On August 1, 2026, Amazon’s new advertising fee deduction rule will officially take effect.

From the backend notification in April, to the delayed implementation after collective seller protests, and now the firm mandatory date, the nearly four-month buffer period is about to expire, and sellers' anxiety is spreading:

“This will further squeeze cash flow.”

“This will drive up PPC ad bids and intensify competition.”

There is also another opinion: one seller noted, “Deducting from the balance is good—the credit card repayment exchange rate is high anyway.”

The new rule stipulates that starting August 1, 2026, sellers will have two options for paying advertising fees: automatic deduction from the available balance of their seller account or vendor account, or payment by invoice.

Advertising fees will no longer be charged to credit cards first

Under the old rules, the vast majority of sellers used credit cards to pay for advertising. Amazon accumulated charges monthly and deducted them from the card the following month. Banks offered an interest-free period of about 30 days, and combined with the store’s payment cycle of typically 14 to 30 days, sellers effectively had an interest-free funding window of 45 to 60 days.

This interest-free funding was a huge help for many sellers. For a seller spending $50,000 a month on ads, it meant having a revolving fund of $75,000 to $100,000 on the books, which could be used to stock inventory, expand product lines, and handle peak-season cash flow—at zero cost.

However, the new advertising fee deduction rule is about to take effect.

Starting August 1, ad spend will first be deducted directly from the available balance in the seller account—this is the platform’s default setting. If you do not manually choose another option before the deadline, the system will automatically switch your payment method to balance deduction. Your existing credit card will not be removed but will serve as a backup; if the balance is insufficient, the platform will automatically charge the backup card to ensure ads are not interrupted.

Of course, sellers can also apply for invoice-based payment, where the platform issues a bill at the end of each month and the seller pays within 30 days. However, this option is not available to all sellers; you need to check your eligibility in the billing section of the advertising platform and complete the setup in advance.

An internal survey by the Million Dollar Sellers community showed that 80% of sellers with annual revenue over $1 million believe this policy will reduce their available cash by more than 25%.

For small and medium-sized sellers spending around $20,000 a month on ads, this means needing an extra $30,000 to $40,000 in working capital to maintain their existing advertising pace. For large sellers spending over $100,000 a month, the additional capital requirement is about $150,000 to $200,000—though they typically have more mature financing channels, thicker profit margins, and stronger bargaining power on supply chain payment terms.

Sellers: The new rule may not be a bad thing

After the new rule, ad spending shifts from “spending future money” to “spending money that can be withdrawn from your account right now.”

Sellers who have long relied on credit card payment cycles to sustain their ad budgets may have to scale back. Meanwhile, sellers with ample cash flow can seize the opportunity when competitors tighten ad budgets and secure previously expensive ad placements at lower bids.

Other sellers point out that this Amazon policy has more than one advantage. They note that while some sellers only see the 30- to 45-day interest-free extension from credit card repayment, the drawbacks of credit card deductions far outweigh those of balance deduction:

1. Higher withdrawal fees.
2. The credit card exchange rate is much higher than the actual exchange rate and may affect annual personal foreign exchange quotas.
3. Under current tax compliance requirements, higher actual receipts without an official advertising invoice increase the risk of triggering tax alerts.

This seller stated: “Essentially, these are account deduction expenses that should logically be deducted from the sales balance—there’s nothing wrong with that at all.”

Fortunately, Amazon clearly understands how deep this cut is. Its compensation plan: starting August 1, for five consecutive months, each advertiser will receive $2,500 in ad click credits per month, totaling up to $12,500.

How to claim: Seller Central > Advertising > Billing > Billing Preferences > Select ‘Deduct from Proceeds’ > Confirm your active enrollment. However, this subsidy comes with restrictions:

1. Only accounts that actively enroll are eligible; sellers switched automatically by the system after August 1 receive no subsidy, and retroactive issuance is not supported.

2. All advertisers can claim it regardless of ad spend volume, but the scope, specific deduction rules, and applicable scenarios are subject to the official description in the backend Billing Promotion section.

3. This is a short-term transition benefit, not a permanent entitlement; it automatically ends after the five-month subsidy period.

4. Credits will be deposited automatically within 5–7 business days after enrollment; the vouchers are valid for 60 days and will expire if unused.

After August 1, the real test of sellers’ operational strength is just beginning.