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If eBay is one of your sales channels alongside Amazon or Walmart, eBay quietly rewrote its User Agreement twice in 2026 – once in February and again in June. Most of the changes are procedural, but a few directly affect how you’d handle a dispute with eBay, and one affects how a small slice of sellers get paid for shipping. Here’s what actually changed and what’s worth acting on.

February 2026: AI Shopping Agents Banned, Arbitration Rules Tightened

Effective February 20, 2026, eBay’s User Agreement now explicitly prohibits “buy-for-me agents, LLM-driven bots, or any end-to-end flow that attempts to place orders without human review” without eBay’s prior permission. This targets AI shopping assistants (like Amazon’s “Buy for Me” feature) rather than sellers directly – it’s eBay protecting checkout flow and account activity from autonomous bots, similar to why marketplaces increasingly police scraping and automated purchasing.

The same update expanded eBay’s arbitration and class-action waiver language. Sellers can now only bring individual claims against eBay – not class actions, and not “private attorney general” actions on behalf of other sellers. eBay also confirmed that the window to opt out of mandatory arbitration closed for existing users back in May 2025; only newly-registered sellers can still opt out, and the mailing address for any arbitration-related notices changed (eBay sold its former Draper, UT office in 2024).

June 2026: Dispute Process Changes, eBay Live, and a Shipping Test

A second update effective June 28, 2026 made three further changes:

Dispute resolution got a genuinely useful addition. Sellers now have the option to take a dispute to small claims court as an alternative to arbitration, and dispute notices must go through eBay’s webform rather than by email or mail. If you ever end up in a serious disagreement with eBay over account status or a payout, small claims is a real, lower-cost venue that wasn’t clearly available before.

eBay Live got formal policy language requiring that “the primary purpose of each seller’s eBay Live stream must be to promote and sell items listed through that eBay account” – worth knowing if livestream selling is or becomes part of your strategy, though it’s not something most wholesale resellers are using today.

US Managed Shipping is being tested – eBay would collect the buyer’s shipping payment and issue a prepaid label, with loss/damage coverage capped at $200. It’s worth being direct about scope here: this is currently a limited pilot for invited sellers in select New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania zip codes, restricted to clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry listings priced at $200 or under. If you’re selling case-quantity wholesale inventory outside those categories, this test doesn’t apply to your account yet – but it’s the kind of program that tends to expand, so it’s worth knowing it exists.

What This Means If You Sell Wholesale Inventory on eBay

None of this changes how you buy or list authentic wholesale inventory. The practical takeaways are about account protection: know that your legal recourse against eBay is now limited to individual claims (with small claims court as a genuine option), keep any dispute correspondence going through eBay’s webform rather than email, and don’t rely on third-party AI purchasing bots or automated buying tools in your own operations, since eBay’s stance here signals marketplaces broadly are tightening around unauthorized automation.

• Read dispute or arbitration notices from eBay carefully rather than assuming last year’s process still applies – the submission method and venue options both changed in 2026.
• Don’t count on class-action recourse if you have a grievance with eBay – budget for individual claims or small claims court instead.
• Check whether US Managed Shipping applies to your account if you sell fashion items under $200 in the Northeast test region – for most wholesale resellers in other categories, it currently doesn’t.

Whichever marketplaces you sell on, the inventory itself is what protects your account long-term. Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating and listing approval – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Wholesale Purchasing for Amazon, eBay & Walmart Resellers | Walmart Marketplace’s 2026 New-Seller Savings: Up to $75K for Wholesale Sellers | The INFORM Consumers Act: What High-Volume Amazon Sellers Must Know

Apply for a Wholesale Account

If you’re thinking about adding Walmart Marketplace to your sales channels alongside Amazon or eBay, the timing has a real financial argument behind it right now. Walmart is running a New-Seller Savings program through January 31, 2027 that can offset up to $75,000 in fees for sellers who launch a storefront after February 1, 2026 – and the eligibility requirements line up closely with how a legitimate wholesale reseller already operates.

What the Program Actually Offers

The savings come from four stacked components:

Referral fee discounts (up to $72,000). Walmart discounts its standard referral fee on a tiered basis as your gross merchandise value (GMV) grows: 20% off on your first $50,000 in GMV, 30% off between $50,000 and $500,000, and 40% off anything beyond $500,000.

Walmart Fulfillment Services credit (up to $2,000). A 10% discount on WFS fulfillment fees for eligible items.

Search engine marketing credit (up to $1,000). A rebate on qualifying ad spend for new advertisers.

Walmart Connect credit (up to $500). A flat advertising credit upon enrollment for listings that meet Walmart’s quality score threshold.

Discounts apply automatically once your storefront launches and continue until January 31, 2027 or until you hit the savings cap, whichever comes first.

Who Actually Qualifies

This is where it matters for wholesale resellers specifically. Walmart’s eligibility requirements include a business tax ID or license, verification documents matching your business name and address, an existing marketplace or e-commerce sales history, and – notably – products carrying valid GTIN/UPC numbers that meet Walmart’s catalog and prohibited-products standards.

That last point is a real filter. Sellers relying on generic, unbranded, or private-label-without-proper-codes inventory can run into friction getting listings approved at all. A reseller buying authentic, brand-name wholesale inventory that already carries manufacturer UPC codes – the kind that also satisfies Amazon ungating requirements – starts from a stronger position for Walmart’s listing requirements too.

Why the Timing Is Worth Noting

The program’s fee structure rewards sellers who scale their GMV within the window – the discount percentage actually increases as you sell more, up to the $500K mark. For a wholesale reseller already sourcing case-quantity inventory for Amazon FBA, adding Walmart Marketplace as a second channel during this window means the same inventory pool can generate savings on both platforms at once, rather than treating Walmart as a from-scratch startup cost.

Reports on the program consistently note it’s structured to compete for sellers who might otherwise sell exclusively on Amazon – worth factoring in if diversifying beyond one marketplace has been on your radar but the extra fees and setup time held you back.

• Check that your inventory carries real GTIN/UPC codes before applying – this is both a Walmart Marketplace requirement and a good practice for avoiding listing rejections.
• Have your business documentation ready (tax ID, business license, address verification) since onboarding delays eat into the window you have to accumulate GMV under the higher discount tiers.
• Time your launch deliberately – since discounts apply from onboarding completion until the program ends or the cap is reached, launching earlier in the window gives more runway to benefit from the tiered discount growth.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with real manufacturer UPC codes and the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating and marketplace listing approval – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Wholesale vs Dropshipping for Amazon FBA Sellers: Which Is Actually Compliant in 2026? | Amazon Ends Commingled Inventory: FNSKU Labeling Now Required for Wholesale Resellers | How Much Capital Do You Need to Start Amazon FBA Wholesale in 2026? | eBay’s 2026 User Agreement Changes: What Sellers Need to Know

Apply for a Wholesale Account

If you sell on Amazon, eBay, or Walmart Marketplace and move real volume as a wholesale reseller, there’s good news on the tax paperwork front for 2026: the federal 1099-K reporting threshold that had been set to drop to just $600 is no longer happening. Congress reversed course, and the original, much higher threshold is back for the 2026 tax year.

What Changed

Back in 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) lowered the 1099-K reporting threshold for third-party payment platforms and marketplaces from $20,000/200 transactions down to just $600, with no transaction-count minimum at all. The IRS delayed that phase-in multiple times over the following years, so it never fully took effect. In July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) repealed the $600 rule entirely and restored the original threshold. The IRS confirmed this in Fact Sheet 2025-08, issued October 23, 2025.

The result for tax year 2026: a marketplace or payment platform only has to issue you a Form 1099-K if you receive more than $20,000 AND more than 200 transactions in a calendar year. Both conditions have to be met – a seller with 300 transactions totaling $12,000 doesn’t cross the threshold, and neither does a seller with one $25,000 transaction.

What This Means If You’re Below the Threshold

If your marketplace sales land under $20,000 or under 200 transactions for 2026, you likely won’t receive a 1099-K from Amazon, eBay, or your payment processor. That’s a real reduction in paperwork for smaller resellers compared to what the $600 rule would have required.

It’s worth being clear about one thing this change does not do: it doesn’t change what income you owe tax on. Every dollar of business income is still reportable on your tax return, whether or not a 1099-K shows up in your inbox. Not receiving the form is a reporting-paperwork outcome, not a tax-liability outcome – keep your own sales records regardless of whether you cross the federal threshold.

Watch Your State’s Threshold Too

The $20,000/200-transaction rule is the federal standard, but several states set their own, lower 1099-K thresholds that apply regardless of what the IRS requires federally. Reports place Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Arkansas, New Jersey, and D.C. among the states maintaining thresholds well below the federal level (several around $600). If you’re registered or selling into one of these states, you may still receive a 1099-K there even while staying under the federal threshold – check your specific state’s current rule rather than assuming the federal number is the only one that applies to you.

Why This Matters for Wholesale Resellers Specifically

Wholesale resellers buying case-quantity inventory to move on Amazon FBA are exactly the sellers most likely to cross 200 transactions and $20,000 in a normal year of steady reselling – which means the federal threshold is still very achievable for anyone doing this at real volume, even with the $600 rule gone. The practical takeaway isn’t “1099-K reporting is over” – it’s that the paperwork burden calibrates back to sellers actually operating at a meaningful scale, which is where most wholesale resale businesses already sit once they’re past the startup phase.

• Keep your own sales and cost records year-round regardless of whether you expect a 1099-K – your tax return needs the numbers either way.
• Check your state’s specific threshold if you’re registered to collect sales tax in a state with a lower 1099-K bar, since that can trigger a form even under the federal $20,000/200 rule.
• Don’t assume last year’s form (or lack of one) predicts this year’s – the threshold rules have shifted twice in a few years, so it’s worth a quick check each tax season rather than assuming the prior rule still applies.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Sales Tax Nexus for Wholesale Resellers: What Multi-State Selling Means for You | Do You Need a Resale Certificate to Buy Wholesale? | How Much Capital Do You Need to Start Amazon FBA Wholesale in 2026?

Apply for a Wholesale Account

On August 24, 2026, Amazon quietly rewrote a section of its Business Solutions Agreement (BSA) that every third-party seller agrees to. The change is narrow on paper but has real consequences if you finance inventory purchases or have ever considered buying or selling an Amazon seller account.

What Changed

The updated BSA adds two explicit prohibitions that were previously either unstated or only implied:

1. Pledging Amazon payouts as collateral. Your right to receive Amazon disbursements is now explicitly defined as a right under the BSA – and pledging that right as collateral for outside financing (revenue-based financing, merchant cash advances, or similar structures secured against your Amazon payout stream) is now a stated violation.

2. Informal account transfers. The agreement now restricts “transferring rights or obligations” under the BSA more broadly than before, not just the contract itself. This closes a workaround where account ownership or economics moved to a new party (a sale, an aggregator roll-up) while the account stayed registered to the original entity on paper.

Why It Matters for Wholesale Buyers

If you buy inventory from a verified wholesale distributor and pay for it with your own funds, this change doesn’t touch you directly. But a meaningful share of sellers – especially heading into Q4 – fund larger purchase orders through revenue-based financing secured by their Amazon payouts. Multiple trade and legal sources tracking this update note that sellers in the roughly $100K-$1M/month range using these structures are the most exposed, since the financial damage from a suspension or payout freeze is worst during peak season, exactly when inventory needs peak too.

Separately, if you’re buying or selling an Amazon account, or operate under a multi-account/aggregator structure, an informal handover (credentials changed hands, contact info updated gradually) is now explicitly against the rules. Amazon wants ownership changes routed through its formal process instead – a Seller Central case with supporting business license and change-of-ownership documentation.

What To Do Before Your Next Wholesale Order

Reports on enforcement vary slightly by source, so treat the specifics as evolving rather than fixed, but the consistent practical guidance is:

• Review any financing agreement now for language that pledges your Amazon payout stream as collateral, ideally before Q4 ordering ramps up.
• Use Amazon’s documented ownership-change process if an account changed hands informally in the past, or you’re planning to buy/sell one, rather than an informal transfer.
• Keep wholesale inventory purchases separate from financing structures – paid for directly, with a supplier invoice, kept apart from any financing or ownership structure that touches your Amazon payout rights. That’s also the cleanest paper trail for ungating and account-health purposes generally.

Buying wholesale inventory outright, with a verified supplier invoice, keeps your Amazon account and your financing arrangements cleanly separate. Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Amazon Q4 2026 Prep Checklist for Wholesale FBA Sellers | Wholesale Purchasing Payment Terms: What to Expect | Wholesale Distributor Agreements: Key Clauses to Look For

Apply for a Wholesale Account

If you’re buying wholesale to resell on Amazon and your business is growing, there’s a federal law worth understanding before it catches you off guard: the INFORM Consumers Act. Once you cross a fairly modest sales threshold, Amazon is legally required to collect and verify a set of your business details – and if you ignore the notification, your account can be deactivated.

What the INFORM Consumers Act actually requires

INFORM (Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces) is a federal law that took effect in 2023, and Amazon began enforcing it for sellers starting in 2024. It requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and in some cases disclose certain information from what the law calls “high-volume third party sellers.” This isn’t an Amazon-specific policy – eBay, Walmart Marketplace, and other online marketplaces are bound by the same federal requirement.

Who counts as a “high-volume” seller

You’re covered by INFORM if, in any continuous 12-month period within the past 24 months, your account has both: 200 or more discrete sales or transactions of new or unused consumer products, and an aggregate total of $5,000 or more in gross revenue. Note that it’s both conditions together, not either one alone – a seller with 500 low-dollar transactions but under $5,000 in revenue, or a seller with one $10,000 transaction, doesn’t meet the definition. For a wholesale reseller moving real volume, though, both thresholds are easy to clear within a few months of steady sales.

What Amazon has to collect and verify

Once you’re flagged as high-volume, Amazon must collect and verify: bank account information (an account number or payee name Amazon can use for payouts), your identity (your full name if you sell as an individual, or a government-issued ID or tax document showing your business name and physical address if you sell as a business), a tax identification number, and a current working email address and phone number. Government-issued tax documents get verified automatically on submission; other information may take longer to confirm.

The annual certification cycle

This isn’t a one-time setup. Amazon requires high-volume sellers to review and re-certify their information annually, and by law you have 10 days from when Amazon notifies you to complete that certification or report any changes. Miss that window and the consequences escalate quickly: sellers who don’t act typically get a deactivation warning first, and then face actual account deactivation and held disbursements if the certification still isn’t completed.

Why this matters more as you scale

Sellers who source wholesale specifically to grow volume – rather than staying at a hobbyist scale – are exactly the sellers most likely to cross the INFORM threshold, often faster than they expect. A single successful wholesale reorder cycle can push a seller past 200 transactions and $5,000 in revenue well within a 12-month window. Getting flagged isn’t a red flag on your account by itself – it’s simply the law working as intended – but missing the 10-day certification window because you didn’t notice the notification absolutely can put your account, and the wholesale inventory you’ve already paid for, at risk.

• Check your Account Health dashboard periodically once your sales start climbing, rather than waiting for a deactivation warning to tell you something’s pending.
• Keep your bank details, tax ID, and contact information current before Amazon asks – a certification notice with outdated information takes longer to resolve than one where everything already matches.
• Business sellers should have a government-issued ID or tax document ready that clearly shows your business name and physical address, since that’s what verifies automatically.
• Don’t assume this is optional or a phishing attempt. INFORM notifications are a real federal requirement, not a scam email – though it’s still worth confirming any request came through your actual Seller Central account rather than an external link.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: How Much Capital Do You Need to Start Amazon FBA Wholesale? | Sales Tax Nexus for Wholesale Resellers | Do You Need a Resale Certificate to Buy Wholesale? | eBay’s 2026 User Agreement Changes: What Sellers Need to Know

Apply for a Wholesale Account

If you sell wholesale toys, supplements, or e-mobility products on Amazon, there’s a quiet but consequential shift you may have already run into: Amazon no longer accepts compliance documents that sellers upload themselves. Under Amazon’s Direct Validation (DV) program, the lab that tests your product now has to send the results straight to Amazon – you never touch the file. It started with toys in late 2025 and has since widened to cover several more regulated categories.

What Direct Validation actually changes

Before this program, a seller could get a product tested by more or less any accredited lab, then upload the certificate or test report themselves in Seller Central. Amazon has closed that loophole for a growing list of categories: now the testing has to come from a lab on Amazon’s own approved provider list (names sellers will recognize include SGS, Intertek, QIMA, Eurofins, Bureau Veritas, and HQTS), and that lab submits the results directly into Amazon’s system – typically within one to two business days of testing. A seller-uploaded PDF, however legitimate, is no longer accepted as proof of compliance in these categories.

Which categories are affected

Direct Validation is furthest along for children’s toys, where it’s been in full effect since late 2025: testing now has to meet the current ASTM F963-23 standard, and reports against the older F963-17 standard are generally rejected outright, meaning products tested before the standard updated may need to be retested from scratch. Compliance has to be renewed annually – a Children’s Product Certificate from two years ago doesn’t carry forward indefinitely.

The requirement has since expanded to dietary supplements, where as of late 2025/early 2026 Amazon requires third-party cGMP verification for all supplements, not just the higher-risk categories (weight loss, sexual enhancement, bodybuilding) that were targeted first. Private audits, first-party audits, consulting-firm audits, and even FDA inspection results don’t satisfy this – it has to be accredited third-party certification from an approved provider such as NSF, UL, Eurofins, Intertek, SGS, or Merieux NutriSciences.

Beyond those two, sellers are reporting Direct Validation requirements reaching e-mobility devices (e-bikes, scooters, and related accessories) and a handful of other regulated goods including skin-lightening products and ophthalmic drugs. If you buy wholesale in any of these categories, assume your existing test reports and certificates need a second look even if they were accepted under the old process.

The compliance window and what happens if you miss it

Once Amazon flags a listing as needing Direct Validation, sellers generally get a defined window to get compliant – reported anywhere from 30 days (toys) up to roughly 90 days (the supplement rollout) depending on category and notice. Miss it and the pattern is consistent across categories: listing suppression first (the product becomes invisible to shoppers but isn’t deleted), then full removal if nothing changes, with repeated non-compliance risking a broader account review.

What it costs and how the process works

For toys, third-party testing through an approved TIC provider runs roughly $300-$500 for simple products and $1,500 or more for complex ones – a cost worth building into landed-cost math the same way freight and FNSKU labeling are. The process itself is the same shape across categories: you initiate the request in Seller Central, choose an Amazon-approved TIC provider, send the product or existing documentation to that lab, and the lab uploads the verified results directly to Amazon on your behalf. You’re no longer the one submitting the paperwork – you’re arranging for someone Amazon already trusts to do it.

What this means if you buy wholesale in these categories

• Don’t assume an existing test report still qualifies. If it wasn’t issued by a lab on Amazon’s approved DV list, or it’s testing against an outdated standard (F963-17 for toys, for example), it likely won’t clear the new bar even if it satisfied Amazon a year ago.
• Ask your supplier which lab actually issued their documentation before you commit to a bulk order in toys, supplements, or e-mobility – a wholesale lot that arrives with compliance paperwork Amazon won’t accept is a lot you can’t list until it’s retested.
• Budget testing as a recurring cost, not a one-time one. Toy compliance in particular now requires annual renewal, so factor it into your margin on an ongoing basis rather than as a single upfront expense.
• Watch for Amazon’s compliance notification rather than waiting for a suppressed listing to tell you something’s wrong – the clock on your compliance window starts at notification, not when you first list the product.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Wholesale Toys and Games: CPSIA Compliance Guide | FNSKU Labeling for Wholesale Resellers | Amazon Enhanced-Safety Insurance Rule

Apply for a Wholesale Account

Amazon’s product liability insurance requirement has always kicked in at $10,000 in monthly gross proceeds – until now. Starting November 2, 2026, Amazon is removing that sales threshold entirely for a specific list of “enhanced safety” product categories. If you buy wholesale in any of these categories, the $1 million coverage requirement now applies to you regardless of how much you’re actually selling.

What’s changing on November 2, 2026

Two changes take effect. First, sellers listing in Amazon’s enhanced-safety categories must carry a minimum of $1 million in liability coverage (per occurrence and in aggregate) no matter their sales volume – the usual $10,000/month trigger simply doesn’t apply to these categories anymore. Second, sellers whose business is based in Mainland China must obtain any new policy exclusively through Amazon’s own Insurance Accelerator (AIA) program; Amazon will reject new non-AIA policies from China-based sellers after this date, though existing policies obtained before November 2 remain valid until they expire.

Which categories lose the sales threshold

The enhanced-safety category list includes children’s products (car seats, toys, infant sleep products), cosmetic and ingestible products (supplements, over-the-counter medications, cosmetics), lithium battery products (e-bikes, scooters, power banks), small kitchen appliances, fire-safety products, mattresses and adult bed rails, tires, personal safety equipment, outdoor power equipment, home medical devices, and water/marine safety products. Amazon has described this list as non-exhaustive, so it’s worth checking your own categories directly in Seller Central rather than assuming a category is safe because it isn’t listed above.

Notice how much of this overlaps with categories wholesale buyers commonly stock: supplements and cosmetics brands, children’s toys, and small appliances are all squarely inside the enhanced-safety list – not niche edge cases.

The compliance window

Once Amazon identifies your account as needing enhanced coverage, you get 45 days from the notification email to submit proof of a compliant policy. Missing that window risks deactivation of your listings in the affected categories specifically – not necessarily your whole account, but enough to hurt if that’s where your inventory is concentrated.

What this means if you buy wholesale in these categories

• Don’t wait for the $10,000/month trigger if you’re in an enhanced-safety category. A small or test-run order in toys, supplements, cosmetics, or battery-powered products now needs the same $1 million coverage as a high-volume seller.
• Check whether your current policy already meets the $1M per-occurrence/aggregate minimum and names Amazon as an additional insured – the coverage requirement itself hasn’t changed, only which sellers must carry it regardless of volume.
• Watch for Amazon’s notification email rather than waiting to be surprised by a deactivation – the 45-day clock starts there, not when you first list a product.
• Factor insurance cost into new-category decisions. If you’re weighing whether to add a new wholesale product line in one of these categories, the insurance requirement is now a day-one cost rather than something you can defer until sales pick up.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Do You Need Product Liability Insurance to Sell Wholesale on Amazon? | Wholesale Toys and Games: CPSIA Compliance Guide | Amazon FBA Fee Changes in 2026 | Amazon’s Direct Validation Program

Apply for a Wholesale Account

If you resell wholesale inventory through FBA, Amazon’s March 31, 2026 change to how it stores and ships inventory is one of the more consequential updates of the year – and it’s easy to miss if you haven’t checked your Manage FBA Inventory barcode column recently. Amazon ended stickerless commingled inventory, and FNSKU labeling is now mandatory for almost every reseller shipping to FBA.

What commingling was, and why Amazon ended it

Commingled inventory meant that when multiple sellers stocked the same product using its manufacturer barcode (UPC), Amazon treated those units as interchangeable – a customer order could be fulfilled from whichever unit was physically closest, regardless of which seller actually sent it in. That efficiency came with a real risk: a single bad actor injecting counterfeit units into a shared pool could contaminate every legitimate seller’s inventory of that product, and buyers had no way to tell whose unit they’d actually received. Ending commingling by requiring seller-specific FNSKU labels closes that loophole – every unit is now traceable to the account that sent it.

Who this actually applies to

This is the part that catches wholesale resellers off guard: it applies to nearly everyone who isn’t the original brand owner. Non-Brand-Registry resellers and distributors, private-label sellers without Brand Registry enrollment, and even Brand Registry members reselling third-party products all now need FNSKU labels on every unit. The only real exception is Brand Registry-enrolled brand owners selling their own products under “Brand Representative” status – and per Amazon’s own clarification, holding a “Reseller” role inside Brand Registry (an authorized reseller who isn’t the brand owner) does not qualify for that exception either.

If your current workflow is “buy wholesale inventory, ship it to FBA using the product’s existing manufacturer barcode,” that workflow stopped being compliant on March 31, 2026, unless it already included FNSKU labeling.

What happens if a shipment shows up without FNSKU labels

Amazon flags non-compliant units at intake. Depending on severity, that can mean the shipment gets rejected at the receiving dock, inventory gets held pending relabeling at your expense, fulfillment gets delayed while that’s sorted out, or – if enough of your stock is affected – your Buy Box eligibility takes a hit from an availability drop. None of that is worth risking on inventory you already paid for in bulk.

What it costs to comply

Amazon’s own FBA prep and labeling service was discontinued in the US as of January 1, 2026, so self-labeling or a third-party prep center are the remaining options. Third-party prep centers generally charge in the range of $0.20 to $0.50 per unit for FNSKU labeling – a cost worth building into your landed-cost math on any new wholesale order rather than discovering it after a rejected shipment.

What to do before your next wholesale order ships to FBA

• Check the Barcode column in Manage FBA Inventory now. Any ASIN you don’t own the brand for showing “Manufacturer barcode” instead of FNSKU needs attention before your next shipment.
• Build FNSKU labeling into your receiving workflow, not as an afterthought – whether that’s in-house or through a prep center, treat it as a standard step for every wholesale shipment headed to FBA now, not an occasional one.
• Budget the per-unit labeling cost into your wholesale purchasing math. A bulk order that looked profitable on paper needs this cost factored in alongside freight and any other prep.
• Don’t assume older SOPs still apply. If your prep process was written before March 31, 2026, it was likely written for a world where FNSKU was optional for resale inventory – it isn’t anymore.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the invoice documentation resellers need for ungating – pairing that with correct FNSKU prep on your end keeps a wholesale order moving smoothly into FBA. Apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: UPC vs GTIN Exemption for Wholesale Resellers | Amazon Low-Inventory-Level Fee | Amazon FBA Fee Changes in 2026 | Amazon’s Direct Validation Program | Walmart Marketplace’s 2026 New-Seller Savings: Up to $75K for Wholesale Sellers

Apply for a Wholesale Account

Starting September 30, 2026, Amazon is rolling out a new performance metric aimed specifically at B2B orders: the Business Hour Delivery Rate. It only applies to merchant-fulfilled (seller-fulfilled) orders placed through Amazon Business – which matters directly for wholesale buyers who resell through Amazon Business rather than (or alongside) standard retail listings.

What the Business Hour Delivery Rate actually requires

Professional sellers fulfilling their own orders (not FBA) to Amazon Business customers must maintain a Business Hour Delivery Rate of 90% or higher – meaning at least 90% of those shipments need to arrive while the receiving business is actually open, not overnight, before hours, or on a day it’s closed. The requirement is specific to seller-fulfilled Amazon Business orders; standard FBA shipments and regular retail marketplace orders are not affected.

The compliance timeline

The metric takes effect September 30, 2026, with sellers given until October 30, 2026 to bring their rate up to the 90% threshold. Sellers who remain below 90% after that grace period risk having their seller-fulfilled offers deactivated specifically for Amazon Business customers – not a full account suspension, but a real loss of access to B2B buyers on whichever listings fall short.

Why this is harder to control than it sounds

The catch sellers are already raising: delivery timing on a seller-fulfilled order is largely in the hands of the carrier (UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.), not the seller. A package can leave on time and still arrive at midnight, before a business opens, or over a weekend when the receiving company is closed – all outside the seller’s direct control, yet still counted against this new rate.

What this means if you buy wholesale to resell as a merchant-fulfilled seller

If you’re sourcing wholesale inventory and shipping it yourself to Amazon Business customers rather than routing everything through FBA, this is a metric worth watching closely starting now, not after the October 30 deadline hits. A few practical angles:

• Check whether your Amazon Business orders are currently landing inside business hours. Seller Central should start surfacing this rate in your account health metrics – review it before the deadline rather than after a warning.
• Consider carrier selection and shipping windows more carefully for B2B orders specifically. A carrier or service level with more predictable delivery timing may matter more for Amazon Business shipments than for standard retail ones.
• Weigh moving more B2B-bound inventory to FBA if your seller-fulfilled delivery timing is inconsistent – FBA shipments are explicitly excluded from this requirement. This is also where reliable, consistent wholesale supply matters: inconsistent inbound stock makes it harder to plan an FBA-vs-merchant-fulfilled split with confidence.
• Don’t wait for the October 30 cutoff to check your number. Account-health metrics used for eligibility gates are usually calculated on a trailing window, so a rate that looks fine in early September can still be below 90% by the time the deadline lands if nothing changes.

This is a genuinely new requirement – not a rebrand of an existing metric – so if you haven’t seen it mentioned in Seller Central yet, it’s worth checking your account health dashboard directly rather than assuming it doesn’t apply to you.

Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the documentation and consistent supply wholesale resellers need to plan fulfillment confidently – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

FAQ

Related reading: Amazon FBA Fee Changes in 2026 | Wholesale Purchasing Payment Terms | How to Avoid Dead Stock in Wholesale Buying

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Wholesale toys and games are one of the most consistently searched categories among Amazon, eBay, and Walmart resellers – and one of the categories where buying wrong causes the most expensive problems. Unlike most general merchandise, toys and children’s products carry federal safety-compliance documentation requirements on top of the usual authenticity and invoice concerns, and Amazon enforces its own layer of testing paperwork specifically for this category.

The documentation layer most categories don’t have: CPSIA tracking labels

Under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), children’s products sold in the US must carry a permanently affixed tracking label identifying the manufacturer or importer, production location and date, and a batch or run number – it’s what allows a defective product to be traced and recalled. Durable infant and toddler products require even more: model name/number plus a US manufacturer contact address and toll-free number. Responsibility for getting this right falls on the importer bringing the product into the US, not the overseas factory – which matters for wholesale buyers because it means the label needs to already be correct on inventory you receive, not something you can add after the fact.

What Amazon specifically requires for toy listings

Beyond the CPSIA label itself, Amazon requires sellers to be able to produce a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) from the manufacturer and a current ASTM F963-23 test report (older versions like F963-17 are no longer accepted) if a listing gets flagged for compliance review. For resellers specifically, purchase receipts alone don’t satisfy this – Amazon expects invoices from an authorized distribution channel plus the manufacturer’s own CPC and test report. A flagged listing stays suppressed until that documentation is produced, and repeated compliance issues can affect account health more broadly.

Why this hits wholesale buyers harder than other categories

In most wholesale categories, a clean invoice from a verified, authentic distributor is most of what you need to defend a listing. Toys add a second, separate documentation requirement layered on top – the manufacturer’s own compliance paperwork – that a distributor invoice alone doesn’t automatically include. This is exactly the same distinction we’ve written about between an invoice and a receipt for ungating purposes, but toys raise the bar further: you’re not just proving where the product came from, you’re proving it was tested and certified to be sold as a children’s product in the first place.

What to ask your distributor before buying wholesale toys

• Ask directly whether CPSIA tracking labels are already applied and correct before the product ships to you – relabeling isn’t something you want to be doing yourself.
• Ask whether the manufacturer’s CPC and current ASTM F963-23 test report are available on request – a distributor who can produce these quickly is a strong signal of legitimate sourcing.
• Treat popular, frequently-counterfeited toy brands with extra scrutiny. High-demand branded toys are a common target for counterfeit and gray-market products, and a counterfeit toy compounds a safety-compliance problem with an authenticity problem.
• Keep all documentation on file before you list, not just before you get flagged – a compliance review can happen on an ASIN that’s been selling fine for months.

Wholesale Distributors US supplies authentic toy and games inventory with the invoice and compliance documentation resellers need to list confidently – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.

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Related reading: How to Verify an Authentic Wholesale Distributor | Invoice vs Receipt for Amazon Ungating | How to Spot Counterfeit Wholesale Products | Browse Wholesale Toys and Games Inventory | Amazon’s Enhanced-Safety Insurance Rule: No More $10K Threshold for These Categories | Amazon’s Direct Validation Program

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