If Amazon payouts have felt slower to land in your bank account during 2026, there is a real policy change behind it. Amazon moved many US and Canada seller accounts onto a reserve schedule that seller forums and seller-service resources call “DD+7” – delivery date plus seven days. Under this schedule, funds from a sale are not released to your available balance until seven calendar days after Amazon confirms the order was delivered, not seven days after the sale itself. For wholesale buyers who plan restock orders around a predictable cash cycle, that extra week between a sale and usable cash is worth building into your planning.
A note on sourcing: Amazon has not published one single consolidated help-page spelling out DD+7 terms for every account, so the details below reflect what is reported consistently across Amazon’s own Seller Forums and multiple independent seller-service resources as of October 2026. Confirm your own account’s current payout schedule directly in Seller Central under Payments, since reserve terms can vary by account history and standing.
How the DD+7 Reserve Actually Works
The countdown does not start when an item sells – it starts when Amazon logs a confirmed delivery scan (or, for untracked low-value shipments, an estimated delivery date). From that date, funds sit in a reserve for seven calendar days before moving into your withdrawable balance. Seller Forum threads describing the rollout give this example: sell and ship a product on January 1, it is delivered January 3, and under DD+7 the funds become available for disbursement around January 10 – seven days after the delivery date, not the sale date. The rollout is reported to have taken effect for US and Canada seller accounts on March 12, 2026.
This is separate from a risk-based account reserve (the kind tied to account health flags, chargebacks, or a new-seller ramp-up period). DD+7 is being described as a change to the standard disbursement schedule itself, not a penalty applied to a specific account.
Express Payout: A Faster Last Step, Not a Shortcut Around DD+7
Amazon also made its Express Payout option free and on by default for many eligible US sellers in 2026 (it previously required opt-in, and in some cases a per-transfer fee). It is worth understanding exactly what it does, because it is easy to assume it fixes the DD+7 delay – it does not. Express Payout only speeds up the final leg: moving funds that have already cleared the reserve and are sitting in your available Amazon balance into your bank account within roughly 24 hours, instead of the standard 3 to 5 business days. It does not shorten the seven-day post-delivery reserve itself. In other words, Express Payout gets cleared money to your bank faster – it does not clear money faster.
For a wholesale buyer, that distinction matters for planning: Express Payout can shave a few days off the last stretch of the cash cycle, but the bulk of the added delay from DD+7 still has to run its course first.
Why This Matters for Wholesale Resellers Specifically
Retail arbitrage or single-unit sellers can often absorb a slower payout by simply slowing down their own buying. Wholesale buyers usually cannot – case-pack and pallet-level reorders are bigger dollar commitments, often governed by a supplier’s own payment terms (see our payment terms guide), and a landed-cost timeline that assumes a certain cash-conversion cycle (see our landed cost breakdown). Stretching the gap between “item sells on Amazon” and “cash is usable again” by roughly a week can quietly shrink the working capital available for the next wholesale order – especially during a startup phase (see our wholesale startup-costs guide | Amazon’s New 4-Day FBM Refund Rule (2026) | FedEx 2027 Rate Increase) when buffers are thinnest.
| Action | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Check your actual payout schedule | Seller Central > Payments > Payment Summary shows your real disbursement cadence – do not assume DD+7 applies exactly the same way to every account. |
| Confirm Express Payout is active | It will not undo the DD+7 reserve, but it does get already-cleared funds to your bank in about 24 hours instead of 3 to 5 business days. |
| Count from delivery date, not sale date | The 7-day reserve clock starts at confirmed delivery, so slower shipping methods push your available-cash date out even further. |
| Treat the delay like a supplier payment term | Build the extra reserve days into cash planning the same way you would plan around a supplier’s Net-7 vs Net-30 terms. |
| Time bulk POs around your disbursement pattern | Place larger wholesale reorders right after funds clear rather than right before, so you are not caught short mid-cycle. |
| Don’t confuse DD+7 with a risk-based reserve | A chargeback- or account-health-related reserve is separate from the standard DD+7 schedule – ask Seller Support which one applies if funds are held longer than this article describes. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does DD+7 mean on Amazon?
It is shorthand for “delivery date plus seven days” – a reserve period during which funds from a sale are held after Amazon confirms delivery, before they move to your available balance for payout.
When did Amazon roll out DD+7?
Seller Forum discussions and multiple seller-service resources report a rollout for US and Canada accounts around March 12, 2026. Amazon has not published one single official page confirming every account’s exact terms, so check Seller Central directly.
Does the 7-day hold start from the sale date or the delivery date?
From the delivery date. Amazon starts the countdown when it logs a confirmed delivery scan (or an estimated delivery date for untracked low-value shipments), not when the order was placed or shipped.
What is Amazon Express Payout?
A feature that moves funds already sitting in your available Amazon balance into your bank account in roughly 24 hours, instead of the standard 3 to 5 business days. In 2026 it reportedly became free and on by default for many eligible US sellers.
Does Express Payout shorten the DD+7 reserve period?
No. Express Payout only speeds up the final transfer of funds that have already cleared the reserve. It does not reduce or bypass the seven-day hold itself.
Is DD+7 the same as an Amazon account reserve?
No. A risk-based account reserve is tied to account health, chargebacks, or a new-seller ramp-up period. DD+7 is described as a change to the standard disbursement schedule that applies more broadly, separate from any account-specific reserve.
How does this affect wholesale buyers who restock regularly?
Wholesale reorders are typically bigger, less frequent cash commitments than single-unit retail sales. A longer gap between a sale and usable cash can tighten the working-capital buffer needed for the next bulk order, so it is worth timing reorders around your actual disbursement pattern.
Where do I check my own account’s payout schedule?
In Seller Central, go to Payments, then Payment Summary (or Payment Reports), to see your real disbursement dates and cadence rather than relying on another seller’s reported experience.
Payout timing and ungating documentation are two different parts of running a wholesale Amazon business – cash-flow planning will not fix a gating issue, and a clean invoice will not speed up a payout. If you need a verified distributor relationship to support your Amazon account, our team can help: Apply for a Wholesale Account
Related reading: Wholesale Payment Terms Explained | Understanding Landed Cost | Amazon FBA Wholesale Startup Costs
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