New Amazon Promotional Fee Structure 2025: Coupons, Best Deals & More

Amazon’s marketplace is a dynamic environment, constantly evolving and presenting new challenges and opportunities for brands. One significant change on the horizon is Amazon’s new promotional fee structure set to take effect on June 2, 2025. This isn’t just a minor adjustment; it fundamentally alters how promotions are priced, how brands need to approach their promotional strategy, and what maximizing profitability on Amazon’s marketplace will look like during tentpole events like Prime Day in 2025 and beyond.

Brief Overview

The new 2025 promotional fee changes will impact all sellers on Amazon’s marketplace, regardless of their fulfillment method. This includes both Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) sellers and Vendor Central brands.

The new Amazon fee structure applies to promotional tools like Lightning Deals, Best Deals, Coupons, and Prime Exclusive Discounts, during both peak and non-peak times, marking an essential shift for sellers to reassess their promotional strategies and effective cost management.

New Promotion Structure in Amazon: Performance-Based Fees

Historically, running promotions in Amazon, like Best Deals and Lightning Deals, involved significant fixed upfront fees. While coupons had a fee per unit sold, the core promotional structure was primarily based on a flat rate.

Effective June 2, 2025, Amazon is transitioning to a performance-based fee structure for promotions ran by sellers on its marketplace. Amazon’s stated goal is to align fees better with businesses, making it easier to test strategies and link fees to sales performance.

New Amazon Best Deals and Lightning Deals Fee Structure

The upfront fees for the high-visibility placements of Best Deals and Lightning Deals will be significantly reduced. Instead of $300 per Best Deal and $150 per Lightning Deal, there will now be a reduced upfront fee of $70 each per day. In addition to this daily fee, a variable fee of 1% of deal sales will also apply, capped at $2,000 per deal. This means if a deal performs well and drives high sales, the total fee will be much higher due to the variable component, up to the cap.

How Do the New Amazon Coupon Fees Work?

The Amazon coupon fee structure will change from $0.60 per unit sold to an upfront fee of $5 per coupon plus 2.5% of coupon sales. Amazon has indicated that for most products, this change should result in lower coupon fees per unit sold. For products under $24, it will be a lower coupon fee, but more expensive for products over $24.

Fee Structure for Promotions on Amazon Prime Day

It’s important to note that fees for peak events like Prime Day, Prime Big Deal Days, and Black Friday/Cyber Monday will also change slightly and are currently fixed:

• Prime Exclusive Discounts (PEDs) fees for Prime Day 2025 will increase from $50 to $100 per discount, reflecting the larger scale and merchandising impact of the event.
• Coupons during peak events will follow the same, new non-peak fee structure ($5 plus 2.5% of sales).
• Best Deals will maintain their 2024 fixed fees of $1000
• Lightning Deals will maintain their 2024 fixed fees of $500

Amazon is also introducing more flexibility in deal duration for Best Deals on non-peak days, allowing you to run them for 1 to 14 days, aligning better with consumer trends and objectives. However, during peak events, deal dates and durations will remain fixed.

How Amazon Marketplace Sellers are Impacted by Promotional Fees

Performance-Based: Higher Sales = Higher Fees

Amazon states these changes are designed to make it easier for its marketplace sellers to test strategies, lower upfront costs, and link fees to performance. It’s true that by lowering the initial hurdle ($70/day vs $300/$150 fixed), brands might be more inclined to experiment with deals. However, the shift to performance-based fees means that higher sales generated by a promotion in Amazon will also now directly correlate to higher fees (up to a cap for deals).

The Challenge of Amazon Marketplace Seller Profitability

For brands selling on Amazon’s marketplace, this promotional fee change is significant. While Amazon frames it as aligning fees with performance, many sellers are finding that this new model may make Amazon a less profitable sales channel for them. Plus, with pressure from tariffs already concerning many Amazon marketplace sellers, the question of maintaining profitability has managed to become even more crucial.

How Product Profitability is Impacted by Amazon’s New Promotional Fees

Amazon’s new promotional fee structure puts an emphasis on the importance of considering promotional fees when planning deals, especially for items with different price points and sales volumes. Products with a high sales volume or higher price point that used to perform exceptionally well on a deal may now incur substantially higher total fees compared to the old fixed rate. This is a major point of concern for brands who rely on promotions, especially Best Deals and Lightning Deals, for crucial visibility and sales velocity.

Maximize Marketplace Profits: Amazon Profitability Analysis

To help brands maximize profitability during platform changes such as these promotional fees, we offer Amazon sellers a comprehensive profitability analysis to evaluate potential fee implications based on historical sales data and price points. We can help your brand forecast impact and make informed decisions about which products and promotion types make the most sense for your brand under the new fee structure. Get a profitability analysis now to maximize your marketplace investment.

3 Ways Amazon Marketplace Sellers Should Approach Promotions

This new fee structure demands a more nuanced and strategic approach to promotional planning. Here are 3 areas to focus on to ensure your promotional investment is profitable:

1. Strategic Promotional Product Selection

You need to be confident in the products you select for deals and coupons and their sales potential. To select wisely, start by evaluating which ASINs historically perform best – then analyze how the new fee structure would apply to their typical sales velocity during a promotion. Consider the potential ROI carefully. Explore our promotions & deal planning capabilities further and reach out to our team of Amazon experts for additional help.

2. Prioritize Amazon Advertising

With higher fees cutting into margins, it becomes even more critical to maximize the efficiency of your marketplace spend. As certain deal types may become less valuable for you, prioritize investing in Amazon advertising instead. Leverage Amazon Ads, including Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, and DSP, to drive traffic and conversions for your deal ASINs. Explore our Prime Day Marketing webinar for deeper Amazon advertising insights.

3. Prepare for Peak Events, Like Amazon Prime Day, Now (Not Later!)

Amazon marketplace’s new fee change underscores the need for meticulous planning for peak events. Prime Day 2025 will be an extended four-day event, offering increased opportunity but also requiring specific strategies. Your Prime Day strategy needs to be locked in sooner rather than later with many deadlines fast approaching (deal scheduling for Lightning Deals and Best Deals closes on May 23, 2025).

The new peak-event fees could make it cheaper for promotions that don’t see significant success, but the additional percent of sales is on top of funding for the discount itself and represents another contributor for margin erosion for brands on Amazon’s marketplace.

Build momentum early with Amazon advertising campaigns and optimize product detail page content before Prime Day to capitalize on the increased traffic. Ensure you are using high-quality, up-to-date product images and copy, including A+ Content, which significantly impact conversion rates and can help differentiate your products from competitors.

Key Takeaways: Amazon Promotional Fees

• Amazon’s new fee structure takes effect June 2, 2025, shifting from fixed to performance-based pricing.
• Lightning Deals and Best Deals for Prime Day 2025 will maintain 2024’s fixed fees but Prime Exclusive Deal fees will increase.
• Comprehensive profitability analyses are a tool to leverage before committing to future promotional strategies.
• Optimizing both Amazon content and advertising becomes even more critical under the new fee structure.

Maximizing Amazon Profit During Promotional Fee Changes

Anyone who has been active in this space understands that Amazon’s marketplace is in constant motion. Adapting to changes is not optional but essential for long-term success and growth on Amazon’s marketplace. Staying ahead requires continuous adaptation and a deep understanding of the platform’s shifts.

At Brandwoven, we invest in the growth of dynamic brands like yours by providing tailored consulting and management solutions. We embrace change and develop uniquely adaptive strategies designed to optimize your presence and performance. This fee update is a prime example of a complex shift where our expertise can make a measurable impact for brands like yours. We can help you navigate this new landscape by:

• Providing actionable insights
• Conducting profitability analyses
• Refining your promotional product calendar
• Developing a robust strategy for Prime Day

Unlock your product’s true potential and drive growth in this ever-changing environment. Let us take control of your Amazon promotional strategy before Prime Day 2025. Our marketplace specialists can assess your brand to recommend tactical actions specific to your product catalog and promotional goals. Reach out to our team to secure your slot today!