’s the new promotional math: if you’re willing to invest despite the higher costs, you’ll stand out more than ever.
Brand Visibility Over Profitability: Playing the Long Game
For some sellers, running a promotion won’t be about immediate profit. It’ll be about long-term growth.
Deals that increase brand visibility can:
- Boost keyword ranking
- Increase BSR
- Grow review counts
- Put products in more hands, fast
These indirect benefits can yield exponential returns down the line, especially for newer brands fighting for relevance.
Off-Amazon Strategy: Not Caused by Fees, But Still Important
Don’t expect these fee hikes to suddenly push everyone to TikTok or Google Ads. Those who believe in off-Amazon traffic already do it. These new fees simply reinforce the need for diversified strategies, but won’t be the catalyst for adoption.
Rufus and the Illusion of Innovation
AI isn’t the cure-all. As Rufus is unmasked as a shiny front-end for old-school data collection, sellers must understand that Amazon’s intelligence isn’t new—just repackaged.
They knew what your listing was on day one. They don’t need Rufus to tell them a massage gun is a massage gun.
Final Takeaway: Crunch the Numbers or Get Crunched
The new promotional fee structure won’t destroy sellers’ margins outright—if sellers get serious about their math.
There are still people who will have their best days ever on deal days—you just need to be one of them.
At Velocity Sellers, we believe that strategic clarity, not knee-jerk decisions, is what separates winners from the rest. Whether it’s preparing for Prime Day, adapting to new Amazon fees, or redefining your brand strategy, let data, not fear, lead the way. Need help navigating Amazon’s ever-evolving landscape? We’re just a click away.
