On March 1, 2026, Amazon will officially discontinue its long-standing inventory commingling ("co-mingling") feature and implement significant changes to manufacturer barcode eligibility criteria. This transformative move signals a fundamental shift in Amazon's policy direction regarding inventory management and seller accountability, with far-reaching implications for different types of sellers' operational models and cost structures.
I. The End of Commingling: Closing an Era of Efficiency and Risk
Inventory commingling, Amazon's warehouse mechanism designed to improve logistics efficiency, allowed products with identical UPC/EAN barcodes from different sellers to share inventory pools when using manufacturer barcodes. Under this system, Amazon's logistics network would ship from the warehouse closest to the buyer, even if the inventory belonged to another seller, thereby reducing delivery times.
Example: If Seller A stocked a product in Washington while Seller B stocked the identical product in Los Angeles, an order from Seller A to a Los Angeles buyer might be fulfilled from Seller B's inventory for faster delivery.
However, commingling introduced several significant drawbacks:
- Quality control risks: Product quality variations between sellers could contaminate the entire inventory pool. Sellers focusing on quality might receive negative reviews due to inferior products from other sellers in the shared pool.
- Financial discrepancies: When Seller A's order shipped from Seller B's inventory, while revenue went to Seller A, inventory ownership transferred to Seller B, creating accounting complexities and potential disputes.
The elimination of commingling represents Amazon's "physical segregation" strategy to ensure inventory accountability and prevent quality issues from affecting unrelated sellers. This change also removes sellers' ability to reduce costs by leveraging others' inventory.
II. Impact on Different Seller Types: Divergent Outcomes
The policy change will affect various seller types differently:
- Brand owners: Sellers enrolled in Amazon's Brand Registry program will benefit from complete protection against inventory contamination, eliminating risks from inferior products sold by others under the same listing.
- Resellers: Sellers relying on arbitrage or listing piggybacking will face increased operational costs and higher barriers to entry, as they can no longer leverage shared inventory pools.
III. Core Components of Amazon's 2026 Labeling Policy
With commingling discontinued, Amazon will determine inventory ownership primarily through product labeling, with different requirements based on seller type:
- Brand owners: Sellers enrolled in Brand Registry may continue using manufacturer barcodes (UPC/EAN) without requiring additional FNSKU labels.
- Resellers: All resellers must apply Amazon FNSKU labels to every unit, regardless of existing manufacturer barcodes.
- All sellers: Products lacking manufacturer barcodes require FNSKU labels regardless of seller type.
Important deadlines:
- After March 31, 2026, non-brand owners shipping products without Amazon barcodes will have inventory rejected as non-compliant.
- Existing commingled inventory before March 31, 2026 may be sold without relabeling, but all replenishments must comply with new labeling requirements.
IV. Strategic Recommendations for Sellers
Sellers should implement these strategies to adapt to the new environment:
- Complete brand registration: Unregistered sellers should pursue Brand Registry enrollment to qualify for label exemptions and brand protection benefits.
- Adjust labeling processes: Brand owners should coordinate labeling with suppliers, while resellers must establish reliable labeling solutions through certified printers or third-party services.
- Optimize inventory planning: Sellers should liquidate existing commingled stock and transition to market-specific inventory allocation. Fast-moving items may benefit from FBA, while slow-moving products could utilize third-party warehouses.
- Diversify logistics channels: Implementing multi-channel fulfillment through overseas warehouses can mitigate platform dependence and improve returns processing.
V. Conclusion
Amazon's policy changes represent a significant step toward brand accountability and supply chain transparency. While operational costs may increase temporarily, compliant sellers will benefit from a more equitable marketplace. Both brand owners and resellers must proactively adapt their strategies to maintain sustainable operations under the new framework.