Seller Updates: Variation & FBA Liquidation Changes + Trademark Compliance Tips

Top Seller News This Week 

This week’s Amazon seller updates roundup includes key changes on listing management, trademark compliance, and the growing role of AI in retail.

• Update to variation theme removal: Amazon is removing unused variation themes with no sales in the past 12 months. Core themes like size, color, and style aren’t affected. If you need to update child ASINs tied to deprecated themes, you’ll need to migrate to available alternatives.
• Protecting Account Health from trademark violations: Amazon issued new guidance for listing compatible products without trademark violations, outlining proper formatting for titles and branded terms. Sellers report frustration over uneven enforcement, with competitors using AI and misleading packaging to bypass rules while risking account health issues.
• Enrollment Changes for FBA Liquidations and Donations: Amazon is updating FBA Liquidations and Donations programs in the US and Canada. FBA Liquidations becomes the default (with opt-out available), while FBA Donations becomes mandatory with no opt-out option. Fees remain unchanged, and both programs support sustainability by reducing waste.

Read the full article to see how these updates impact your business today.

Amazon Clarifies Variation Theme Cleanup

Amazon has issued a follow-up clarification on its planned removal of irrelevant or redundant variation themes, after widespread seller confusion following its August 20 announcement.

While the retailer originally stated that many Amazon variation themes would be deprecated, sellers were left wondering what this meant for their existing listings and whether they risked losing active child ASINs.

What’s Changing

• Variation Theme Removal Timeline: Starting September 2, 2025, Amazon will begin removing certain low-use variation themes from product templates, with the process expected to finish by November 30, 2025.
• Criteria for Removal: Only variation themes that generated no sales in the past 12 months will be targeted for removal. Critical themes like size, color, and style will remain available for applicable product types.

Impact on Existing Listings

Per Amazon, existing variation families tied to a removed theme will continue to operate normally and child ASINs will remain active for customers.

However, sellers cannot make edits or add new child ASINs under deprecated themes. To make updates, sellers must migrate the variation family to an approved, active theme. If migration is required, child ASINs will remain intact during the process to avoid immediate sales disruption.

To navigate this change carefully:

• Review the updated list of Amazon variation themes scheduled for removal and plan migrations early rather than waiting until updates are needed.
• Consider using flat files cautiously (always keeping backups) and monitor account health closely if you need to delete or rebuild parent ASINs to avoid accidental variation abuse flags.
• Document your current ASIN structures so you can quickly rebuild listings if required.

Amazon’s cleanup effort may eventually streamline product listing, but in the short term, you should prepare for adjustments and take proactive steps to protect your listings and revenue streams.

Amazon Releases Trademark Guidelines to Boost IP Compliance

Amazon released a compatibility guideline to protect trademark owners, prevent counterfeit sales, and safeguard account health for sellers. This update aims to strengthen brand integrity across the marketplace, but they also introduce certain listing requirements that sellers must understand, or risk suspension.

Why Trademark Compliance Matters

A trademark is more than just a logo or name. It’s a legal signal of authenticity and source. On Amazon, misuse of a trademark (e.g., suggesting a product is made by or officially endorsed by another brand), even unintentionally, can result in listings being removed, account health hits, or full account suspension.

To address this, Amazon has clarified how sellers should list compatible or generic products without infringing on trademark rights:

• Branded compatibility products: [Your Brand] + [Product Name] + “compatible with”/“fits”/“intended for” + [Trademarked Brand].
  • Example: TechEase Wireless Mouse compatible with MacBook Pro
• Generic compatibility products: “Generic” + [Product Name] + “compatible with”/“fits”/“intended for” + [Trademarked Brand].
  • Example: Generic Ink Cartridge for HP Envy 6055e Printer

Sellers can use trademarked names like “HP” or “Apple” in product detail pages when indicating compatibility, but they cannot use logos or suggest affiliation with the trademark owner unless authorized. 

If your listing is flagged for a trademark violation related to compatibility wording, you can fix it by navigating to Manage All Inventory and updating the title or details so they meet Amazon’s guidelines. After making the correction, the listing is typically restored within eight hours, and the violation will be cleared from your Account Health dashboard.

Amazon Updates FBA Liquidations and Donations

Amazon is changing how FBA handles unsold inventory, streamlining sustainability efforts but forcing sellers to weigh convenience against losing control over recovery.

FBA Liquidations Program Becomes the Default

Starting September 30, 2025, Amazon unsold inventory in the US and Canada will automatically be enrolled in the FBA Liquidations program. Sellers can still opt out, but need to proactively update their automated fulfillable settings and automated unfulfillable settings.

Sellers who don’t opt out effectively hand over control to Amazon, which decides how and where goods are liquidated. While this reduces the burden of recovery, it could also mean branded products surface in discount channels sellers cannot monitor or influence.

Donations Become Mandatory

At the same time, the FBA Donations program will become mandatory. Eligible items will be donated to charitable organizations, with sellers no longer able to opt out.

Sellers may benefit from Amazon’s sustainability goals and potentially positive brand optics, but they lose choice over whether inventory is recycled, disposed of, or donated on their terms. The pros? It’s a quick and simple way to dispose of low-cost or unsalvageable products and puts an immediate stop on storage fees. The cons? No recovery value and permanent loss of inventory.

Amazon positions these programs as a win for sustainability, meaning extending product lifecycles, helping reduce landfill waste, and ensuring unused goods find new homes. But for sellers, the change is also about navigating convenience versus control.

Alternative Inventory Recovery Option

If opting for removals (ship back to seller), know that it also comes with a couple of trade-offs that affect costs, recovery value, and brand control.

Pros:

• Avoid excess storage fees such as overage fees and aged inventory surcharge.
• Resell on another channel (Amazon after 90 days, or elsewhere).
• Full control over how goods are repurposed.

Cons:

• Higher costs (shipping, labor, and processing).
• Requires storage space and handling capacity.

Best For: High-value products, items with strong resale potential outside Amazon.

In practice, these changes make Amazon’s system more hands-off for sellers, but also reduce flexibility in how inventory is managed. For some, that’s a welcome relief; for others, especially brand-sensitive sellers, it may mean tighter oversight is needed.

Other Seller Updates This Week

1. Boost Labor Day Sales with Outlet deals (August 22 to September 1)

Excess inventory discounted 15%+ will qualify for Amazon’s Outlet landing page during the Labor Day event. Amazon is driving shoppers there through mobile push notifications and email campaigns, making this a prime opportunity to clear stock and increase visibility.

2. Amazon Meltable Inventory Shipments Re-open September 22

Amazon is lifting restrictions on heat-sensitive products like chocolate, gummies, and wax-based items. You can start sending meltables to FBA on September 22, with customer orders resuming October 13, perfect timing for seasonal sales.

3. Get paid in Korean won (KRW)

Sellers in Korea can now receive payouts directly in KRW to their local bank accounts via Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers. This streamlines transfers, eliminates third-party services, and speeds up cash flow.

4. AI Adoption and Hyper-Personalization in Retail

A new Honeywell study shows 85% of global retailers are already using AI, focusing on personalized experiences and smarter inventory management. Despite high adoption, challenges around compliance and security remain. Sellers should watch these trends as they shape future ecommerce expectations

5. Walmart Supplier API update (August 2025)

Walmart’s new 1P Supplier feed files include updated product types, attributes, and values to improve listing quality and drive conversions. The updates are available now in the Item Management API Schema. Check the Items and Feeds guides to optimize your catalog.