All the Amazon news for October 2026

October is a busy month for sellers: deadlines are approaching, strategies are being updated, and the holiday season is just around the corner.

That is exactly why we wanted to take stock of all the latest Amazon news, recapping what has happened over the past few weeks that some sellers may have missed.

MCP, the universal connector for artificial intelligence

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open protocol that lets AI assistants connect to external tools and software. AWS documentation compares it to a universal connector and, in practice, the way it works is quite appealing. The assistant discovers which tools are available, asks to use them with specific parameters and receives the results. As a result, there is no need for custom-built integrations for every program.

 

Thanks in part to this versatility, the protocol is spreading very quickly. According to Forkast, for example, four major smart home platforms adopted it independently within six weeks, and one of them is Amazon’s Alexa+.

For those of our readers who sell online, the meaning of this innovation should certainly not be overlooked. AI assistants are moving from answering questions to taking actions: checking stock, reading a report, changing a price.

The fact that more tools speak the same language therefore means less work to get them talking to each other. Looking ahead, it means less copy-pasting between Seller Central, spreadsheets and management software, without having to install anything.

Of course, there is still a long way to go. But it is already worth deciding in advance what data you are willing to share with an assistant.

Seller Assistant comes to Claude

At Amazon Accelerate 2026, Amazon unveiled the Amazon Selling Partner plugin, which connects Seller Central data to Claude and Amazon Quick. From there you can check stock, change prices and edit listings without opening Seller Central. For now, every action requires specific approval before it is carried out.

 

The most interesting new feature, however, is persistent memory. The assistant remembers your pricing strategy, your inventory pace and your growth goals. So you don’t need to explain everything again at every session, which saves a good deal of time. At the moment, Amazon offers a few ready-made templates for account health, order summaries and price trends.

There is, however, an important caveat about availability. The plugin is already live in Quick, while on Claude it is in beta only for Amazon’s US stores. International expansion is planned for later, but for now no dates are available.

Amazon Logistics Export: more than 175 new destinations

Amazon has extended the Logistics Export Program to more than 175 new countries. In theory, millions more international shoppers will be able to find your products.

 

The update – applied to eligible profiles over 30 days (if you already use the program, the new destinations are activated automatically within 8 days) – is subject to a few exceptions.

In particular, if you have disabled certain destinations or products in the past, those choices remain in place. Deactivated countries appear in the list of restricted countries, which you can change whenever you like. If you don’t use the program, nothing changes in your account.

Precisely because activation is automatic, it is worth reviewing your export settings when you can. In particular, check whether your products have legal limits or certification requirements in any country, and also make sure that weight, dimensions and listing data are correct.

A product with wrong data, shipped far away, can cause problems that are much more expensive than one sent within your own country!

The quarter’s deadlines to mark on your calendar

Between now and the end of January there are a few dates worth marking on your calendar.

The first is October 14, the last day before the holiday peak fee. From October 15 to January 14, 2027, an extra charge applies on some marketplaces such as the United Kingdom and Germany. Check the exact amounts in Seller Central and include them in your profit calculation to avoid any mistakes in your margin estimates.

The most important date, though, is October 21 for the European Union and October 28 for the United Kingdom. This is the FBA inbound deadline for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and in practice also the preparation deadline for Christmas. On November 18 submissions close for Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotion deals, while December 22 and 23 are the last days to order with Prime delivery before Christmas. Finally, the extended returns window closes on January 31.

Also keep an eye on the windows for reimbursement claims, which send no reminders. In practice, inbound discrepancies can be reported for about five months. Warehouse loss and damage have 60 days. For returns and removals it ranges from 60 to 120 days, depending on the case.

ECGT Directive: new rules for product listings

Since September 27, 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825, also known as ECGT or EmpCo, has applied. Transposed in Italy by Legislative Decree 30/2026, it covers all business-to-consumer relationships, and therefore also anyone selling on Amazon.

The core of the measure is environmental claims. A generic claim is now considered misleading if you cannot prove the environmental excellence it promises. Expressions such as eco-friendly, green or sustainable should therefore be considered risky if solid evidence is lacking.

In short, it is better to say what the product really does, in a specific and verifiable way, and the same applies to sustainability logos, which must come from real certifications.

As far as the Italian market alone is concerned, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy has published FAQs, updated on October 1, which clarify, for example, that a term such as nature or green in a brand name is not necessarily prohibited: what matters is how the average consumer interprets it, assessed on a case-by-case basis.

In any case, there is good news for those who already have stock in the warehouse. Products manufactured or packaged before September 27 can continue to be sold as they are, although you must always inform customers correctly.

Our advice is therefore to reread titles, bullet points, descriptions and images, and to gather documentary evidence for every claim in your communications.

Dangerous goods: new questions from October 26

From October 26, 2026, Amazon is introducing new compliance questions for four product categories:

• refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners, with questions about the refrigerant gas;
• shock absorbers and suspension lift kits, with questions about the absorption mechanism;
• markers and writing instruments, with questions about ink properties;
• pool and spa products, with questions about chemical composition and packaging.

According to Amazon, the goal is to better identify dangerous goods and, as a result, to enable more shipping methods and reduce unnecessary costs and disposal fees.

 

So what should sellers do to get ready? For existing offers, nothing before October 26. The questions only appear at the next edit. And that is where the risk lies in the last quarter of the year, because even a minor change, such as editing a title or a bullet point, will bring up the questionnaire.

If you have products in these categories, avoid editing them at the last minute. Incomplete answers, or answers that don’t match your documents, can slow down publication or even lead to the offer being blocked or to delays on FBA shipments.

That is why it is always a good idea to:

1. prepare the documentation in good time
2. list the ASINs involved
3. gather the safety data sheets and packaging data
4. check that the documents match the listing data.

As we have seen, October brings very different kinds of news, but with a common thread we come back to in practically every newsletter: only those who prepare in advance will face fewer surprises.