New Selection Program (2026): how it works and what changes for those launching new products on FBA

Amazon has announced a new version of the New Selection Program, effective from 30 July 2026, replacing the current version for all ASINs put up for sale after that date. If you regularly launch new private-label products through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), this is a program worth getting to know well, because it can genuinely cut the costs of a product’s first few months on the market:

• lower fees on the first sales

• free storage

• Vine credits and coupons,

• returns/liquidations at no extra cost.

Let’s look at who can join, what changes compared with the previous version and, above all, what you need to do if you’re already enrolled in the current program so you don’t lose the benefits.

What changes compared with the previous version

The new program still focuses solely on private-label products (ASINs without a brand are not eligible), but it introduces some substantial changes:

• The fee credits are no longer fixed, but tied to sales performance. The more units you sell in the initial window, the more the financial benefit grows.

• Completely new value-recovery benefits are added. Free liquidation and free processing of customer returns on the first units sold.

• Standard and non-standard items now share the same benefit thresholds, whereas the previous version drew a distinction between them.

If you already have ASINs enrolled in the current program, you don’t lose anything right away. They will keep receiving the benefits already accrued until their natural expiry. The change only affects ASINs you publish from scratch after 30 July 2026.

Who can join the program

To be eligible you must have, at the same time:

• An active Professional selling plan.

• An IPI score (Inventory Performance Index) of at least 300 over the last 6 months, if you have one assigned.

• Fulfillment by Amazon enabled on the ASINs you want to enroll.

At product level, the parent ASIN must be genuinely new to FBA: no Fulfillment by Amazon shipments in the last 12 months, whether from you or from anyone else selling on that same ASIN. Both standard-size and non-standard items are allowed; used items and some specific product categories are excluded, however: books, DVDs, music, software, computing/video games, video, consoles and video-game accessories, as well as ASINs managed through the Haul program.

We should also note that if you’re also eligible for New Seller Incentives (NSI), that program takes priority for the benefits common to both, such as Vine credits and coupons. The benefits exclusive to New Selection 2026 (free liquidation, free returns, storage-fee exemption) instead remain available right away, even while the NSI are still active. Only when the overlapping NSI benefits run out do those of the new program automatically take over.

How to enroll: three different scenarios

The enrollment procedure changes depending on your current situation:

1. You’re already enrolled in the existing New Selection program. You don’t need to do anything right away. From 30 July you will automatically receive the new program’s benefits on the new private-label ASINs published from that date onwards. Watch out, though, for an important deadline. To keep receiving these benefits beyond 31 October 2026, you will need to actively confirm your enrollment by accepting the updated terms. If you don’t do so by that date, the new ASINs published afterwards will no longer receive the benefits. Those already accrued on existing ASINs continue until their natural expiry.

2. You’re a new FBA seller. Enrollment kicks in automatically when your first Fulfillment by Amazon shipment of a private-label product is received at a fulfillment center. It must, however, happen within 90 days of the offer being published.

3. You already sell on FBA but aren’t enrolled in any version of the program. From 17 June 2026 you can enroll directly from the dedicated section in your seller account.

The benefits in detail

Let’s now recap what the main benefits are, in greater detail.

Fee discount on the first 200 units sold

This is the main benefit, and it applies within 120 days of the goods first arriving at an Amazon fulfillment center:

• On the first 100 units sold: referral fee reduced to 10% (or the standard one, if already lower).

• On the next 100 units: referral fee reduced to 5% (or the standard one, if already lower).

The credit is applied at the time of sale directly on the referral-fee and fulfillment transactions of the same order. The pool of eligible units for each tier is visible in advance, once the eligibility criteria are met.

Promotional credits for Vine and coupons

Usable within the first 60 days of publishing a buyable offer:

• €70 credit to enroll in the intermediate tier of the Vine program (3 to 10 units per parent ASIN), useful for gathering the first verified reviews.

• €45 credit applicable to the variable fees of coupons.

Storage benefits in the first 120 days

Again within 120 days of the first arrival at a fulfillment center, and again limited to the first 200 units:

• Free storage.

• No surcharge for storage usage.

• No low-inventory-level fee.

Value-recovery benefits

This is what’s new in this version. Again on the first 200 units of a parent ASIN new to FBA, within 120 days of the first arrival:

• Free processing of customer returns.

• Free liquidation.

If your ASIN is also enrolled in the Vine pre-launch service, the time windows are extended by 45 days.

A handy detail for those selling across several European marketplaces

Eligibility for the program is regional and independent between the United Kingdom and the EU area (Germany, France, Italy, Spain treated as a single area). In practice:

• If you launch a new private-label ASIN first in the UK and then the same product in Germany (or in another EU country), you can qualify separately for the benefits in both regions.

• If instead you launch the same ASIN in several EU countries (e.g. Italy first, then France), the EU area counts as a single region. So you don’t get a second eligibility.

For anyone planning a multi-market launch, this means it’s worth structuring the launch sequence (UK vs EU area) with this aspect in mind too, not just local demand.

Conclusions

All that’s left is to draw a few takeaways that we hope will be useful to all our readers:

• If you’re already enrolled in the current program. Mark 31 October 2026 in your calendar as the deadline to confirm enrollment in the new program. It’s an active step, not an automatic one beyond that date.

• If you’re about to launch a new private-label product on FBA. Check with Amazon’s product-research tool that the parent ASIN really is “new to FBA” (no shipments in the last 12 months). That condition is indeed necessary for eligibility.

• If you also sell in other European marketplaces. Consider the launch sequence bearing in mind the separation between the UK area and the EU area for the purposes of program eligibility.

• If you’re also eligible for the NSI. Don’t expect double Vine credits or coupons; instead, monitor from the start the exclusive benefits (storage, returns, liquidation), which start in parallel anyway.

In short, it’s worth planning your next launches with these time windows in mind, rather than discovering them once enrollment is already underway!