Amazon Seller Briefing: September 18, 2026

Senators Baldwin and Scott asked the FTC on September 17, 2026 to investigate whether Amazon's Alexa for Shopping hides Made in USA products. Also: the FTC's personalized pricing proposal reaches seller discounts, with comments closing September 25, and Amazon backs a SKU-level licensing registry.

Published September 18, 2026 · Seller Signal daily briefing

Good morning, sellers! Welcome to September 18, 2026's edition. Today: two senators ask the FTC to investigate how Amazon's shopping assistant answers country-of-origin questions, the FTC's personalized pricing proposal reaches seller discounts with a week left to comment, and Amazon backs a SKU-level licensing registry. Let's dive in…

Data gathered at 6:05 AM ET, September 18, 2026.

No new Seller Central policy, fee or Amazon Ads announcement was verifiable in the past 24-48 hours.

1. Top Story of the Day

Senators ask the FTC to investigate how Amazon's AI answers "Made in USA"

What happened: On September 17, 2026, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Rick Scott (R-Florida) asked FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson and Commissioner Mark R. Meador, in a bipartisan letter, to investigate whether Amazon and Walmart hide Made in America products and fail to report Made in USA labeling fraud.

The letter rests on a Columbia Law School Center for Law and the Economy report, "Made in America, Hidden by AI," published July 30, 2026. It found that Amazon's Alexa for Shopping and Walmart's Sparky can tell whether a product is made in the USA, or falsely labelled as such, but do not surface it. Asked for American-made fly-fishing reels, Alexa answered "I don't have that information"; asked for Chinese-made reels, it returned model names and prices. Asked why there is no Made in USA filter, Alexa said it would "redirect significant sales away from their largest seller base." Both assistants called not flagging fraud a business decision, and rephrasing a query surfaced American products that were hidden — a design choice, the researchers concluded, not a data gap.

Amazon told Reuters that any suggestion it intentionally withholds country-of-origin information is wrong, said Alexa sends shoppers to product detail pages for origin, and said it is working to improve accuracy. Walmart did not immediately respond. The FTC has not said it will investigate.

Why it matters: Country of origin has been a mandatory attribute on Amazon offers since December 31, 2024, and missing or wrong values already carry listing-restriction and account-suspension risk. The letter asks for something different — verification of Made in USA claims, and a filter that surfaces them. FTC penalties for such claims run to tens of thousands of dollars per violation.

Expert take: Nothing in your account changes this morning, and the study is seven weeks old — what is new is a bipartisan request in front of the Commission. The exposure sits in Amazon's own defence: if Alexa answers an origin question by sending the shopper to the detail page, then the attribute and the page copy are what an AI surface reads, and a stale value becomes a misrepresentation rather than a blank field. That cuts against domestic sellers too — verification and a filter both raise the evidentiary bar on a Made in USA claim before they raise its visibility.

Action items:

Pull the country-of-origin attribute for every active ASIN and confirm it is populated and correct; it has been mandatory since December 31, 2024.
For any Made in USA claim, keep the sourcing documentation where you can produce it inside a suppression window.

Sources: Senators' letter to the FTC, September 17, 2026; Columbia Center for Law and the Economy, July 30, 2026; PYMNTS.

2. Compliance & Account Health Alerts

The FTC's personalized pricing proposal reaches seller discounts, and comments close September 25

The Commission proposed the eight-page statement on August 19, 2026 on a 2-0 vote, defining personalized pricing as "the use of personal data to set prices according to the amount that a company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend." It names two Section 5 theories: deception, where a seller implies a price is static when it varies by individual, and unfairness, where personal data is used for pricing without disclosure. Chairman Andrew Ferguson said consumers expect a listed price to be the same one "that everyone else sees, not the retailer's estimate of how much they are willing to pay based on their personal data."

A business should disclose that a price is personalized, the basis for it and the data types used — near the offer, not in a terms page. Dynamic pricing, where a price moves for all shoppers on inventory or competition, is distinct. The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance warned the proposal could reach targeted discounts and loyalty pricing.

Deadline: Comments close September 25, 2026 under docket FTC-2026-1057. The original close was September 18 — today — and the FTC extended it seven days on September 3. An EcomCrew article published yesterday still gives September 18, so secondary coverage may tell you the window shuts this morning. It does not.

Consequence: A policy statement is not binding law — it states how the FTC reads deception and unfairness here, and where it will spend enforcement. (FTC extension notice; original proposal)

3. Marketplace Opportunities & Threats

Amazon is lead launch partner on a SKU-level registry for licensed products

Setup: Fabacus announced the Verified Intellectual Property (VIP) Protocol on September 15, 2026, with Amazon as lead launch partner. VIP is a standardized registration record carrying licensing data — contracts, approvals, royalties — at SKU level, in a machine-readable format marketplaces, search engines and AI platforms can read.

Math: Fabacus works with licensors including Paramount, NBCUniversal, Hasbro, Fanatics and Epic Games.

Who this fits: Sellers of licensed merchandise — character, sports and entertainment properties — and any brand carrying third-party IP under licence.

Window: Not a Seller Central requirement; no enforcement date announced.

Execute: Assemble the paperwork now — licensor, licensee, property, territory, channel, approval status, artwork approvals and contract dates, matched against live ASINs. Licensing authorization is distinct from trademark ownership: a valid trademark does not establish permission to use a specific character, in a specific territory, on a specific channel. (Fabacus; EcomCrew)

4. Seller Community Pulse

Unavailable — no verified community signal from the past 24-48 hours.

5. Looking Ahead

September 21: TikTok Shop EU-UK cross-border pilot opens; full launch October 19.
September 22: Prime Big Deal Days deal submissions close.
September 22-24: Amazon Accelerate 2026 in Seattle; CBP Entry Type 13 test opens in ACE September 22.
September 25: FTC comment deadline on personalized pricing, docket FTC-2026-1057.
September 28-30: Amazon unBoxed 2026 at Moscone West, San Francisco.
September 30: Business Hour Delivery Rate takes effect for US seller-fulfilled Amazon Business orders — 90% or higher.
October 6-7: Prime Big Deal Days in 22 countries.
October 14, 21 and 28: BFCM inbound deadlines — AWD, minimal splits, Amazon-optimized splits.
October 15: FBA holiday peak fulfillment fees begin, averaging $0.32 per unit through January 14, 2027; eBay Live leaves eBay Seller Level, Top Rated Plus and Service Metrics.
October 20: Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deal submission closes.
October 25: Amazon Shipping peak demand surcharges begin, through January 16, 2027.
November 2: Commercial liability insurance changes take effect for 11 enhanced-safety categories — $1 million cover regardless of sales volume.
January 11, 2027: Amazon's bundling policy changes; noncompliant bundles are deactivated.

All dates 2026 unless stated; Q4 deadlines per Amazon Seller Forums.