Amazon’s New Seller Agreement Could Disrupt Financing Structures Tied to Amazon Payouts
Amazon’s updated Business Solutions Agreement takes effect August 24 and explicitly prohibits sellers from transferring or pledging their rights or obligations under the agreement.
The important change for operators is the addition of pledging. Sellers using financing structures where a lender has a security interest in future Amazon disbursements should determine whether those arrangements conflict with the updated agreement before the effective date. Amazon’s official agreement update confirms the new language and August 24 implementation.
What Changed: Facts Only
Effective August 24, Amazon’s agreement states that sellers may not assign or pledge all or part of their rights or obligations under the Business Solutions Agreement.
The prior agreement already restricted transferring the agreement without Amazon’s consent.
The updated language reaches individual rights and obligations under the agreement and separately identifies pledging as prohibited.
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
This potentially reaches deeper than a normal Seller Central policy update because financing is part of how many brands fund inventory growth.
Revenue-based financing and some merchant cash advance structures rely on future marketplace revenue or receivables as security.
A seller may think of that as a financing agreement between the brand and its lender. Amazon is now making clear that contractual rights arising from the seller agreement cannot simply be pledged to a third party.
Heading into Q4, that matters for brands financing large inventory purchases against expected Amazon cash flow.
What This Means for Ecommerce Sellers
The biggest exposure is likely among sellers with:
Revenue-based financing
Merchant cash advances
Facilities secured specifically by Amazon disbursements
Amazon business acquisitions still using legacy ownership structures
Agreements that give a third party direct rights to marketplace proceeds
This does not mean sellers cannot borrow money. The question is how the collateral and repayment rights are structured.
What Is Not Changing
Traditional financing is not automatically prohibited.
The restriction concerns transferring or pledging rights and obligations under Amazon’s agreement. Sellers should not assume every bank loan, line of credit, or general business security interest violates the BSA.
What to Do Now
Immediate operational check
Review active financing agreements before August 24.
If Amazon payouts or rights to future Amazon revenue are specifically pledged as collateral, have the structure reviewed by your lender and qualified legal counsel.
Do not wait until Q4 inventory has already been financed.
Bigger Picture Signal
Amazon is tightening control over the financial infrastructure surrounding marketplace businesses.
The seller relationship is increasingly about more than listings and account health. Amazon is also defining who can have economic rights connected to the account.
Source: Changes to the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement
Sponsored Products Are Moving Into Creator Content Without Advertisers Building New Campaigns
Amazon is expanding Sponsored Products beyond traditional publisher websites and apps into content created by members of the Amazon Influencer Program.
Existing campaign bids, targeting, and budgets carry into these off-Amazon placements. That means a campaign originally built around high-intent Amazon shopping traffic can now spend against a very different discovery environment without the advertiser creating a separate campaign.
What Changed: Facts Only
Amazon’s current documentation says Sponsored Products can appear across premium sites, apps, and creators outside Amazon.
PPC Land reports that creator placements begin August 10 and that existing campaigns participate using their current bids and budgets.
Advertisers can choose between Amazon’s default Increase reach setting and Limit off-Amazon spend.
Standard maximum bids apply to off-Amazon clicks.
Top of Search and Product Page bid adjustments do not apply to off-Amazon inventory, while dynamic bidding strategies continue to apply.
When an off-Amazon placement has no traditional search query, Amazon generates an inferred search term representing the context associated with the placement. Those terms can appear in reporting and qualify for negative targeting.
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
Amazon is mixing two different customer behaviors inside the same Sponsored Products campaign.
A shopper typing a product keyword into Amazon has clear purchase intent.
Someone encountering a product inside creator content may be discovering it for the first time.
Those clicks can behave very differently, yet both can consume the same campaign budget.
That means last week’s bid structure may produce a different traffic mix even if nobody touched the campaign.
What This Means for Ecommerce Sellers
Watch:
Placement-level spend
Off-Amazon CPC
Conversion rate
ACOS and ROAS
Inferred search terms
Which ASINs perform well in creator environments
Creator traffic may work extremely well for products that are visual, demonstrable, aspirational, or easy to understand through lifestyle content.
It may be less efficient for highly technical or high-intent commodity searches.
What Is Not Changing
Advertisers still control maximum bids and campaign budgets.
Amazon also provides an off-Amazon spend setting and reporting to distinguish these placements.
Top of Search modifiers are not suddenly being applied to creator traffic.
What to Do Now
Immediate operational check
Pull the Sponsored Products Placement Report and establish a baseline for off-Amazon performance.
Review it again as creator traffic begins flowing.
Do not judge these placements by impression growth alone. Separate discovery traffic from traditional search performance and watch conversion quality.
Bigger Picture Signal
Amazon is turning Sponsored Products into more than a search advertising format.
It increasingly wants one campaign to follow the shopper from discovery through purchase, including experiences that look much more like social commerce.
Sources: Amazon Sponsored Products Campaigns Gain Creator Placements – Understand Sponsored Products Off-Amazon Advertising
Walmart Connect Is Making Streaming TV Advertising More Accessible to Marketplace Sellers
Walmart completed its acquisition of Vibe.co, bringing a self-service connected TV platform into Walmart Connect.
The strategic value is straightforward. Walmart wants more brands, including smaller and mid-market advertisers, to buy streaming TV while connecting that spend back to Walmart shopper data and sales outcomes. (Walmart News & Leadership)
What Changed: Facts Only
Vibe.co is now part of Walmart.
Walmart says the acquisition will expand how advertisers plan, buy, and measure streaming TV advertising through Walmart Connect.
Vibe.co has served more than 10,000 advertisers and was built around self-service campaign management, flexible budgets, AI optimization, and measurement. (Walmart News & Leadership)
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
Connected TV has historically felt like an enterprise channel.
Walmart is trying to remove that barrier.
If Vibe’s self-service model is integrated successfully, brands that already understand Sponsored Search and onsite retail media may gain a simpler path into upper-funnel TV without building a traditional media-buying operation.
The value gets stronger if Walmart can tie CTV exposure back to real purchase behavior.
What Is Not Changing
Walmart has not announced that every Vibe feature is immediately available inside Walmart Connect.
The acquisition has closed, but product integration will continue over time. (Walmart News & Leadership)
What to Do Now
No action required, monitor only
Brands already spending meaningfully on Walmart should watch for self-service CTV access, audience integrations, minimum budgets, and closed-loop measurement capabilities.
Do not move budget until the actual product and reporting terms are clear.
Bigger Picture Signal
Walmart Connect is moving beyond sponsored listings.
Walmart increasingly wants to compete for the same full-funnel media budgets currently flowing to Amazon DSP, Google, Meta, and traditional streaming platforms.
Source: Walmart Completes Acquisition of Vibe.co
The News Is Moving Fast. So Should Your Strategy.
Give your eyes a break and tune in to the latest episode of Selling on Giants: Weekly eCommerce News & Updates.
🎧 Tune in now on Buzzsprout and YouTube.
In this episode:
• Amazon’s updated Business Solutions Agreement and what it means for seller financing
• Amazon’s new Item Highlights structure and how it could affect listings and search
• New disclosure requirements for AI-generated people in Amazon creative
• Walmart’s Vibe.co acquisition and what it means for connected TV advertising
• How Walmart Search Insights can help sellers identify what’s really hurting performance
• Walmart’s shipping API changes and what sellers need to review before Q4
The Online Sellers Bill of Rights Is Getting Its First Organized Industry Pushback
NetChoice publicly came out against the Online Sellers Bill of Rights, arguing that its proposed limits on suspensions, inventory holds, fund freezes, and disclosure requirements could make marketplace counterfeit enforcement more difficult.
That gives us the first meaningful counterargument since the seller-protection bill was introduced in July. (NetChoice)
What Changed: Facts Only
The proposed bill would require marketplaces to provide stronger evidence and more transparency before taking certain enforcement actions.
It would also generally require inventory or funds to be released after 30 days if unlawful conduct has not been proven. (Peter Welch’s Website)
NetChoice argues that this standard could force platforms to return inventory while an investigation is still open and could require disclosure of information that exposes brand owners or enforcement methods to accused counterfeiters. (NetChoice)
NetChoice also argues that the legislation is drafted broadly enough to potentially reach payment processors, advertising platforms, app stores, and software providers in addition to marketplaces. (NetChoice)
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
There are two legitimate operating concerns in tension.
Sellers need due process when Amazon or Walmart freezes funds or suspends an account incorrectly.
Marketplaces also need the ability to move quickly against counterfeiters, unsafe products, and fraud.
The final policy question is how to provide sellers meaningful recourse without creating an enforcement playbook that sophisticated bad actors can exploit.
What Is Not Changing
The Online Sellers Bill of Rights remains proposed legislation.
NetChoice’s article represents the organization’s policy position, not a government finding that the bill would increase counterfeiting.
Amazon, Walmart, and other marketplaces continue operating under their existing policies while Congress considers the proposal. (NetChoice)
What to Do Now
No action required, monitor only
This is now a real policy debate rather than a one-sided seller proposal.
Watch for amendments around evidentiary standards, fund-hold timelines, disclosure requirements, and anti-counterfeit exceptions.
Bigger Picture Signal
Marketplace governance is moving into Washington.
The debate is becoming less about whether sellers deserve due process and more about how much flexibility platforms should retain when fighting fraud.
Sources: The Online Sellers’ Bill of Rights Has a Counterfeiter Problem – Online Sellers Bill of Rights
TikTok Shop’s Growth Shows the Channel Is Becoming a Real Marketplace, Not Just a Social Experiment
TikTok Shop generated an estimated $50.3 billion in global GMV during the first half of 2026, nearly double the estimate for the same period last year.
The United States is now estimated to be TikTok Shop’s largest market, and the most important behavioral shift may be where transactions are happening: the Shop tab is now credited with more GMV than shoppable videos and livestreams combined. (Shopifreaks)
What Changed: Facts Only
Momentum Works estimates TikTok Shop produced $50.3 billion in global GMV during the first half of 2026, compared with $26.2 billion in the prior-year period.
The U.S. contributed an estimated $11.8 billion, up from $5.8 billion, making it the largest national market in the report.
The number of U.S. TikTok Shop stores increased to an estimated 1.35 million from 475,000.
The Shop tab accounted for 51.4% of attributed GMV, compared with 40.4% from video and 8.2% from livestreams. (Shopifreaks)
These figures are third-party estimates rather than financial disclosures from TikTok. (Shopifreaks)
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
TikTok Shop’s early thesis was social commerce.
The Shop-tab data suggests the platform is developing traditional marketplace behavior too.
Customers are increasingly opening TikTok with direct shopping intent rather than waiting for a creator video to inspire a purchase.
That makes catalog quality, pricing, reviews, assortment, and marketplace merchandising more important alongside affiliate and creator strategy.
What This Means for Ecommerce Sellers
Brands should stop evaluating TikTok Shop only as an influencer channel.
The operating model increasingly includes:
Marketplace SEO
Shop-tab merchandising
Pricing
Promotions
Affiliate content
Paid media
Ratings and reviews
Inventory and fulfillment
That makes TikTok Shop look increasingly familiar to operators who already manage Amazon and Walmart.
What Is Not Changing
Content remains central to TikTok’s advantage.
Video and livestreams still account for a substantial share of attributed GMV, and creator-driven discovery remains an important differentiator.
The GMV numbers are estimates and should not be treated as TikTok-reported audited results. (Shopifreaks)
What to Do Now
Light prep recommended
Brands already selling on TikTok should separate Shop-tab performance from creator-driven sales in their reporting.
Review whether the catalog, offers, reviews, and promotional strategy are strong enough to convert shoppers who arrive with purchase intent rather than through a creator.
Bigger Picture Signal
TikTok Shop is evolving from social commerce into a hybrid marketplace.
The long-term competitor to Amazon may not be a platform that copies Amazon exactly. It may be one that combines entertainment-driven discovery with an increasingly traditional shopping destination.
Source: TikTok Shop’s Global GMV Nearly Doubles to an Estimated $50.3 Billion in the First Half of 2026
Retailers Are Stocked for Holiday, but Landed Costs Are Still Moving Under Q4 Plans
Three developments this week tell the same story.
Retailers pulled inventory forward to protect holiday availability, but tariffs and refund rules are still changing fast enough that the final landed cost of that inventory remains difficult to predict. NRF says retailers are well stocked for holiday after an early import peak, while Commerce is considering another expansion of Section 232 tariffs and CBP is still processing billions in IEEPA refunds. (Supply Chain Dive)
What Changed: Facts Only
The Commerce Department proposed adding 14 additional steel, aluminum, and copper derivative products to Section 232 tariffs. Most would face a 25% duty, with different rates for certain agricultural, industrial, and steel-container products. Public comments are due August 27. (Supply Chain Dive)
Separately, CBP reported that it had paid $100 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds as of July 31. The agency has accepted $128.68 billion in claims through its CAPE refund portal. (Supply Chain Dive)
CBP still has not launched functionality for finally liquidated entries, which represent roughly $11.4 billion in IEEPA payments. A Department of Justice appeal over whether those entries must receive refunds remains unresolved. (Supply Chain Dive)
At the same time, NRF says retailers accelerated imports earlier in the year ahead of tariff changes and other supply chain uncertainty. August imports are forecast at 2.22 million TEU before volumes decline through much of the rest of 2026. NRF says retailers should be well stocked heading into holiday. (National Retail Federation)
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
The inventory may already be here, but the economics are not settled.
Brands can have healthy Q4 stock levels and still discover that their actual margin changed because of new tariff classifications, delayed refunds, freight timing, or changing duty structures.
That is especially dangerous heading into holiday because sellers are simultaneously locking promotional pricing, advertising budgets, and reorder quantities.
What This Means for Ecommerce Sellers
A seller who front-loaded inventory may have solved the availability problem without solving the profitability problem.
Brands should separate three questions:
What did the inventory cost when it entered?
Are any tariff refunds still owed back to the business?
What would the same product cost to replenish today?
Those numbers may now be materially different.
What Is Not Changing
The proposed Section 232 expansion is not yet final.
The Commerce Department is still accepting public comments through August 27. (Supply Chain Dive)
The IEEPA refund process also does not mean every importer has received all money owed. Eligibility and timing still depend on the status of the underlying customs entries. (Supply Chain Dive)
And being well stocked for holiday does not guarantee healthy margins.
What to Do Now
Immediate operational check
Recalculate Q4 landed cost using current duty rates rather than the assumptions used when purchase orders were placed.
Reconcile expected IEEPA refunds against amounts actually received.
Identify SKUs exposed to steel, aluminum, or copper derivative classifications.
Review replenishment costs separately from the cost basis of inventory already in the United States.
Do not lock holiday discount depth until those numbers are clear.
Bigger Picture Signal
The supply chain problem has shifted.
During the last several years, the biggest concern was often whether inventory would arrive.
Now, brands can have inventory sitting safely in a warehouse while the economics underneath it continue changing.
That makes landed-cost management one of the most important Q4 disciplines.
Sources: Commerce Department Proposes Tariffs on More Steel, Aluminum, Copper Goods – CBP Has Paid $100B in IEEPA Tariff Refunds – Import Cargo’s Early Peak Season Is Winding Down
If you operate on Amazon, Walmart, or other major marketplaces, completing the form below is the first step to understanding what’s changing, why it matters, and how to stay ahead as the rules tighten.
One of our eCommerce experts will review your information and share practical recommendations you can put into action right away.
No pressure. Just real advice tailored to your goals.
Fill out the form below, and let’s start growing your eCommerce business together.