Missed the Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday Best Deal or Lightning Deal window? As of October 13, it hasn’t closed: Amazon’s submission window runs through October 20, 2026. But if you’d rather skip those deal types, a Prime Exclusive Discount may still be an option.
It’s worth checking the details before you set a price. Amazon has confirmed the 2026 event fee structure, but its available US guidance doesn’t confirm a specific Black Friday and Cyber Monday minimum discount for Prime Exclusive Discounts. Eligibility and pricing rules can also trip up a promotion that looks fine in a spreadsheet.
Prime Exclusive Discounts Are Still an Option
A Prime Exclusive Discount gives eligible Prime members a lower price, with Prime-specific discount badging. Unlike a Best Deal or Lightning Deal, it doesn’t require a deal slot. It’s also different from a coupon, which shoppers typically need to clip or apply.
A Prime Exclusive Discount can be used as a standalone promotion or alongside scheduled deals, according to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days guidance. A regular Sale Price can set the price available to non-Prime shoppers, while the Prime Exclusive Discount sets a lower price for eligible Prime shoppers. But overlapping offers don’t always combine as sellers expect. Check the Price Discounts tool’s offer preview rather than assuming the reductions stack neatly.
Amazon’s 2026 announcement keeps the Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday Best Deal and Lightning Deal submission window open through October 20. Prime Exclusive Discounts have a different submission path. Amazon confirmed a cutoff of up to 12 hours before the end of the 2026 Prime Day event, but that doesn’t confirm the precise BFCM cutoff. Check the event and deadline shown for your ASIN in Seller Central.
2026 Rules: Confirmed Fees, Unconfirmed Minimum
For 2026 event promotions, Amazon announced a $100 upfront fee per promotion, plus a variable fee of 1.5% of promotional sales. The variable fee is capped at $5,000. The upfront fee is separate. For a simple example, $10,000 in promotional sales would mean a $150 variable fee, plus the $100 upfront fee.
For comparison, Amazon charged a $245 flat fee for BFCM 2025 Prime Exclusive Discounts. Don’t use that old fee to forecast this year’s cost.
Minimums need a closer look. Amazon’s general guidance has called for at least 10% off the relevant non-member price outside special events. The 2026 Prime Day criteria included a 20% discount requirement. In 2025, BFCM Prime Exclusive Discounts were listed with a 15% minimum, and sellers reported some spreadsheet uploads requiring 20%. Amazon’s available US BFCM 2026 announcement doesn’t give a specific Prime Exclusive Discount minimum. Treat the Price Discounts tool’s event requirement for your product as the current instruction, not last year’s number.
Amazon’s standard eligibility rules also set several price checks. The discount must be at least 5% below the 30-day lowest non-promotional price paid by customers across sellers, at least 5% below the current price, and at least 5% below a validated reference price. The reference price is based on the lower of Your Price or Sale Price for non-Prime shoppers, without promotions. For Prime Exclusive Discounts, a validated reference price is needed to show a savings comparison. Without one, customers won’t see a strike-through price or savings amount.
Eligible products must be new, rated at least three stars, and not adult, restricted, offensive, or otherwise ineligible. Seller-fulfilled Prime offers also have performance requirements: late shipment rate no higher than 4%, order defect rate no higher than 1%, pre-fulfillment cancellation rate no higher than 0.5%, a disbursement reserve of at least seven days after delivery, and free shipping. Event-specific criteria can change, so check the tool before you submit.
Amazon says Prime Big Deal Days promotional prices are excluded from the 30- and 60-day lookback window used for Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deal eligibility. That statement concerns event deal eligibility. Check the BFCM Prime Exclusive Discount’s own price checks in Seller Central rather than assuming every lookback calculation works the same way.
Choose a Discount That Still Makes Money
Work out your contribution after the discount, regular selling costs, and promotion fee. Include the 1.5% variable charge in your forecast: at higher sales volume, it can matter more than the upfront fee. Because the variable portion is capped, include that cap in the model too.
Then decide how deep a discount you can afford. A bigger cut may improve the offer, but it doesn’t guarantee more sales or placement. Leave out products with thin margins, weak stock, or another active promotion unless you’ve confirmed how Amazon will handle the overlap. Check current inventory and inbound plans before committing. A discount on units that aren’t available is a very tidy way to promote nothing.
Create the Promotion and Check It
In Seller Central, go to Advertising, open Price Discounts, and select Create discount. Add products individually or use the bulk spreadsheet for a larger set. For a spreadsheet upload, review every row for validation errors and rejected ASINs; one bad field can leave part of the selection out.
Select the event and available promotion dates shown in the tool. Before submitting, compare the proposed price with the reference price and the other eligibility checks. Once submitted, return to the promotion page and confirm the status is approved or active, the dates are correct, and the product detail page displays the expected Prime badge and price. Don’t treat “file uploaded” as “promotion live.”
Common Setup Mistakes
- Using the wrong reference price: Check the price Amazon shows for the ASIN, not only your list price or your own calculation.
- Forgetting a recent price change: A Sale Price or recent customer-paid promotion can lower the comparison price and leave your planned discount short of the threshold.
- Assuming offers stack: Overlapping discounts can affect eligibility or the customer-facing price. Review the offer preview.
- Waiting until the cutoff: A last-minute submission leaves little room to fix errors and misses earlier event sales.
- Leaving fees out: Include both the upfront charge and variable fee when estimating profit.
Pair the Discount With Event Advertising
Set Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands budgets around the promotion dates, then check pacing daily. A campaign that runs out of budget early in the day won’t help much with the shoppers arriving later. For campaign planning, see our Sponsored Products guide for brand sellers.
Amazon Ads rules don’t allow Sponsored Brands headlines or creative to state specific prices or savings, such as “Save 20%.” Let the Prime badge and offer display carry the promotion message. Keep the ad focused on the product, and match campaign dates to the offer period.
Measure the Promotion After BFCM
Compare promotional sales with the full promotion fee and your product costs. Check new-to-brand customers and whether sales hold after the discount ends. A short sales bump and a lasting lift are different outcomes, and the ad and pricing plan should reflect what you see.
Use those results to adjust product selection, inventory, discount depth, and advertising before Prime Day planning begins again.
Quick Checklist
- Confirm the event minimum and Amazon’s reference price for each ASIN.
- Calculate margin after the upfront fee and 1.5% variable fee.
- Verify the BFCM submission cutoff and promotion dates in Seller Central.
- Check inventory, inbound plans, and overlapping promotions.
- Set Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands budgets, with daily pacing checks.
- After the event, compare sales, fees, new-to-brand customers, and post-event performance.
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