What Is Amazon’s FBA New Selection Program?

Amazon in January 2021 launched the FBA New Selection Program.

What exactly is this new program? Will it help you get around ASIN limits and reduce fees? Should you enroll in the FBA New Selection program or give it a pass? I'll give you the full details (without the Amazon marketing fluff) here.

What is the FBA New Selection Program?

The FBA New Selection Program is basically a no-risk program from Amazon to try and encourage sellers to send in new products and/or to encourage new sellers to become sellers on Amazon.

If your item is new to Amazon it will get the following benefits:

• Free monthly storage fees up to 50 units for 90 days
• Ability to remove any of the 50 units free of charge within 180 days
• Free returns processing for products in these categories: Apparel; Shoes, Handbags & Accessories; Jewelry; Luggage; and Watches

Basically, you're getting free storage for your products for up to 90 days. Realistically, the dollar benefits of the FBA New Selection program per SKU are probably well below $100 per item, but hey, it's better than nothing.

If you're a new seller, you'll also get up to $100 in free partner carrier shipping credits (to send your stuff into Amazon).

What Products are Eligible for the FBA New Selection Program?

There's a few catches to what products are eligible:

• New to FBA – This simply means you haven't sent inventory in the past. A merchant fulfilled item that you haven't ever sent into FBA would also be eligible.
• Small standard or large standard-size items. No oversized items, small and light items, etc.
• You must have an IPI score 400+

Is There Any Reason NOT to Enroll in the FBA New Selection Program?

There is no reason to not enroll in the FBA New Selection program (as far as I can tell). There are no fees to it and it doesn't create any other restrictions on your products (i.e., you DO NOT need to give Amazon exclusivity for these products).

Why is Amazon Implementing the FBA New Selection Program?

It's not entirely clear why Amazon is being so magnanimous and giving free benefits for new products. Possible reasons for Amazon's “generosity” are:

• They want to encourage new sellers to sign up for FBA.
• They want to encourage merchants using merchant-fulfilled shipping to send items into FBA.
• They want to eliminate the risk of inventory not moving for new products and ensure their product selection remains fresh.

How Do You Enroll in the FBA New Selection Program?

Enrollment is super easy. Just go to this Seller Central page and click enroll.

It may take up to 48 hours to get enrolled after you register.

Does the FBA New Selection Program Remove ASIN Limits?

When the FBA New Selection program was announced, a lot of people read the following line and got excited that ASIN limits would be removed for new items:

“Sellers enrolled in the program can use these benefits for up to 500 new ASINs per year. The 500-ASIN limit will be reset on January 1 every year.”

Read this carefully. The FBA New Selection program will not remove ASIN limits. The above verbiage simply means you are eligible to enroll 500 new products in the FBA New Selection program.

Conclusion

Amazon's FBA New Selection program is a risk-free program that you should definitely enroll in immediately. You may not have any products that are immediately eligible, but with no fees or other down-side, there's no reason to not enroll.