Beginning June 29, 2025, Amazon is implementing various changes to the Seller Fulfilled Prime trial and performance metrics. Here is a general breakdown of the changes sellers can expect:
Trial Period Rules
What’s New: FBM sellers will have a maximum of 3 trial attempts per calendar year. Attempts made before June 29, 2025 will not count towards this limit.
FBM Seller Actions: Plan trials carefully as each failure now costs 1 of only 3 annual slots. Audit pre-qualification metrics before starting (eg: 30-day trial still requires at least 100 shipments sent within the last 90 days). Explore all SFP qualification metrics below in the section titled “Seller Fulfilled Prime Requirements.”
Trial Graduation Freeze
What’s New: No accounts can graduate from the SFP trial during Amazon-defined “restricted graduation periods” (i.e. weeks leading into high-volume events like Prime Day).
First announced window:
- Black Friday through Christmas 2025
- Restricted graduation starts October 19, 2025
- Latest trial start to avoid the freeze is September 15, 2025
FBM Seller Actions: To ensure a Prime badge is live on your FBM products during holiday 2025, start your trial on or before September 15, 2025.
Minimum Shipment Cadence
What’s New: FBM sellers enrolled in the program must ship at least 100 SFP packages per month and spread them throughout the month. Falling short of this will trigger an automatic cap on daily Prime orders until you restore the 100-package cadence.
FBM Seller Actions: Review the last 90 days of your SFP orders. If you’re under 100/month, scale volume utilizing tools like advertising campaigns or catalog optimizations. Another option, if unable to scale volume, is to switch SKUs back to FBA to avoid the cap and ensure Prime shoppers are still able to shop your products.
Performance Exemption Week
What’s New: After a second performance miss, if you keep Prime offers disabled, Amazon will grant a revocation exemption for that metric during the same week. Once you re-enable Prime, you’ll be evaluated for the entire week you re-enable.
FBM Seller Actions: When you receive a second notice, leave Prime off (until the next week) unless you’ve been able to identify and fix the root cause. Continue to track all SFP metrics weekly via the dashboard (see example of the SFP dashboard below in the section titled “Seller Fulfilled Prime Requirements”).
Misclassification Enforcement
What’s New: Amazon will pause or revoke Prime if you intentionally list products in the wrong size tier.
FBM Seller Actions: Audit item dimensions and weights to correct any mis-tiered SKUs.
On-Time Delivery Rate Protection
What’s New: Late deliveries won’t hurt your On-Time Delivery Rate (OTDR) if you:
- Enable Shipping Settings Automation (SSA) on your Prime shipping templates
- Buy labels flagged “OTDR Protected” (via Amazon Buy Shipping) and ship packages out on time.
FBM Seller Actions: Toggle SSA “on” within your shipping settings (Prime template) and route SFP orders through Amazon Buy Shipping whenever possible.
Appeal Process
What’s New: Sellers now have 14 days to open an appeal and 4 days to answer any Amazon follow-ups. There is a maximum 3 appeals allowed per quarter (overturned appeals don’t count towards this limit).
FBM Seller Actions: If you plan to appeal, gather evidence fast (eg: order IDs, tracking, date range, zip codes, and proof like weather circumstances).
Key Actions for SFP Brands in 2025
- Count your SFP packages now. If you’re under 100/month, make a plan to increase volume before June 29.
- Decide when to launch or relaunch a trial. For example, schedule around the September 15 cut-off date if you want a Prime badge live during Q4.
- Turn on SSA & use Amazon Buy Shipping to gain automatic OTDR protection.
- Audit product dimensions & weights to avoid misclassification penalties.
- Set calendar reminders for upcoming deadlines: New changes in effect on June 29, restricted graduation period begins October 19, etc.
- Partner with your operations team on the new exemption week and appeal timelines.
Read Amazon’s entire breakdown of the new SFP changes here.
